10 Best Dude Love Matches Ever, Ranked
Pro-wrestling legend Mick Foley had a long-storied career for many reasons. He gave his absolute all inside and out of the ring, was over with the crowd, and always evolved and adapted to the changing times. His ability to create different gimmicks set him apart from the rest and the best to ever lace up their boots.
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Many pro-wrestling fans acknowledge and are still captivated by Foley's matches as Cactus Jack, Mankind, and the Mick Foley character himself. But throughout the decades, no one talks about his stint as the groovy, fun-loving character known as Dude Love. Here are the top ten Dude Love matches ever, ranked.
10 RAW: July 28th, 1997
With WWF superstars Owen Hart and British Bulldog ringside on commentary, the WWF Tag-Team Champions Dude Love and Stone Cold Steve Austin faced off against The Godwinns. The champs were on fire and it seemed that The Godwinns never had a fighting chance. Once Stone Cold received the hot-tag from Dude Love, he went rampant on The Godwinns – eventually getting the crowd to erupt after stunning Phineas Godwinn.
After the stunner, Henry Godwinn hit Austin from behind and he went flying through the ropes landing outside of the ring. As Austin was getting up, Owen Hart hit him from behind with the Intercontinental title and he couldn't get up before the ten-count and the champs lost via count-out. Once Austin got up from Hart's attack, mayhem ensued with the three tag-teams going at it. The Legion of Doom would come out to help Stone Cold and Dude Love.
9 RAW: December 15th, 1997
Dude Love went one-on-one with Road Dogg Jesse James after defeating Billy Gunn and later being attacked by The New Age Outlaws (Road Dogg & Billy Gunn) after the match on the previous episode of Monday Night RAW.
With Billy Gunn on commentary, Dude Love had his way with Road Dogg and defeated him rather quickly. After the match, The New Age Outlaws attacked Dude Love once again after the bell. The fight ended up outside of the ring by the entrance where the two men shoved a referee into Dude Love and he fell onto a table. Road Dogg and Billy Gunn then savagely stomped on him while he was down.
8 RAW: November 17th, 1997
The episode started with Rocky Maivia stealing the Intercontinental Championship from Stone Cold Steve Austin. The main event of the night was between Dude Love and Rocky. The two men were exchanging blows throughout until Dude Love hit Rocky with a DDT.
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As Dude Love was going in for the pin, The Nation of Domination (the faction Rocky was in) interfered by hitting Dude Love while he was on the ground and he won via disqualification. While Dude Love was getting beat up, Stone Cold came out and raised hell on the Nation while Rocky fled the scene with the title that he stole earlier in the night.
7 One Night Only UK - 1997
The WWF pay-per-view special in the United Kingdom started with a match between Dude Love and Hunter Hearst Helmsley with Chyna at his side. The match was fair at the start, with Dude Love getting most of the offense in. On the defense, Helmsley left the ring.
While Dude Love was chasing Hunter, Chyna came out of nowhere with a clothesline. The referee was noticing Chyna's antics and the advantage it was giving Hunter and the two would get into a screaming match. Dude Love once again was on the offense until Chyna distracted the referee which led to Helmsley putting the pedigree on Dude Love for the win.
6 RAW: July 21st, 1997
After Shawn Michaels was beaten up in the locker room, it was Dude Love and Stone Cold versus Bret Hart, Owen Hart, and British Bulldog in a flag match. The two men were holding their own against the three members of The Hart Foundation. During the middle of the match, The Undertaker came out and was the third member to help out Dude Love and Stone Cold and to also intensify his matchup against Bret for the upcoming SummerSlam pay-per-view.
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It was an intense match throughout, with both countries' pride on the line. With The Undertaker and Bret Hart in each of their corners reaching for their flag, Brian Pillman came from under the ring and interfered, leading to The Hart Foundation winning the matchup.
5 RAW: August 4th, 1997
The day after the SummerSlam pay-per-view, Dude Love faced off against Owen Hart in the main event of Monday Night RAW. Dude Love was focused on winning after Owen Hart had injured Stone Cold the previous night. The two men displayed their great talents and the match was up in the air until the end.
Bret Hart was ringside on commentary and during the end of the match, he threw Dude Love into a ring pole while British Bulldog distracted the referee. Stone Cold was watching the match backstage and came out to the ring once he saw the interference. He then hit Owen with one of Owen's Slammy Awards and Dude Love pinned him for the victory.
4 Royal Rumble - 1998
Mick Foley is the only wrestler to enter one Royal Rumble match a record three times. He drew the number one entrant as Cactus Jack and he would later be eliminated by his friend Chainsaw Charlie aka Terry Funk. Foley then entered at number 16 as Mankind but would be eliminated by The Artist Formally Known As Goldust.
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Vince McMahon saved the best for last as entrant 28 was the one-and-only Dude Love. He would last in the rumble until they were only four wrestlers left – he would then be eliminated by Faarooq. Stone Cold would go on to win the match but no one will forget Foley's historical feat.
3 RAW: July 14th, 1997
This was the debut match of Dude Love. What started as a two-on-one match against Owen Hart and British Bulldog, became a fair fight once Dude Love got to the ring. Stone Cold was in the corner for the most part once Dude Love arrived but towards the end of the match, while the referee was distracted, Stone Cold came back into the ring and gave the British Bulldog a stunner.
Once the referee turned around, Austin was back in his corner and Dude Love pinned British Bulldog for the win. Stone Cold retained the tag-team titles but gave one of the titles to Dude Love and shook his hand after seeing how much of a ladies man he was.
2 Unforgiven: In Your House - 1998
The storyline started with Vince McMahon trying to make Stone Cold a corporate entity. He looked the part coming into Monday Night RAW but it didn't take long for Austin to get fed up and go against McMahon's plans for him. Dude Love would follow McMahon's plans and later become the number one contender for Austin's WWF Championship at the Unforgiven: In Your House pay-per-view.
In a physical match, both superstars were beating each other senseless. There were many hard bumps throughout that included Austin throwing Dude Love off a music stage onto the concrete. During the middle of the match, Vince McMahon came out with Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson to watch ringside in Dude Love's favor. Towards the end, McMahon would involve himself in the match and take a steel chair shot to the head by Austin. Dude Love won by disqualification, Austin still had the title, and McMahon was unconscious on the ground.
1 Over The Edge - 1998
With Vince McMahon as special guest referee, the match was in Dude Love's favor; that was until The Undertaker came out to make sure there would be no foul play involved as Dude Love and Austin fought for the WWF Championship at Over The Edge.
The two superstars were fighting inside and out of the ring and the crowd let their voices be heard. McMahon would change match stipulations throughout but it wouldn't stop Stone Cold from retaining the title, even if it meant using an unconscious McMahon's hand for the three count victory.
