Mick Foley reflects on the 20-year anniversary of Halftime Heat.
In 1999, WWE boldly put on an empty arena match during halftime of the Super Bowl. The bout pitted Mick Foley against long-time rival The Rock with the WWE Title on the line. The special event, which was taped six days earlier, aired on USA Network and drew a 6.6 rating (roughly 11 million viewers). And according to Mick Foley, the bout would have been even bigger if social media existed.
“It was different that it kept going from room to room. And Rock was really on,” Foley told TV Insider. “He had a couple of great one-liners in every area we entered into. I was kind of the straight man taking a beating, and Rock was really shining in between each episode of the Foley smackdowns. I’m sure a lot of The Rock’s one-liners. Jack Daniels if you please,' in reference to the swig of alcohol he spit in my face. ‘The salsa was mild.’ Pretty much everything he said, and the match would be a huge hit on social media.”
WWE went back to Halftime Heat in 2000, airing a special interview with Steve Austin as he recovered from neck surgery. The event will return for the first time in 19 years this Sunday with a special NXT six-man tag team match. The match will air live on WWE Network and all WWE digital platforms.
