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WWE legend Triple H had one of his most memorable in-ring encounters on this day, 22 years ago.
At Royal Rumble 2000, The Game met his arch-rival Mick Foley with the former's WWE Title on the line. Several factors made this contest special, including the fact that Foley brought back the legendary Cactus Jack gimmick that night. This Street Fight went down in WWE history as one of the most brutal displays of in-ring action.
What exactly happened when Triple H collided with Cactus Jack 22 years ago?
Mere days before the Royal Rumble outing, Mick Foley cut an intense promo on Triple H, while donning the Mankind outfit. The WWE Legend stated that fans deserved to see someone else in the upcoming battle, and ripped open his shirt.
The look on Triple H's face was that of pure horror and fear, when he realized that he would be facing Cactus Jack at the Royal Rumble.
The Game knew what Jack was capable of doing in the ring. Many had fallen before Jack in the past, suffering unimaginable pain in the process.
The two men finally collided at the Royal Rumble event. To no one's surprise, the duo quickly took the action out of the squared circle. A wide variety of weapons were used, including steel chairs, trash cans, barbed wire two-by-fours, and thumbtacks.
In the final moments of this unforgiving battle, the WWE Champion hit a Pedigree on Jack, right on top of the thumbtacks. This was enough for a win, and The Cerebral Assassin thus retained the WWE title.
Following the match, the bloodied victor was put on a stretcher. Jack wasn't done with him, though, and hit him with the two-by-four again.
Back in 2016, Foley wrote a detailed post on his Facebook account, remembering his Royal Rumble classic with The Game:
One of the best matches of my career - and the build to it was really something special. The metamorphosis from Mankind to Cactus Jack - even though it only consisted of the removal of a tie and shirt – still gives people goosebumps. The look on Triple H's face was priceless's – like he was seeing the ghost of some mythical warrior, instead of a guy who changed his clothes. It seems that many fans are discovering this match, or catching it again on #WWENetwork - which makes me happy! It's nice to know that so many people feel that the work we did 16 years ago still holds up today," wrote Foley.
The two men met again at No Way Out 2000, this time inside Hell In A Cell. Cactus Jack lost this bout as well, after going at it with The King of Kings for 24 minutes inside the hellish structure.
