Arn Anderson Thought This WWE Hall Of Famer Would Die Before Becoming A Star

Long before Mick Foley was falling off Hell in a Cell and winning the WWE Championship from The Rock, he was wrestling as Cactus Jack in WCW, having high-profile matches against the likes of Sting and Vader. Even then, Foley was known for his high-risk style and terrifying bumps, something Arn Anderson got to see up close and personal.

Foley's WCW days came up on the latest episode of "ARN," when Anderson was asked which wrestler he was surprised to see become a star, with Anderson giving Foley as his answer. The reason for that wasn't because Anderson thought Foley was untalented; rather, it was because he thought Foley's high-risk style would ultimately cut Foley's career short.

"I thought he'd be dead before he had a chance to get over, to be honest with you," Anderson said. "Every night after I saw him the first time do that act off the apron, landing out on the cement floor, I would try to go to watch his matches because I was so afraid for him. I thought 'Any night, they're going to stretcher this guy out of here and put him in an ambulance, and we're not going to see him again.'

"And he hung in there, [the] tough bastard. You can't kill him, you can't cripple him. Man, he limps around, but he manages to get his s**t together come match time and get it done. And my hats off to him. One of the bumps he's taken, just one of the big ones, would've killed a normal guy."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "ARN" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription