The Hardcore legend celebrated a birthday in the month of June, turning 57 years young. It has also been 24 years since Foley was thrown from the top of the Hell in a Cell for the first time in his unforgettable match with The Undertaker at King of the Ring 1998, that footage has been played so many times now that it is permanently etched in my brain.
THAT match is what catapulted Mick to superstardom and into wrestling folklore forever but he should be remembered and celebrated for so much more than just that match, so I have complied a list of Mick Foley moments you may not remember either because you may have only followed him in one promotion or perhaps you were just too young to remember. Walk with me down memory lane as I review “Mick foley, the moments you may have missed.”
Jack Foley & Les Thornton vs The British Bulldogs 1986 WWF superstars.
Foleys first taste of the big time came in 1986 as an enhancement talent in the then WWF against the well-known duo of the Dynamite kid and Davey boy Smith collectively known as the British Bulldogs. The match wasn’t anything special and only goes for a couple of minutes but is best remember for The Bulldogs not giving an ounce of offense to Foley all be it for a couple of gut punches, during the match Dynamite kid clotheslined foley and caught him more with his forearm and dislocates Foleys jaw. Foley thanked the bulldogs for the match and went about his business like nothing ever happened, all be it for the minor detail of not being able to consume solid food for the next several weeks.
Cactus Jack vs Vader 1993 WCW Saturday night
Most people remember the Texas death match at Halloween Havoc 1993 between these two, a match so brutal for its time that WCW refused to book these two to wrestle each other on ppv again due to them being a family friendly promotion. But what you may not remember is their match on WCW Saturday night, Cactus thought it would be a good idea for Vader to open him up a little bit and even have Harley Race bust his eye brow open, Vader took matters into his own hands, coming out without his gloves on, he proceeded to batter poor Mick’s face and nose with punches and forearms, breaking foleys nose in the process. The WCW production team had to heavily edit the match to remove as much blood as possible from the broadcast. If you are lucky enough to have the DVD of “Mick Foley’s greatest hits and misses” he actually has the unedited version on there, its beautifully brutal.
“Cane Dewey” promo and the anti-hardcore icon ECW 1995
This entry isn’t necessarily about one Foley thing but a collection of his work in 1995 for ECW. It all started from a sign in the crowd saying, “cane Dewey,” after having the sign explained to Foley that it was a reference to a Singapore cane being used on Foleys 3-year- old son. Foley then cut a near 7-minute promo that was filled with raw emotion, anger, anguish and venom, denouncing the hardcore style, fanbase and promotion for expecting too much from the wrestlers.
Cactus Jack then goes out of his way to have the most basic, slow and rest hold heavy matches as a way to teach the ECW fans a lesson. Jack turned heel and joined Raven’s nest and began professing his love for WCW and WWF to anger the blood-thirsty, hardcore fans further. 1995 really shows the true genius of Foley.
Mankind’s sit-down interview with Jim Ross WWF 1997
While you may well be familiar with this interview, I feel it needs a mention as it has some fantastic one-liners. Vince McMahon thought that Foley as a person had a more interesting backstory than the actual Mankind character itself, but Foley had worked too hard on the character to just drop it, so as a compromise decided to do the interview about his real life while staying in the Mankind character. What we got was a 4-part interview that endeared Mankind into the hearts of the fans and slowly and organically turned him into a fan favourite, the sympathy Foley generated is off the charts, you really felt for this guy and started to realise why he became the deranged Mankind.
I was eight years old, playing kill the guy with the ball, that may even be an Olympic sport these days.” “Do you think girls wanted to kiss a guy with worms on his breath? IM A GOOD KISSER! BUT I NEVER GOT A CHANCE TO SHOW IT.” “I’ll put those earrings in and I’m gonna get the girls. It didn’t really work out that way did it Jimmy” are just some of the quirky zingers From Foley in this epic interview.
Author: Richard Othen
Follow Richard on Twitter: @ricothen22
Photo Credit: WWE
One Stop Wrestling 