Mick Foley
Encyclopedia
Michael Francis "Mick" Foley, Sr. (born June 7, 1965) is an American
semi-retired professional wrestler
, author
, comedian
, actor
, voice actor
and former color commentator
. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW
, ECW
and TNA
. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname
he shares with Terry Funk
. He is currently signed to WWE.
Throughout his wrestling career, Foley has wrestled both under his real name and under various persona
s (most notably Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind). He was the first ever WWF Hardcore Champion
and also a three-time WWF Champion
as Mankind. He won the WWF World tag team title eight times, the ECW World tag team title two times and the WCW World tag team title
once. Following his retirement from wrestling full-time, Foley appeared occasionally with WWE as a special guest referee and later as a color commentator
for the SmackDown brand
.
Upon his departure from the company in 2008, he signed with TNA, where he was the storyline
majority stock holder of the company. There, Foley has held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
and the TNA Legends Championship (now known as the TNA Television Championship). In addition to wrestling, Foley is a multiple-time New York Times bestselling
autobiographer. He was also a subject of the documentary Beyond the Mat
, which followed him at the peak of his career. More recently, he appeared in Bloodstained Memoirs
, another wrestling documentary.
. Shortly after he was born, Foley's family moved to Setauket, New York
, where Foley attended Ward Melville High School
, played lacrosse
, and wrestled
. Foley was also a high school classmate of comic actor Kevin James of The King of Queens
. The two were on the wrestling team together. While a student at State University of New York at Cortland
, he hitchhiked to Madison Square Garden
to see his favorite wrestler, Jimmy Snuka
, in a steel cage match against Don Muraco
. Foley has said that Snuka's flying body splash from the top of the cage inspired him to pursue a career in pro wrestling. Foley is visible on the WWE video of the event.
's wrestling school in Freedom, Pennsylvania
, driving several hours weekly from his college campus in Cortland, New York
, and debuted in 1983. In addition to appearing on DeNucci's cards, Foley and several other students also took part in some squash matches for WWF
TV tapings, where he wrestled under the name "Jack Foley". In one of these matches Foley and Les Thornton
faced the British Bulldogs
, during which The Dynamite Kid
clotheslined Foley with such force that he was unable to eat solid food for several weeks.
After several years of wrestling in the independent circuit
, Foley began receiving offers from various regional promotions, including the UWF. He joined Memphis-based CWA as Cactus Jack, where he teamed with Gary Young as part of the Stud Stable
. Cactus and Young briefly held the CWA tag titles in late 1988. On November 20, Foley left CWA for Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling
.
In World Class Championship Wrestling
(WCCW), Cactus Jack, billed as Cactus Jack Manson, was a major part of Skandor Akbar's stable. Foley also won several titles, including the company's light heavyweight and tag team titles before leaving the company, losing his last match to Eric Embry
in nine seconds. He then briefly competed in Alabama's Continental Wrestling Federation before completing a brief stint with World Championship Wrestling
, including a match against Mil Máscaras
at Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout. It was during this period that Foley was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of his two front teeth, adding to the distinctive look for which he is famous. Following the short stint with WCW, Foley then signed with Herb Abrams
's Universal Wrestling Federation
. In UWF, Foley teamed with Bob Orton
to feud with Don Muraco
, Sunny Beach, and Brian Blair
.
He soon left UWF for Tri-State Wrestling
(a forerunner to Extreme Championship Wrestling
), whose style of high impact and violent wrestling style fit Foley well. On one night, known as Tri-State's Summer Sizzler 1991, Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert had three matches in one night: Cactus won a Falls Count Anywhere match, lost a Stretcher match, and then fought to a double disqualification in a Steel Cage match. These matches caught the attention of World Championship Wrestling
promoters, and after a brief stint working in the Global Wrestling Federation
, he joined WCW.
and attacked Sting. After feuds with Van Hammer and Abdullah the Butcher
, Cactus Jack faced Sting, then WCW champion, in a non-title Falls Count Anywhere match at Beach Blast in 1992, which Sting won. For a long time, Foley considered this the best match he ever worked.
After spending his 1½ years with WCW as a heel, Cactus Jack became a face after engaging in a feud with Paul Orndorff, Harley Race and Big Van Vader. Jack and Orndorff wrestled each other in a match for a spot on WCW Champion Vader's team at a Clash of Champions event. After the match, Race and Orndorff beat up Jack, turning him face. Later on at the Clash of Champions, Cactus Jack helped Sting's team win the match. He engaged in a feud with Orndorff, winning a falls-count-anywhere match against Orndorff at Superbrawl III. He then moved on to face Vader.
Cactus Jack wrestled Vader on April 6, 1993, winning by count-out, but being severely beaten in the process. As a result, in the rematch with Vader on April 23, the two executed a dangerous spot to sell a storyline injury. Vader removed the protective mats at ringside and powerbomb
ed Cactus onto the exposed concrete floor, causing a legitimate concussion and causing Foley to temporarily lose sensation in his left foot. While Foley was away, WCW ran an angle where Cactus Jack's absence was explained with a farcical
comedy storyline in which he went crazy, was institutionalized, escaped, and developed amnesia. Foley had wanted the injury storyline to be very serious and generate genuine sympathy for him before his return. The comedy vignettes that WCW produced instead were so bad that Foley jokes in Have a Nice Day that they were the brainchild of WCW executives who regarded a surefire moneymaking feud as a problem that needed to be solved.
In one of WCW's most brutal matches of all time, Cactus faced Vader in a Texas Death match at Halloween Havoc. Race won the match for Vader by using a cattle prod on Cactus, knocking him out. The level of violence involved in this feud caused WCW to refuse to book Cactus Jack against Vader on a pay-per-view again. On March 16, 1994, during a WCW European tour, Foley and Vader had one of the most infamous matches in wrestling history in Munich, Germany
. Foley began a hangman, a spot where a wrestler's head is tangled between the top two ring ropes The spot is usually painful but safe (though in WCW the danger factor was raised slightly because their ring ropes were not actual ropes, but elevator cables encased with rubber). Unbeknownst to Foley, however, 2 Cold Scorpio
had earlier complained that the ropes were too loose, resulting in the ring staff tightening the ropes to the maximum. As Foley struggled to pull himself out, he tore off two-thirds of his ear and underwent surgery later that day to reattach the cartilage from the ear to his head, so that a total reconstruction would be possible in the future. Later that year, Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan
were scheduled to win the tag team titles at Slamboree in 1994. Foley had to choose between reattaching his ear or wrestling in the pay-per-view and winning the titles. Foley chose to wrestle and won his only championship in WCW. Later on, Foley was frustrated by WCW's reluctance to work a storyline around losing his ear.
WCW also shared a brief co-promotion with ECW during this time in which Foley represented WCW on ECW television as the WCW Tag Team champion. During a promo, Foley spat on his Tag Team title belt and threw it to the ground to appeal to the hardcore fans who frowned upon the mainstream promotions.
, Mikey Whipwreck
, and Kevin Sullivan
. He had two ECW World Tag Team Championship reigns with Whipwreck while in ECW.
At the tail end of 1994, Foley joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling
(SMW) as Cactus Jack, causing Boo Bradley
to lose the TV Title. He often teamed with Brian Lee
to feud with Bradley and Chris Candido
. Cactus Jack then began a crusade to rid Bradley of his valet Tammy Lynn Sytch
. He ignited a feud between Candido and Bradley when he accused Candido of having sexual relations with Sytch. Cactus Jack left SMW before the feud was resolved.
In 1995, Foley went to Japan and wrestled in International Wrestling Association of Japan
, where he engaged in feuds with Terry Funk and Shoji Nakamaki. During his brief stint in Japan Foley had the nickname "Tsunami Stopper." Foley, however, soon returned to ECW to feud with The Sandman
. Funk returned to team up with Sandman, and during a particularly violent spot, the pair hit Cactus with a Singapore cane
forty-six times. Cactus Jack then defeated Funk at Hostile City Showdown 1995. Later, he fought Sandman for the ECW championship. During the match, Cactus Jack knocked Sandman unconscious and was declared the winner. Referee Bill Alfonso
, however, reversed his decision on the grounds that the title cannot change hands by knockout.
Returning to the IWA, Cactus Jack began a feud with Leatherface
, whom he had betrayed during a tag team match. Foley also continued to wrestle in independent circuits, winning championships on the Ozark Mountain and Steel City circuits. On August 20, 1995, IWA organized a "King of the Death Match" tournament. Each level of the tournament featured a new and deadly gimmick: Cactus Jack's first round was a barbed-wire baseball bat, thumbtack death match, in which he defeated Terry Gordy; the second round was a barbed-wire board, bed of nails match where Cactus Jack defeated Shoji Nakamaki. The final, against Terry Funk, was a barbed-wire rope, barbed-wire and C4
board, time-bomb death match, which Cactus Jack won with help from Tiger Jeet Singh
. After the match, both men were ravaged by the wire, and burned by the C4 explosions. Foley later said that he only received $300 for the entire night but, "looking back [in 2010 he wrote that] that match in Honjo is probably the performance I'm proudest of." After the tournament, he teamed with Tracy Smothers
for a quick run with the IWA tag team titles.
Foley then returned to ECW to team with Tommy Dreamer
. Cactus began a gimmick where he criticized hardcore wrestling and sought to renounce his status as a hardcore wrestling icon. He said that he was on a mission to save his partner from making the mistake of trying to please bloodthirsty fans. The mismatched partnership lasted until August 5, 1995, when Cactus turned on Dreamer when they were teaming against The Pitbulls
. Cactus Jack DDT'ed his partner and joined Raven's Nest, as he wished to serve Raven
's "higher purpose." He remained one of Raven's top henchmen for the remainder of his time in ECW. On August 28, Cactus beat the previously undefeated 911. As part of Foley's heel gimmick, he began praising WWF and WCW on ECW television, which angered ECW fans. Their anger intensified once word began to spread that Foley was leaving to join the WWF (In Have a Nice Day, Foley recounted an incident where he asked an ECW roadie to sell T-shirts for him at an event held in a Queens, New York venue where he had been popular in even as a heel; the man came back after being spat upon numerous times by angry fans, who made him fear for his life). Even when he tried to give sincere good-byes to the fans, Cactus Jack was met with chants of "You sold out" by the ECW fanbase everywhere he went. Cactus was booked to face WWF hater Shane Douglas
, who won when he put Jack into a figure four leglock that allowed Mikey Whipwreck to hit him repeatedly with a steel chair. Foley's last ECW match was against Whipwreck on March 9, 1996, and he recounts that he was not looking forward to it due to the increasingly hostile reactions he got even when he wasn't in character. The ECW fans, who knew that this was Foley's last match, finally returned his affection. They cheered him throughout the match and chanted, "Please don't go!" After the match, Foley told the audience that their reaction made everything worthwhile and made his exit by dancing with Stevie Richards
and The Blue Meanie
. Foley has said that this exit was his favorite moment in wrestling.
s; hence, his specialty match, the Boiler Room brawl. The original name that Vince McMahon
had for Foley was "Mason the Mutilator", but Foley thought that Mankind would be a better name and McMahon changed it. Mankind debuted the day after WrestleMania XII
, quickly moving into a feud with The Undertaker. This feud continued through King of the Ring, Mankind's WWF pay-per-view debut. During the match, Undertaker's manager, Paul Bearer, "accidentally" struck him with the urn, allowing Mankind to apply the mandible claw for the win. The two then began interfering in each other's matches until they were booked in the first ever Boiler Room brawl, in which the goal was to escape the arena's boiler room and reach the ring to take the urn from Paul Bearer.
The Undertaker appeared to have won, but Paul Bearer refused to hand him the urn, allowing Mankind to win, thus (for the time being) ending the relationship between Paul and the Undertaker. While Mankind was managed by Paul Bearer, he referred to him as "Uncle Paul." Mankind then earned the number one contendership to face the then WWF Champion Shawn Michaels
at In Your House: Mind Games
. Michaels won by disqualification via interference by Vader and The Undertaker. For several years, Foley considered this match his best ever, saying "Sure, at 280 pounds I still looked like hell, but after a brutal cardiovascular training regimen, I was able to go full-tilt for twenty-seven minutes with a smaller, quicker, better athlete than me."
The Mankind-Undertaker feud continued with the first ever Buried Alive match
at In Your House: Buried Alive
. Undertaker won the match, but Paul Bearer, Terry Gordy
(as the Executioner), Mankind and other heels attacked the Undertaker and buried him alive. Afterward, he challenged Mankind to a match at Survivor Series
, which he won. The feud ended after one more match at In Your House: Revenge of the Taker
for the WWF Championship, which Undertaker had won at WrestleMania 13
. Undertaker won the match and Bearer took a leave of absence, ending the feud.
Jim Ross
then began conducting a series of interviews with Mankind. During the interviews, Ross brought up the topic of Foley's home videos and the character he played in them, Dude Love. Around this time, Stone Cold Steve Austin
and Shawn Michaels won the WWF Tag Team Championships from Owen Hart
and The British Bulldog
, but Michaels was injured and could no longer compete. Mankind tried to replace him, but Austin said he wanted "nothing to do with a freak" and resigned himself to facing Hart and the Bulldog alone the next week. Halfway into the match, however, Foley debuted a new persona
known as Dude Love who suddenly appeared and helped Austin take the victory, becoming the new Tag Team Champions. The following week in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dude teamed with Austin, and Mankind's longtime nemesis, The Undertaker, to face Bret Hart
, Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith, members of villainous anti-American
stable, the Hart Foundation
, in a USA vs. Canada Flag Match—the first match of its kind broadcast on Raw. The Hart Foundation would ultimately win the match due to assistance from another Foundation member, Brian Pillman
. Austin and Dude vacated their tag team titles when Austin suffered a (legitimate) serious neck injury at the hands of Owen Hart at SummerSlam
. Dude Love feuded with Hunter Hearst Helmsley
, as the two competed in a Falls Count Anywhere match. One of Foley's most memorable vignettes aired before the match began, in which Dude Love and Mankind discussed who should wrestle the upcoming match. Eventually, "they" decided that it should be Cactus Jack, and Foley's old character made his WWF debut. Jack won the match with a Piledriver
through a table. Shortly thereafter, Extreme Championship Wrestling
's Terry Funk
joined the WWF as "Chainsaw Charlie," and he and Jack defeated the New Age Outlaws
at WrestleMania XIV
in a Dumpster match to win the tag team titles. The next night, however, Vince McMahon
stripped them of the belts and scheduled a rematch in a steel cage, which the Outlaws won with help from their new allies, D-Generation X
.
On April 6, 1998, Foley turned heel when Cactus Jack explained the fans would not see him anymore because they did not appreciate him and only cared about Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince McMahon
explained to Austin the next week that he would face a "mystery" opponent at Unforgiven. That opponent turned out to be Dude Love, who won the match by disqualification, meaning that Austin retained the title. McMahon, displeased with the outcome, required Foley to prove he deserved another shot at Austin's title with a number one contendership match against his former partner, Terry Funk. The match was both the WWF's first ever "Hardcore match
" and the first time that Foley wrestled under his own name. Foley won, and after the match, a proud McMahon came out to Dude Love's music and presented Foley with the Dude Love costume. At Over the Edge
, Dude Love took on Austin for the title. McMahon designated his subordinates Gerald Brisco
and Pat Patterson as the timekeeper and ring announcer, and made himself the special referee. The Undertaker, however, came to ringside to ensure McMahon called the match fairly, and with his presence, Dude Love lost the match and was "fired" by McMahon the June 1st edition of Raw.
famously shouting "Good God almighty! Good God almighty! That killed him! As God as my witness, he is broken in half!", and "Good God, Good God! Will somebody stop the damn match? Enough's enough!". With both men back on the top of the cell, Undertaker chokeslam
med Mankind, and a section of the cage gave way. Foley fell through and hit the ring hard; the cage giving way was a surprise to both Foley and the Undertaker, and the Undertaker later admitted he thought Foley was dead. A chair that had been atop the cage also slammed Foley's head and knocked out a tooth as he hit the canvas. He was also knocked unconscious for a few moments from the impact, but he finished the match after waking up. After getting up, the tooth could be seen up his nose, and his mouth was bleeding. Although Mankind lost, both wrestlers received a standing ovation for the match, and the event is often said to have jump-started Foley's main event career.
Many future matches attempted to replicate some of the spots from this match. In his autobiography Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Foley wrote that he couldn't remember much of what happened, and he had to watch a tape of the match to write about it. The match was voted Pro Wrestling Illustrateds Match of the Year for 1998. Although many fans regard the match as a classic, it has generated controversy as well. Critics charge that the falls in the match were so extreme and they set the bar for further bumps so high that the inevitable attempts to equal or surpass them would be unsafe for the wrestlers involved. Additionally, in his autobiography, Terry Funk
wrote that both falls, including the second one through the cage, had been planned with the cell designers, but the cell was supposed to sag rather than break open. Foley said in his first book that his wife cried during a post match phone conversation between the two, and this made Foley strongly consider retiring from wrestling. He also said that after the match, Vince McMahon thanked him for all he had done for the company, but made Foley promise to "never do anything like that again." He also made mention in the book of a rather humorous exchange he and Undertaker had backstage while being checked out by Dr. Pettit, the company's resident doctor. Foley, still somewhat dazed from the concussion he sustained, turned to the Undertaker and asked "Did I use the thumbtacks?", a staple of some of Foley's early matches. The Undertaker looked at him and rather sternly replied "Look at your arm, Mick!", at which point Foley discovered a significant number of thumbtacks still lodged in his arm.
The following month Foley began an angle with Vince McMahon, with Mankind trying to be a friend to the hated Mr. McMahon. On a September episode of Raw, while McMahon was in a hospital nursing wounds suffered at the hands of The Undertaker and Kane, Mankind arrived to cheer him up. Having succeeded only in irritating McMahon, Mankind unveiled a sock puppet named Mr. Socko. Intended to be a one-time joke, Socko became an overnight sensation. Mankind began putting the sock on his hand before applying his finisher, the mandible claw, stuffing a smelly sock in the mouths of opposing wrestlers. The sweatsock became massively popular with the fans, mainly because it was marketed (mostly by Jerry "The King" Lawler
during the events) as being a dirty, smelly, sweaty, repulsive, and vile sock.
McMahon manipulated Mankind, who saw the WWF owner as a father figure, into doing his bidding. McMahon created the Hardcore Championship
and awarded it to Mankind, making him the first-ever champion of the hardcore division. Mankind was then pushed as the favorite to win the WWF Championship at Survivor Series
, as McMahon appeared to be manipulating the tournament so that Mankind would win. He and The Rock both reached the finals, where McMahon turned on Mankind. As The Rock placed Mankind in the Sharpshooter, McMahon ordered the timekeeper to ring the bell even though Mankind did not submit, a reference to the Montreal Screwjob
from the year before. As a result of Survivor Series, Mankind officially transitioned into a fan favorite, while The Rock became a villain and the crown jewel in McMahon's new Corporation
faction.
After weeks of trying to get his hands on McMahon's new faction, the Corporation
, Mankind received a title shot with The Rock at In Your House
. Mankind knocked The Rock out by shoving a dirty sweatsock in the Rock's mouth, but McMahon ruled that the title would not change hands because The Rock never gave up. After several weeks of going after the Corporation, Mankind had his big night on December 29, where Mankind defeated The Rock and won his first WWF championship. The taped show was broadcast on January 4, 1999, so that is the date WWE recognizes as beginning the title run. Having title changes on broadcast television rather than pay-per-view was uncommon in professional wrestling, but because of the Monday Night Wars, TV ratings became more important. The rival WCW, attempting to take advantage of the fact that their show Monday Nitro aired live while Mankind's title victory was taped the week before, had announcer Tony Schiavone
reveal the ending of the Mankind-Rock match before it aired. He then added sarcastically, "That'll put a lot of butts in the seats." The move backfired for WCW, as Nielsen ratings
showed that Raw won the ratings battle that night, despite the Hogan vs. Nash main event which led to the reformation of the New World Order
. Foley said that the ratings indicate that large numbers of viewers switched from Nitro to Raw to see him win the title and took great personal pride from this, and "Mick Foley put my ass in this seat" signs began showing up at WWF events.
Mankind first lost the WWF title to The Rock in a "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble
. During the match, Foley took several bumps, including eleven unprotected chair shots. This match is featured on Barry Blaustein's documentary Beyond the Mat
, which shows the impact the match had on Foley and his family at ringside. The match ended after Mankind lost consciousness and The Rock's allies played a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" from an earlier interview. The match was also voted 1999's Match of the Year by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Mankind won the title back at a rematch on Halftime Heat, which aired during halftime at Super Bowl XXXIII
, in the WWF's first ever Empty Arena match. The two then competed in a Last Man Standing match
at St. Valentine's Day Massacre
, which ended without a winner, meaning that Mankind retained the title. Mankind was said to have thrown out his left shoulder early in the match, but showed no signs of it and refused to stop the match. It had to be popped back into place afterward. The next night, Mr. McMahon booked a ladder match for the championship, which The Rock won with help from The Big Show
. Later in the year, Foley and The Rock patched up their friendship and teamed up to form a comedy team called the Rock 'n' Sock Connection
, becoming one of the most popular teams during that time. The pair won the tag team titles on three occasions. Foley helped WWF Raw achieve its highest ratings
ever with a segment featuring himself (as Mankind) and The Rock. The "This is Your Life" segment aired on September 27, 1999 and received an 8.4 rating.
Foley returned from knee surgery as Mankind to win the WWF Championship for the third time at SummerSlam
in a triple threat match against Steve Austin and Triple H
. It is believed that Mankind was booked to win the championship that night because Austin refused to lose it to Triple H. Foley stated the reason he was booked into the match was because Austin had torn a ligament in his knee and a triple threat match would add enough intangibles to make an acceptable match without aggravating Austin's knee. Mankind's win also led to an enraged Triple H to assault Austin, justifying Austin's absence while his knee healed. Triple H defeated Mankind and won the title the next night on Raw. A major feud developed between Mankind and the McMahon-Helmsley regime, led by Triple H, which led to Mankind's reverting to his Cactus Jack persona and facing Triple H for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble
in a Street Fight
. Cactus used barbed wire and thumbtacks, trademark weapons from his pre-WWF days, but Triple H won the match after delivering two pedigrees, the second onto a pile of tacks. This feud culminated with a rematch at No Way Out
in a Hell in a Cell match, where stipulations held that if Cactus Jack did not win the title, Foley would retire from wrestling. Triple H won, after throwing Foley over him onto the cage. The cage gave away, snapped and Foley fell through the canvas thus ending the match, ostensibly ending Foley's career. Foley left for a few weeks but returned at the request of Linda McMahon
to wrestle for the title at WrestleMania 2000
against Triple H, The Rock, and The Big Show. Triple H won, and Foley did not wrestle again for four years.
After retiring from active competition, Foley served as storyline WWF Commissioner under his real name rather than one of his personas
. Foley has said that he intended for his Commissioner Foley character to be a "role model for nerds," cracking lame jokes and making no attempt to appear tough or scary. He also had a knack during this time to have no one spot for his office; rather, Mick would have an office in all sorts of odd places (for example, closets). Foley turned getting cheap pop
s into something of a catchphrase, as he shamelessly declared at each WWF show that he was thrilled to be "right here in (whatever city he was performing in (e.g, New York))!" punctuated with an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up gesture. During this time, Commissioner Foley engaged in rivalries with Kurt Angle
, Edge and Christian
, and Vince McMahon without actually wrestling them. He left the position in December 2000 after being "fired" on screen by McMahon.
Foley made a surprise return on the Monday Night Raw just prior to WrestleMania X-Seven
and announced that he would be the special guest referee in the match between Mr. McMahon and his son Shane at WrestleMania. After WrestleMania, Foley made sporadic WWF TV appearances throughout the spring and summer, at one point introducing Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura during a taping of Raw in the state as a foil to Mr. McMahon, as well as serving as the guest referee for the Earl Hebner versus Nick Patrick Referee match at the WWF Invasion
pay-per-view.
Foley returned as commissioner in October 2001, near the end of The Invasion angle. During this brief tenure, Foley had the opportunity to shoot
on the WWF's direction and how dissatisfied he was with it. Saying that there were far too many championships in the company, he booked unification matches prior to the final pay-per-view of the storyline, Survivor Series
. After Survivor Series, he ended his commissionership at Vince McMahon's request and left the company.
, he was honored for his achievements in the ring and presented with the retired WWE Hardcore Championship
belt. The evening ended with Foley taking a beating and kicked down stairs by Randy Orton
and Ric Flair
. In December 2003, Foley returned to replace Steve Austin as co-general manager of Raw. He soon grew tired of the day-to-day travel and left his full-time duties to write and spend time with his family. In the storyline, Foley was afraid to wrestle a match with Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton and walked out of the arena rather than face him.
In 2004, Foley returned briefly to wrestling, competing in the Royal Rumble and eliminating both Orton and himself with his trademark Cactus Jack clothesline. He and The Rock reunited as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection and lost a handicap match to Evolution
at WrestleMania XX
when Orton pinned Foley with an RKO as Foley pulled out Mr. Socko, this match turned out to be The Rock's final match (before a 7 year break) in the WWE. The two continued to feud, culminating in a hardcore match
for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
at Backlash
, where Orton defeated Foley as his Cactus Jack persona
to retain the title with a botched RKO onto a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, which Foley now regards as possibly the best match of his career. Later in the year, he would make a one-time appearance at Japanese promotion HUSTLE, challenging for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against then champion, Toshiaki Kawada
, albeit in a losing effort.
Foley appeared as a color commentator at WWE's ECW One Night Stand
, which aired on June 12, 2005, and subsequently renewed his contract with WWE. Foley returned in 2005 in a match where fans were able to vote on which persona he would appear as—Mankind, Dude Love, or Cactus Jack—against Carlito
at Taboo Tuesday
. Foley cut promos for each character and an online vote was held. The fans voted for Mankind, who went on to win the match. On the February 16, 2006 Raw, Foley returned to referee the WWE Championship match between Edge
and John Cena
. After Cena won, Edge attacked Foley, and the following week, Edge challenged Foley to a match at WrestleMania 22
. Edge defeated Foley after spearing him through a flaming table. In the weeks after the match, Foley turned heel and allied himself with Edge against the newly rejuvenated ECW. This would be the first WWE heel turn (and his final heel turn) of Foley since his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin as Dude Love in 1998. This would also be his first heel run under his real name. Also during that time he would change his "thrilled to be here" catch phrase into a more heelish type way. For example on a RAW epsiode in Las Vegas Foley would say, "I'm thrilled to be right here in Las Vegas!" Then right after that he would say, "Well actually, Las Vegas isn't all that great." Then he would continue to make more negative comments while fans start booing at him. At ECW One Night Stand
, Foley, Edge and Lita
defeated Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer
and Beulah McGillicutty
.
Foley then engaged in a storyline rivalry with Ric Flair, inspired by real-life animosity between the two. In Have a Nice Day!, Foley wrote that Flair was "every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it." In response, Flair wrote in his autobiography that Foley was "a glorified stuntman" and that he was able to climb the ladder in the WWF only because he was friends with the bookers. The two had a backstage confrontation at a Raw event in 2003, but Foley has said that they have largely reconciled. To spark the feud, Flair again called Foley a "glorified stuntman
" and Foley called Flair a "washed up piece of crap" and challenged him to a match. The result was a Two out of Three Falls match at Vengeance
, where Flair beat Foley in two straight falls; with a rollup counter to the figure four in the first and by disqualification in the second after a trashcan shot. After the match, Flair was split wide open by Foley with a barbed wire bat. The two then wrestled an "I Quit" match at SummerSlam
, which Flair won when he forced Foley to quit by threatening Melina
with a barbed wire bat. On the August 21 edition of Raw, Foley literally kissed Vince McMahon
's buttocks
as part of McMahon's "Kiss My Ass Club" gimmick after he threatened to fire Melina. Shortly thereafter, she betrayed Foley and announced that he was fired.
Seven months later, Foley made his return to Raw on March 5, 2007 as a face again and tricked McMahon into giving him his job back. On April 9, Foley contributed to the Make-a-Wish Foundation
and helped a young child named Michael Peña to become an honorary General Manager of the night. Foley appeared again on June 11 for Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night insulting McMahon. Foley also announced his place as a number one contender for the WWE Championship. During the Raw broadcast before Vengeance
, Foley was scheduled to make his official in-ring return in a match against Umaga but he attacked Umaga before the match, and the match was never started. At Vengeance, Foley wrestled in a WWE Championship Challenge match involving WWE Champion John Cena, Randy Orton
, King Booker
, and Bobby Lashley. Cena retained by pinning Foley. A month later, Foley made an appearance on Raw as the special guest referee for a match between Jonathan Coachman
and Mr. McMahon's storyline illegitimate son Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle won the match, after Foley handed him a miniature Mr. Socko. Foley then made an appearance on SmackDown the same week, where he defeated Coachman with Hornswoggle as the special guest referee. On the January 7, 2008 episode of Raw, Foley and his tag team partner Hornswoggle qualified for the Royal Rumble
by defeating The Highlanders
, but Foley was eliminated by Triple H during the Rumble.
Foley debuted as a color commentator for SmackDown alongside Michael Cole
at Backlash
in 2008, replacing Jonathan Coachman
. On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, Foley was kayfabe
attacked by Edge during Edge's promo for his SummerSlam
match against The Undertaker. Foley sat out the August 8 SmackDown to sell his recovery from the injuries. Tazz filled in for Foley as a color commentator on SmackDown, while Raw wrestler Matt Striker
filled in for Tazz on ECW. Foley told Long Island Press pro wrestling columnist Josh Stewart in August 2008 that "creatively, the announcing job wasn't working out too well". Foley allowed his contract with WWE to expire on September 1, 2008 and quietly left the company.
His first indy appearance was on December 12, 2003 for International Wrestling Cartel, where he was the special guest referee for the match between Dusty Rhodes
and Jerry Lawler
.
Foley would not appear on the independent circuit again until May 2004, when he appeared for the Japanese promotion HUSTLE
and returned to the ring to face Toshiaki Kawada
for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, but ended up losing.
On September 14, Foley made his debut for Ring of Honor
(where he made frequent appearances for his entire tenure on the independent circuit) and cut a promo, praising ROH and referring to it as "Ring of Hardcore", thus establishing himself as a babyface
. After his initial appearance with ROH, Foley refereed a match between Jerry Lawler and Slyck Wagner Brown for the New England Wrestling promotion on October 3. On October 15, Foley returned to ROH where he confronted Ricky Steamboat
, who claimed that traditional wrestling was better than hardcore wrestling. The next day, both Foley and Steamboat cut promos on each other, leading to a match between Team Steamboat (Nigel McGuiness and Chad Collyer
) and Team Foley (Dan Maff
and BJ Whitmer) later in the night, which Team Steamboat won. On November 6, Foley teased a heel turn when he called Samoa Joe
(who was then the ROH Champion
) "softcore". On November 20, Foley made a surprise appearance for New York Wrestling Connection, making a run-in during Mikey Whipwreck
and Ken Scampi's match against Mayhem and Tony Burma, where he helped Whipwreck's team win.
Foley made an appearance on the Night of Appreciation for Sabu, where he refereed the match between Shane Douglas and Raven, where Sabu himself interfered in the match and helped Douglas win.
Foley returned to ROH on December 26 at ROH's Final Battle event and had his final confrontation with Ricky Steamboat (who had been rehired with WWE as a road agent), and the two made peace. On January 15, 2005, Foley turned heel after he was confronted by Samoa Joe and hit Joe over the head with a steel chair. One week later, Foley appeared with Border City Wrestling
to referee the match between Alex Shelley
and Chris Sabin
for the BCW Television Championship, which Sabin won.
Foley refereed the main event of the first WrestleReunion
show, which saw Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, and Mike Graham battle Abdullah the Butcher
, Kevin Sullivan
, and CM Punk
.
On February 19, Foley resumed his feud with Samoa Joe in ROH, teasing a return to the ring but instead choosing Vordell Walker
to fight Joe. After Joe defeated Walker, Foley introduced his "backup plan" New Cactus Jack to fight Joe in a second match, which Joe won as well. Foley disappeared from ROH for a while after this.
On February 26, Foley appeared with Frank Goodman's USA Xtreme promotion, cutting a promo saying that there was no need to wait until June for an ECW reunion (referring to the upcoming Hardcore Homecoming
show put being together by Shane Douglas), and brought out Axl Rotten
, Shane Douglas, Chris Candido
, Tammy Sytch, Balls Mahoney
, Al Snow
, Justin Credible, The Sandman
, Terry Funk and Sabu, much to the excitement of the crowd, who began an "E-C-Dub!" chant. But then, out came Raven
, who cut a promo saying that he had only ever been the one true star of ECW and everyone else had just been a jobber
, leading to a match between Raven and Balls Mahoney later in the night, which Raven won by DQ when he threw fire in Mahoney's eyes. After this, Foley and several of the other ECW alumni came to the ring and attacked Raven.
On April 2, Foley appaered with Harley Race
's World League Wrestling to referee a match between Trevor Rhodes and Brandon Bishop, which was ruled a No-Contest. After the match, Rhodes, Bishop, and Johnny Gold all attacked Foley until Terry Funk and Harley Race made the save. Afterwards, Foley left the arena with Funk and Race.
On April 30, Foley refereed a match at a Northeast Wrestling show between Jerry Lawler and King Kong Bundy
, which Lawler won.
On May 7, Foley returned to the ring at the Mark Curtis Memorial Show, teaming with Shane Douglas and with his trainer, Dominic DeNucci
, in his corner, to take on the team of Al Snow and D'Lo Brown
, who were managed by Les Thatcher
. Foley and Douglas won the match.
The main event of the ECW reunion show Hardcore Homecoming was Terry Funk versus Sabu versus Shane Douglas in a Triple Threat Elimination No Ropes Barbed Wire Match. During the middle of the match, Bill Alfonso
, who was in Sabu's corner, began pulling Shane Douglas into the wire, which led to Francine
who was in Douglas' corner, attacking Alfonso. Using this as a distraction, Douglas brought a ladder into the ring when suddenly the lights in the arena went out. When they came back on, Foley was in the ring, as Cactus Jack, wearing a referee shirt. Foley pulled out a barbed-wire wrapped Mr. Socko and applied the Mandible Claw on Douglas, then DDT'd Douglas onto a steel chair. Terry Funk then crawled onto Douglas and eliminated him when Foley made the 3-count. After that, Funk targeted Sabu, throwing him into the barbed wire, then setting up a table and putting Sabu on it. Funk then climbed up the ladder, but before he got far, it collapsed from under his weight, sending him crashing through the table. Sabu then recovered, gave Funk an Arabian Facebuster off a chair, and pinned Funk to win the match. After the match ended, all four of them were greeted with chants of "Terry!" and "Sabu!" and "Foley!" and "Thank You Shane!" and of course "E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub!". The entire locker room emptied moments later and celebrated with Funk, Sabu, Foley, and Douglas in the ring to continued "E-C-Dub" chants.
On July 8, Foley returned to ROH as a face, confronting ROH Champion CM Punk, who had turned heel and mocked ROH and the championship after he had signed with WWE and threatened to take the title with him to WWE. Foley acted as a direct line to Vince McMahon, attempting to convince Punk to defend his title one last time on McMahon's orders before he departed from ROH (which he eventually would.)
On August 13, Foley made an appearance with Ballpark Brawl to make fun of Matt Striker, who had been doing an impersonation of The Rock. Later in the event, Foley refereed the Canes, Tables, and Chairs match between Sandman and Sabu, which Sandman won. After the match, Foley celebrated with Sandman by drinking beer with him in the middle of the ring.
On August 20, Foley returned to ROH again, as a face, to rescue Jade Chung
from Prince Nana
. Foley was then attacked from behind by Alex Shelley and The Embassy until Austin Aries
and Roderick Strong
chased them off. One week later, Foley returned to the ring for the second WrestleReunion show to team with Terry Funk and Dory Funk, Jr in a losing effort against the Midnight Express (Stan Lane
, Bobby Eaton
, and Dennis Condrey
.)
Foley made his final regular appearance with ROH on September 17, when he was in A.J. Styles
' corner in a match against Embassy member Jimmy Rave
, which Styles won. Afterwards, Foley put over ROH huge saying he enjoyed being on ROH shows and would speak highly of it.
Foley made his final major independent circuit appearance on the Tribute to Starrcade show on November 19 as the referee for the match between Dustin Rhodes and Terry Funk, which ended in a No-Contest.
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(TNA). Foley claimed in the statement to be "very excited about the specifics of this agreement and the potential it holds". Foley made his TNA debut on September 5, at a TNA house show giving a short speech about how he loved the product, in which he also belittled WWE. The official TNA Wrestling website featured an image of a smiley face with a variation of Foley's catch phrase, "Have a nice day!" (and, before No Surrender
, "Have a nice Sunday!").
On the September 18, 2008 edition of Impact!, Foley made his first televised appearance for TNA, where Jeff Jarrett
introduced him to the audience on the arena's video wall. Two weeks later, Foley made his full television debut in a promo making comments about the WWE roster, Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle
. At Bound for Glory IV
, he was the special guest enforcer for Jarrett and Angle's match. Later, on Impact!, Foley said goodbye, but was then approached by Jeff Jarrett with a new offer; he later indicated that they had come to terms on a new contract and would make a major announcement the next week. On the October 23 episode of Impact!, Foley announced that he was now co-owner of TNA along with Jarrett, just after Kurt Angle headbutted him.
On November 27, Thanksgiving Day, TNA presented the Turkey Bowl. Alex Shelley
ended up being pinned by Rhino, and Foley handed Rhino the check. Afterwards, the defeated Shelley had to put on a Turkey Suit in compliance with the match rules, albeit with much refusal. However, Shelley "flipped off
" Foley and proceeded to beat him up. In the aftermath, Mick mentioned that Shelley is lucky he still has his job. The Main Event Mafia
's Kevin Nash
, Booker T
, and Scott Steiner
were going to take on Brother Devon, A.J. Styles
, and Mick Foley in his debut matchup at Genesis. Nash, however, suffered a legitimate staph infection and missed Genesis. He was replaced by Cute Kip
. Foley got the pin when he hit Scott Steiner with a double arm DDT onto a chair.
On April 19, 2009 at Lockdown
, he defeated Sting
to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
for his first ever championship in TNA, and his fourth World title overall. Mick did not lose the championship, but Sting became the new leader of the Main Event Mafia by pinning Kurt Angle at Sacrifice
. Foley had also stated on Impact!
tapings that if he retained the TNA World Heavyweight Title at the King of the Mountain match
at Slammiversary
, he would only put the title up in a match once a year. However, he lost the title to Kurt Angle in the King of The Mountain match at Slammiversary. He received a rematch at Victory Road
, commenting he had only submitted once in his career (to Terry Funk, in a spinning toe hold) and swore he'd never do it again. He lost the match when Angle forced him to submit again with the ankle lock.
On July 30, 2009, the 200th episode of Impact!, Foley won the TNA Legends Championship by pinning champion Kevin Nash in a tag team match where Nash teamed with Angle and Foley with Bobby Lashley. At Hard Justice
Nash defeated Foley to regain the title, following interference from Traci Brooks
.
again when he attacked Abyss during and after a TNA World Tag Team Championship
match against Booker T and Scott Steiner. Foley revealed Abyss as the one who tore up his picture and beat him to a bloody pulp with a video tape and the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Abyss then challenged Foley to a Monster's Ball match
which Foley accepted. At Bound for Glory
Abyss defeated Foley in the match. Two weeks later, Foley turned face
by turning on Dr. Stevie and saved Abyss from him. The following week he explained that he had played Dr. Stevie all along and had challenged Abyss to a match at Bound for Glory in order to see how tough he really was. On the November 12 edition of Impact! Raven returned to TNA and saved Stevie's future in the company by costing Abyss a match and throwing a fireball in Foley's face.
After this, Foley turned his attention away from Abyss and Dr. Stevie and concentrated on Hulk Hogan
's arrival in TNA, appearing to be paranoid about Hogan taking over TNA. On the December 3 edition of Impact! Foley teased another heel turn by booking face Kurt Angle in a handicap match, after Angle refused to give him information on who Hogan is bringing to TNA. At Final Resolution
Abyss and Foley defeated Stevie and Raven in a "Foley's Funhouse" tag team match. On January 4, 2010, the day of Hulk Hogan's debut for TNA, Foley was assaulted by the reunited Kevin Nash
, Scott Hall
and Sean Waltman
, when trying to get a meeting with Hogan. On the January 21 edition of Impact! new Executive Producer Eric Bischoff
fired Foley, after claiming to have been attacked by him. On the February 11 edition of Impact!, Bischoff and Foley "talked it over", as Hogan had suggested two weeks prior, and Foley was entered in the 8 Card Stud Tournament at Against All Odds
. The match was a No Disqualification match against Abyss, who won the match and advanced. On the March 15 edition of Impact! Bischoff announced that he would be shaving Foley bald as a punishment for trying to help Jeff Jarrett in a handicap match the previous week. At first Foley was seemingly going along with the plan, but at the last second he shoved Mr. Socko down Bischoff's throat, put him on the barber's chair and shaved him nearly bald. On the following edition of Impact!, Foley lost to Jarrett in a No Disqualification Career vs. Career match set up by Bischoff, forcing Foley to kayfabe
leave TNA. In reality, Foley was taken off television due to him being on his way to exceed the maximum number of dates per year on his contract, at the pace he was making appearances.
, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Stevie Richards, Rhino, Brother Devon, Pat Kenney
and Al Snow
forming the team of EV 2.0. The following week, TNA president Dixie Carter agreed to give the ECW alumni their own reunion pay–per–view event, Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand
, as a celebration of hardcore wrestling and a final farewell to the company. At the event Foley refereed a Final Showdown match between Tommy Dreamer and Raven. On the following edition of Impact!, the ECW alumni, known collectively as Extreme, Version 2.0 (EV 2.0)
, were assaulted by A.J. Styles, Kazarian
, Robert Roode, James Storm
, Douglas Williams
and Matt Morgan of Ric Flair's Fourtune stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA. In August Foley began writing a weekly column for TNA's website. On the October 7, 2010 live edition of Impact!, Foley defeated Ric Flair in a Last Man Standing match. At Bound for Glory
Foley was in EV 2.0's corner, when Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Richards and Sabu defeated Fourtune members Styles, Kazarian, Morgan, Roode and Storm in a Lethal Lockdown match. After not appearing for two months, Foley returned on the December 23 edition of Impact!, confronting Fortune and Immortal
. After Genesis
, Foley once again disappeared from TNA television, but kept making regular appearances at TNA house shows. At the tapings of the May 12 edition of Impact!, Foley made his return to TV as he was revealed as the "Network" consultant, who had been causing problems for Immortal for the past months. On May 23, Foley, who had expressed frustration with TNA and said that he did not plan to renew his contract with the promotion once it would expire in the fall of 2011, made a joke on Twitter
, comparing his Empty Arena match with The Rock to a TNA house show. On the following edition of Impact Wrestling on June 2, Hulk Hogan
announced that Foley had been fired as the Network Executive. This was done to write off Foley, who had asked for his release from TNA, off television. His departure from the promotion was confirmed on June 5, 2011.
on November 2, 2011, making an in-ring promo with The Miz and R-Truth
and then guest refereed the tag team match, appearing again in Manchester on November 5. Foley was in the UK during his comedy tour. Foley returned to Monday Night Raw on November 14, which featured him presenting a "This is Your Life" celebration for John Cena (he presented a similar segment for The Rock 12 years earlier). Among those brought out were Cena's former tag team partner Bull Buchanan
, his former baseball coach, and his father; however the segment was interrupted by The Rock, who delivered a Rock Bottom to Foley before leaving the ring, ending the segment. Foley was the special guest host on the live edition of Smackdown on November 29, 2011.
From May 7 to July 1, 1999, Foley wrote his autobiography — without the aid of a ghostwriter
, as he proudly notes in the introduction — in almost 800 pages of longhand. The book, Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks
, became hugely popular and topped The New York Times
bestseller
list for several weeks. The follow-up, Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling
, was published in 2001 and debuted at number one on the Times list. Foley has also written three children's books, Mick Foley's Halloween Hijinx, Mick Foley's Christmas Chaos, and Tales from Wrescal Lane. He has also authored Tietam Brown
, a coming-of-age story which was nominated for the WHSmith People's Choice Award in 2004. Foley's second novel, Scooter, was published in August 2005. His writing has generally received favorable reviews. The third part of his autobiography was called The Hardcore Diaries
, and highlights his 2004 feud with Randy Orton
, his match and later partnership with Edge, and program with Ric Flair
in 2006. The Hardcore Diaries also spent time on the New York Times bestseller list. Foley's newest book "Countdown to Lockdown" was published on October 1, 2010. On September 30, 2010, Joey Styles
interviewed Foley on WWE.com, even though he's still with TNA, about his new book, while Michael Cole
plugged the book on the September 27 edition of Raw and a piece was published by Foley in Slate of which portions were adapted from Countdown. The promotion of a product released by a Superstar employed by a rival company was a quite unusual move and a welcomed surprise for Foley, who has since stated that he was delighted at the respect shown by his former employer. On November 10, 2010, Foley appeared on The Daily Show
and Off the Record
to discuss the book and his charity work. Countdown to Lockdown wound up becoming Foley's first memoir not to make it to the New York Times bestseller list.
s
. ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-039299-1. (credited as Mankind/Mick Foley)(2001) Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling. ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-103241-7.
(2007) The Hardcore Diaries
. PocketBooks. ISBN 1-4165-3157-2(2010) Countdown to Lockdown: A Hardcore Journal. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-56461-3
Children's fiction
(2001) Mick Foley's Halloween Hijinx. HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-000251-4.
(2004) Tales From Wrescal Lane. World Wrestling Entertainment.ISBN 0-7434-6634-9.
Adult fiction
. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41550-5.(2005) Scooter. Knopf. ISBN 1-4000-4414-6.
One of Foley's earliest acting roles was in 1996. Shortly before he left for Stamford
, Foley appeared in Atlanta filmmakers Barry Norman and Michael Williams' short subject
Deadbeats as "Bird", an armed robber
turned debt collector
. One of Foley's first TV guest appearances was as a wrestler on USA Network
's short-lived action-comedy G vs E
. He also featured prominently in the documentary
Beyond the Mat
. Foley, as Mankind, also starred in a series of commercials for Chef Boyardee
's beef ravioli. He appeared in the Insane Clown Posse
vehicle Big Money Hustlas
as Cactus Sac, which was basically the same character as his Cactus Jack persona.
In late 2001, Foley hosted a series of Robot Wars
dubbed "Extreme Warriors." He also provided a guest voice for two episodes of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender
, in which he portrayed a satirical earthbending wrestler named the Boulder (essentially a parody of Foley's friend and former partner the Rock), and provided the voice for Gorrath in the pilot episode of Megas XLR
. Foley appeared in an episode of Boy Meets World
as Mankind, giving advice to Eric Matthews before giving Eric the mandible claw and an airplane spin. Foley was also a voice in an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch
where he was an animated version of Mankind doing a stunt from the ceiling, and later in the same episode he fought and defeated Ernest Hemingway
. Foley also had a small role in the 2007 thriller movie Anamorph
starring Willem Dafoe
.
Foley has frequently appeared on Air America Radio's Morning Sedition, including several stints as a guest host and has appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show. He also hosted WWE's radio show. Foley also occasionally appears on the Opie and Anthony Show
. In the summer of 2007, Mick Foley was filmed for the film Bloodstained Memoirs
, a wrestling documentary.
In 2009, Foley had a guest voice appearance on Adult Swim
show Squidbillies
as Thunder Clap, a former pro-wrestler (strongly resembling Hulk Hogan in both appearance and speech), who had recently gone through some tough times, during the Season 4 episode "Anabolic-holic". On August 22, 2009, Foley made his stand-up
debut at the Improv
in Los Angeles, CA. The event is being billed the "Total Xtreme Comedy show" and also features comedians, Steve Simone, Brad Williams
, Bret Ernst
and Ring of Honor
's Colt Cabana, who is also making his stand-up debut. The money Foley makes from the event will go to Wrestler's Rescue, which creates awareness and helps raise money to support the health care needs of retired professional wrestlers. In October 2009, Foley was guest DJ on E Street Radio
, a Satellite radio station dedicated to the music of Bruce Springsteen
.
On November 19, 2009 Foley made his first appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Deemed the "Senior Ass Kicker", Foley defended the pro-gay rights views of Will Phillips
. He showed up again on March 15, 2010 to help correspondent Wyatt Cenac
compare politics to pro wrestling, giving speeches for and against the use of the filibuster
. Due to his charitable work and for standing up for a Will Phillips, Foley was awarded a "Medal of Reasonableness" by Jon Stewart
at the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
In mid 2010, Foley has appeared on Chicago Comic Con, where he had his own booth promoting TNA
. He was also interviewed by Victory Records
, mentioning his interest in Swedish hard rock band Sister Sin
.
On September 27, 2010, it was announced that Union Square Agency and American Original would be producing a feature film based on Foley's life.
In November 2010 Foley was a contestant on an all TNA week of Family Feud
, teaming with Jay Lethal
, Matt Morgan, Mr. Anderson
and Rob Van Dam against Angelina Love, Christy Hemme
, Lacey Von Erich
, Tara
and Velvet Sky
.
Much of Foley's charitable work revolves around children. Among his involvement, Foley has participated in numerous Make-a-Wish Foundation
events, has made surprise visits to children in hospitals, and has visited schools and libraries to talk to students about the value of education and the importance of reading. Foley sponsors seven children with ChildFund International (formerly Christian Children's Fund), a group he has been affiliated with since 1992. In recent years, he has become one of the fund's leading donors, helping fund childhood education centers in the remote areas of the Philippines
and Mexico
, as well as four small community schools in the war-torn West African country of Sierra Leone
. After visiting the country in November 2008, an experience he called "one of the best experiences of my life; maybe the best," Foley committed to funding a larger primary school as well, which was completed in September 2009.
Foley has visited U.S. troops at various military bases and military hospitals. For several years Foley visited wounded soldiers at Washington D.C.-based military hospitals on almost a monthly basis, becoming known as a "Legend among hurt troops," according to a Washington Times article.
Having become a devoted fan of Tori Amos
' music in 1993, (particularly the song "Winter
" from the Little Earthquakes
album), and following a meeting with Amos at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, Foley became involved with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), a group Amos co-founded in 1994. Since then, he has worked as a volunteer on their online hotline and as a member of their National Leadership Council. During a 15-month period ending in April 2011, Foley logged more than 550 hours talking to victims online. The same month, Foley offered to mow anyone's lawn who donated up to a certain amount to the organization, stating, "If you want to help survivors of sexual assault, or just want to see a big guy with long hair mowing your lawn in front of your friends, please take part..."
Continuing his campaign for the organization, in May 2011 Foley auctioned off on eBay two famous items associated with his wrestling career: his Cactus Jack lace-up "leopard skin" boots (still embedded with 149 thumbtacks from his Impact match with Ric Flair); and the white shirt that he wore as Mankind during 1998's "Hell in a Cell" match, among other items.
Foley has been outspoken in his support for the Democratic party
. During the 2004 election cycle, Foley argued the Democratic point of view in a WWE-sponsored debate against John "Bradshaw" Layfield, who spoke for the Republican
side. He was a contributor to Barack Obama
's campaign for the U.S. presidency
in 2008.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
semi-retired professional wrestler
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
, author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, comedian
Comedian
A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience, primarily by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting a fool, as in slapstick, or employing prop comedy...
, actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
, voice actor
Voice acting
Voice acting is the art of providing voices for animated characters and radio and audio dramas and comedy, as well as doing voice-overs in radio and television commercials, audio dramas, dubbed foreign language films, video games, puppet shows, and amusement rides.Performers are called...
and former color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
, ECW
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
and TNA
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
he shares with Terry Funk
Terry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
. He is currently signed to WWE.
Throughout his wrestling career, Foley has wrestled both under his real name and under various persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
s (most notably Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind). He was the first ever WWF Hardcore Champion
WWE Hardcore Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship is a hardcore wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and is contested under "hardcore" rules, meaning there is no disqualifications, no countouts, and pin falls could be counted anywhere...
and also a three-time WWF Champion
WWE Championship
The WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
as Mankind. He won the WWF World tag team title eight times, the ECW World tag team title two times and the WCW World tag team title
WCW World Tag Team Championship
The World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
once. Following his retirement from wrestling full-time, Foley appeared occasionally with WWE as a special guest referee and later as a color commentator
Color commentator
A color commentator is a sports commentator who assists the play-by-play announcer, often by filling in any time when play is not in progress. The color analyst and main commentator will often exchange comments freely throughout the broadcast, when the play-by-play announcer is not describing the...
for the SmackDown brand
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...
.
Upon his departure from the company in 2008, he signed with TNA, where he was the storyline
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
majority stock holder of the company. There, Foley has held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA World Heavyweight Championship
The TNA World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is currently the highest ranked championship in TNA and is primarily defended in TNA's heavyweight division...
and the TNA Legends Championship (now known as the TNA Television Championship). In addition to wrestling, Foley is a multiple-time New York Times bestselling
New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers of 2001
This is a list of adult non-fiction books that topped The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list in 2001....
autobiographer. He was also a subject of the documentary Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat is a 1999 documentary directed by Barry W. Blaustein. The movie focuses on the lives of professional wrestlers outside of the ring, primarily Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Jake Roberts, as well as some aspiring wrestlers...
, which followed him at the peak of his career. More recently, he appeared in Bloodstained Memoirs
Bloodstained Memoirs
Bloodstained Memoirs is a professional wrestling documentary released online via an official stream in 2009. It is compiled by interviews featuring wrestlers synonymous with different eras in wrestling and different wrestling regions . Production was filmed in the UK, USA, France, Japan, and Italy...
, another wrestling documentary.
Early life
Foley was born in Bloomington, IndianaBloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
. Shortly after he was born, Foley's family moved to Setauket, New York
Setauket-East Setauket, New York
Setauket-East Setauket is a census-designated place in Suffolk County, New York on the North Shore of Long Island along the "Gold Coast." As of the United States 2000 Census, the CDP population was 15,931. It is one of the most affluent communities in the state and is among the wealthiest towns...
, where Foley attended Ward Melville High School
Ward Melville High School
Ward Melville High School is a public high school in the Three Village Central School District of Suffolk County, New York on Long Island, serving grades ten through twelve. It is fed by the two junior high schools in the district: Paul J...
, played lacrosse
Lacrosse
Lacrosse is a team sport of Native American origin played using a small rubber ball and a long-handled stick called a crosse or lacrosse stick, mainly played in the United States and Canada. It is a contact sport which requires padding. The head of the lacrosse stick is strung with loose mesh...
, and wrestled
Scholastic wrestling
Scholastic wrestling, sometimes known in the United States as Folkstyle wrestling, is a style of amateur wrestling practised at the high school and middle school levels in the United States. This wrestling style is essentially Collegiate wrestling with some slight modifications. It is currently...
. Foley was also a high school classmate of comic actor Kevin James of The King of Queens
The King of Queens
The King of Queens is an American sitcom that originally ran on CBS from September 21, 1998, to May 14, 2007.This show was produced by Hanley Productions and CBS Productions , CBS Paramount Television ,and CBS Television Studios in association with Columbia TriStar Television , and Sony Pictures...
. The two were on the wrestling team together. While a student at State University of New York at Cortland
State University of New York at Cortland
The State University of New York College at Cortland, also officially called SUNY Cortland or informally known as Cortland State, is a coeducational university located in Cortland, New York...
, he hitchhiked to Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
to see his favorite wrestler, Jimmy Snuka
Jimmy Snuka
James William "Jimmy" Reiher is a semi-retired Fijian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Originally from the Fiji Islands, Snuka wrestled for several promotions in the 1970s and 1980s. Snuka is a two-time world heavyweight champion, having been a...
, in a steel cage match against Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...
. Foley has said that Snuka's flying body splash from the top of the cage inspired him to pursue a career in pro wrestling. Foley is visible on the WWE video of the event.
Professional wrestling career
Mick Foley formally trained at Dominic DeNucciDominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci is an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is also an accomplished trainer, counting former World Heavyweight champions Mick Foley and Shane Douglas, as well as referee Brian Hildebrand, among his students.-Early career:...
's wrestling school in Freedom, Pennsylvania
Freedom, Pennsylvania
Freedom is a borough in Beaver County, Pennsylvania, United States, along the Ohio River northwest of Pittsburgh. In the early years of the twentieth century, the chief industries were the production of oil, caskets, and monuments. In 1900, 1,783 people lived in Freedom; in 1910, 3,060 people...
, driving several hours weekly from his college campus in Cortland, New York
Cortland, New York
Cortland is a city in Cortland County, New York, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a population of 18,740. It is the county seat of Cortland County.The City of Cortland, near the west border of the county, is surrounded by the Town of Cortlandville....
, and debuted in 1983. In addition to appearing on DeNucci's cards, Foley and several other students also took part in some squash matches for WWF
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
TV tapings, where he wrestled under the name "Jack Foley". In one of these matches Foley and Les Thornton
Les Thornton
Les Thornton is a retired British professional wrestler who competed in European and North American regional promotions throughout the 1970s and 1980s including Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance...
faced the British Bulldogs
British Bulldogs
The British Bulldogs were the team of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Tom Billington , professional wrestlers who competed through most of the 1980s in both North America, England, and Japan and is by many considered one of the top tag-teams in history.-Early years :In the 1970s, Dynamite Kid and Davey...
, during which The Dynamite Kid
Dynamite Kid
Thomas Wilton Billington , best known by the ring name Dynamite Kid, is a retired British professional wrestler who competed in the World Wrestling Federation, Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro Wrestling in the mid- to late-1980s...
clotheslined Foley with such force that he was unable to eat solid food for several weeks.
After several years of wrestling in the independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
, Foley began receiving offers from various regional promotions, including the UWF. He joined Memphis-based CWA as Cactus Jack, where he teamed with Gary Young as part of the Stud Stable
Stud Stable
The Stud Stable was a professional wrestling heel stable in World Championship Wrestling, Southeast Championship Wrestling and the Continental Wrestling Association.-History:...
. Cactus and Young briefly held the CWA tag titles in late 1988. On November 20, Foley left CWA for Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
.
In World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling
World Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
(WCCW), Cactus Jack, billed as Cactus Jack Manson, was a major part of Skandor Akbar's stable. Foley also won several titles, including the company's light heavyweight and tag team titles before leaving the company, losing his last match to Eric Embry
Eric Embry
Douglas Eric Embry is a retired professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with World Class Championship Wrestling and the United States Wrestling Association as The Flamboyant Eric Embry...
in nine seconds. He then briefly competed in Alabama's Continental Wrestling Federation before completing a brief stint with World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
, including a match against Mil Máscaras
Mil Máscaras
Aaron Rodríguez , best known as Mil Máscaras , is a semi-retired Mexican professional wrestler and actor, who has starred in several films with fellow luchadores...
at Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout. It was during this period that Foley was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of his two front teeth, adding to the distinctive look for which he is famous. Following the short stint with WCW, Foley then signed with Herb Abrams
Herb Abrams
Herb C. Abrams was an American professional wrestling promoter from New York.-Career:Abrams founded the Universal Wrestling Federation in 1990 and remained CEO of the company until his death...
's Universal Wrestling Federation
Universal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams)
The Universal Wrestling Federation was an American wrestling promotion based out of Marina del Rey, California.-History:Herb Abrams founded the UWF in 1990 with hopes of returning professional wrestling back to its roots...
. In UWF, Foley teamed with Bob Orton
Bob Orton
Robert Dale "Bob" Orton was an American professional wrestler. He was also known as Bob Orton, Sr. to distinguish him from his son, "Cowboy" Bob Orton, Jr...
to feud with Don Muraco
Don Muraco
Donald Muraco , better known by his ring name "The Rock" Don Muraco, is a retired American professional wrestler...
, Sunny Beach, and Brian Blair
Brian Blair
Brian Leslie Blair is a local politician in Florida, who gained fame as a professional wrestler especially as a part of the Killer Bees.-Career:...
.
He soon left UWF for Tri-State Wrestling
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
(a forerunner to Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
), whose style of high impact and violent wrestling style fit Foley well. On one night, known as Tri-State's Summer Sizzler 1991, Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert had three matches in one night: Cactus won a Falls Count Anywhere match, lost a Stretcher match, and then fought to a double disqualification in a Steel Cage match. These matches caught the attention of World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
promoters, and after a brief stint working in the Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation
Global Wrestling Federation was a professional wrestling promotion based in Dallas, Texas. It started in June 1991 and folded in September 1994. At one time its shows were presented on the ESPN television network. On many weeks, the promotion provided programming five days a week airing at 4 p.m...
, he joined WCW.
World Championship Wrestling (1991–1994)
On September 5, 1991, Cactus Jack debuted as a heelHeel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
and attacked Sting. After feuds with Van Hammer and Abdullah the Butcher
Abdullah the Butcher
Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time...
, Cactus Jack faced Sting, then WCW champion, in a non-title Falls Count Anywhere match at Beach Blast in 1992, which Sting won. For a long time, Foley considered this the best match he ever worked.
After spending his 1½ years with WCW as a heel, Cactus Jack became a face after engaging in a feud with Paul Orndorff, Harley Race and Big Van Vader. Jack and Orndorff wrestled each other in a match for a spot on WCW Champion Vader's team at a Clash of Champions event. After the match, Race and Orndorff beat up Jack, turning him face. Later on at the Clash of Champions, Cactus Jack helped Sting's team win the match. He engaged in a feud with Orndorff, winning a falls-count-anywhere match against Orndorff at Superbrawl III. He then moved on to face Vader.
Cactus Jack wrestled Vader on April 6, 1993, winning by count-out, but being severely beaten in the process. As a result, in the rematch with Vader on April 23, the two executed a dangerous spot to sell a storyline injury. Vader removed the protective mats at ringside and powerbomb
Powerbomb
A powerbomb is a professional wrestling throw in which an opponent is lifted up and then slammed back-first down to the mat. The standard powerbomb sees an opponent first placed in a standing headscissors position...
ed Cactus onto the exposed concrete floor, causing a legitimate concussion and causing Foley to temporarily lose sensation in his left foot. While Foley was away, WCW ran an angle where Cactus Jack's absence was explained with a farcical
Farce
In theatre, a farce is a comedy which aims at entertaining the audience by means of unlikely, extravagant, and improbable situations, disguise and mistaken identity, verbal humour of varying degrees of sophistication, which may include word play, and a fast-paced plot whose speed usually increases,...
comedy storyline in which he went crazy, was institutionalized, escaped, and developed amnesia. Foley had wanted the injury storyline to be very serious and generate genuine sympathy for him before his return. The comedy vignettes that WCW produced instead were so bad that Foley jokes in Have a Nice Day that they were the brainchild of WCW executives who regarded a surefire moneymaking feud as a problem that needed to be solved.
In one of WCW's most brutal matches of all time, Cactus faced Vader in a Texas Death match at Halloween Havoc. Race won the match for Vader by using a cattle prod on Cactus, knocking him out. The level of violence involved in this feud caused WCW to refuse to book Cactus Jack against Vader on a pay-per-view again. On March 16, 1994, during a WCW European tour, Foley and Vader had one of the most infamous matches in wrestling history in Munich, Germany
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. Foley began a hangman, a spot where a wrestler's head is tangled between the top two ring ropes The spot is usually painful but safe (though in WCW the danger factor was raised slightly because their ring ropes were not actual ropes, but elevator cables encased with rubber). Unbeknownst to Foley, however, 2 Cold Scorpio
2 Cold Scorpio
Charles Scaggs is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name 2 Cold Scorpio . Scaggs has competed in Extreme Championship Wrestling, World Championship Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment and Pro Wrestling Noah...
had earlier complained that the ropes were too loose, resulting in the ring staff tightening the ropes to the maximum. As Foley struggled to pull himself out, he tore off two-thirds of his ear and underwent surgery later that day to reattach the cartilage from the ear to his head, so that a total reconstruction would be possible in the future. Later that year, Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)
Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
were scheduled to win the tag team titles at Slamboree in 1994. Foley had to choose between reattaching his ear or wrestling in the pay-per-view and winning the titles. Foley chose to wrestle and won his only championship in WCW. Later on, Foley was frustrated by WCW's reluctance to work a storyline around losing his ear.
WCW also shared a brief co-promotion with ECW during this time in which Foley represented WCW on ECW television as the WCW Tag Team champion. During a promo, Foley spat on his Tag Team title belt and threw it to the ground to appeal to the hardcore fans who frowned upon the mainstream promotions.
ECW, SMW, and Japan (1994–1996)
After leaving WCW, Foley went to the newly formed Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and began a feud with Sabu. Jack then began working the ECW tag team division on teams with Terry FunkTerry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
, Mikey Whipwreck
Mikey Whipwreck
John Watson , better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling where he became the third ECW Triple Crown Champion....
, and Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)
Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
. He had two ECW World Tag Team Championship reigns with Whipwreck while in ECW.
At the tail end of 1994, Foley joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling
Smoky Mountain Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that held events in the Appalachian area of the United States from October 1991 to December 1995, when it was run by Jim Cornette...
(SMW) as Cactus Jack, causing Boo Bradley
Balls Mahoney
Jonathan Rechner better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney , is an American professional wrestler...
to lose the TV Title. He often teamed with Brian Lee
Brian Lee
Brian Lee Harris is a retired American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name "Prime Time" Brian Lee...
to feud with Bradley and Chris Candido
Chris Candido
Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...
. Cactus Jack then began a crusade to rid Bradley of his valet Tammy Lynn Sytch
Tammy Lynn Sytch
Tamara "Tammy" Lynn Sytch is an American professional wrestling manager, personality,and occasional wrestler. She achieved her greatest success under the ring name Sunny within the World Wrestling Federation during the 1990s, and is widely considered as one of the first Divas...
. He ignited a feud between Candido and Bradley when he accused Candido of having sexual relations with Sytch. Cactus Jack left SMW before the feud was resolved.
In 1995, Foley went to Japan and wrestled in International Wrestling Association of Japan
International Wrestling Association of Japan
International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 1996....
, where he engaged in feuds with Terry Funk and Shoji Nakamaki. During his brief stint in Japan Foley had the nickname "Tsunami Stopper." Foley, however, soon returned to ECW to feud with The Sandman
Jim Fullington
James "Jim" Fullington better known by his ring name Sandman, is an American professional wrestler, best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling , where he developed into a "Hardcore Icon"...
. Funk returned to team up with Sandman, and during a particularly violent spot, the pair hit Cactus with a Singapore cane
Shinai
is a weapon used for practice and competition in kendo representing a Japanese sword. Shinai are also used in other martial arts, but may be styled differently from kendo shinai, and represented with different characters....
forty-six times. Cactus Jack then defeated Funk at Hostile City Showdown 1995. Later, he fought Sandman for the ECW championship. During the match, Cactus Jack knocked Sandman unconscious and was declared the winner. Referee Bill Alfonso
Bill Alfonso
William Matthew "Bill" Alfonso is a former professional wrestling referee and manager. He achieved his greatest success in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the mid to late 1990s...
, however, reversed his decision on the grounds that the title cannot change hands by knockout.
Returning to the IWA, Cactus Jack began a feud with Leatherface
Michael Kirchner
Michael Penzel is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his stint in the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Corporal Kirchner and for competing in Japan under the ring name Leatherface.-World Wrestling Federation:After working as talent enhancement for...
, whom he had betrayed during a tag team match. Foley also continued to wrestle in independent circuits, winning championships on the Ozark Mountain and Steel City circuits. On August 20, 1995, IWA organized a "King of the Death Match" tournament. Each level of the tournament featured a new and deadly gimmick: Cactus Jack's first round was a barbed-wire baseball bat, thumbtack death match, in which he defeated Terry Gordy; the second round was a barbed-wire board, bed of nails match where Cactus Jack defeated Shoji Nakamaki. The final, against Terry Funk, was a barbed-wire rope, barbed-wire and C4
C-4 (explosive)
C4 or Composition C4 is a common variety of the plastic explosive known as Composition C.-Composition and manufacture:C4 is made up of explosives, plastic binder, plasticizer and usually marker or odorizing taggant chemicals such as 2,3-dimethyl-2,3-dinitrobutane to help detect the explosive and...
board, time-bomb death match, which Cactus Jack won with help from Tiger Jeet Singh
Tiger Jeet Singh
Jagjit Singh Hans is a semi-retired professional wrestler, known better by his ring name Tiger Jeet Singh. He wrestled as a crazed heel, coming to the ring with a sword in his mouth . Singh wrestled in Japan for 22 years...
. After the match, both men were ravaged by the wire, and burned by the C4 explosions. Foley later said that he only received $300 for the entire night but, "looking back [in 2010 he wrote that] that match in Honjo is probably the performance I'm proudest of." After the tournament, he teamed with Tracy Smothers
Tracy Smothers
Tracy Smothers is an American professional wrestler.-Early career:Tracy started his career in the Memphis promotion on Saturday morning TV. Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers started teaming as The Southern Boys in Florida Championship Wrestling in 1987 where they feuded with The New Breed...
for a quick run with the IWA tag team titles.
Foley then returned to ECW to team with Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
. Cactus began a gimmick where he criticized hardcore wrestling and sought to renounce his status as a hardcore wrestling icon. He said that he was on a mission to save his partner from making the mistake of trying to please bloodthirsty fans. The mismatched partnership lasted until August 5, 1995, when Cactus turned on Dreamer when they were teaming against The Pitbulls
The Pitbulls
The Pitbulls were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where they were one-time World Tag Team Champions...
. Cactus Jack DDT'ed his partner and joined Raven's Nest, as he wished to serve Raven
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...
's "higher purpose." He remained one of Raven's top henchmen for the remainder of his time in ECW. On August 28, Cactus beat the previously undefeated 911. As part of Foley's heel gimmick, he began praising WWF and WCW on ECW television, which angered ECW fans. Their anger intensified once word began to spread that Foley was leaving to join the WWF (In Have a Nice Day, Foley recounted an incident where he asked an ECW roadie to sell T-shirts for him at an event held in a Queens, New York venue where he had been popular in even as a heel; the man came back after being spat upon numerous times by angry fans, who made him fear for his life). Even when he tried to give sincere good-byes to the fans, Cactus Jack was met with chants of "You sold out" by the ECW fanbase everywhere he went. Cactus was booked to face WWF hater Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...
, who won when he put Jack into a figure four leglock that allowed Mikey Whipwreck to hit him repeatedly with a steel chair. Foley's last ECW match was against Whipwreck on March 9, 1996, and he recounts that he was not looking forward to it due to the increasingly hostile reactions he got even when he wasn't in character. The ECW fans, who knew that this was Foley's last match, finally returned his affection. They cheered him throughout the match and chanted, "Please don't go!" After the match, Foley told the audience that their reaction made everything worthwhile and made his exit by dancing with Stevie Richards
Stevie Richards
Michael Manna is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Stevie Richards. Also known by his ring names, Steven Richards and Dr...
and The Blue Meanie
Brian Heffron
Brian Heffron is a professional wrestler and actor better known as The Blue Meanie or Da Blue Guy.-Early career:...
. Foley has said that this exit was his favorite moment in wrestling.
Multiple personalities (1996–1998)
Foley arrived in the WWF in 1996 with a new gimmick: Mankind, a mentally deranged and schizophrenic who constantly squealed (even throughout his matches), shrieked "Mommy!", spoke to a rat, enjoyed pain, physically abused himself (such as by pulling out his hair), wore a mask and lived in boiler roomMechanical room
A mechanical room or a boiler room is a room or space in a building dedicated to the mechanical equipment and its associated electrical equipment. Unless a building is served by a centralized heating plant, the size of the mechanical room is usually proportional to the size of the building...
s; hence, his specialty match, the Boiler Room brawl. The original name that Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
had for Foley was "Mason the Mutilator", but Foley thought that Mankind would be a better name and McMahon changed it. Mankind debuted the day after WrestleMania XII
WrestleMania XII
-Other on-screen talent:-External links:**...
, quickly moving into a feud with The Undertaker. This feud continued through King of the Ring, Mankind's WWF pay-per-view debut. During the match, Undertaker's manager, Paul Bearer, "accidentally" struck him with the urn, allowing Mankind to apply the mandible claw for the win. The two then began interfering in each other's matches until they were booked in the first ever Boiler Room brawl, in which the goal was to escape the arena's boiler room and reach the ring to take the urn from Paul Bearer.
The Undertaker appeared to have won, but Paul Bearer refused to hand him the urn, allowing Mankind to win, thus (for the time being) ending the relationship between Paul and the Undertaker. While Mankind was managed by Paul Bearer, he referred to him as "Uncle Paul." Mankind then earned the number one contendership to face the then WWF Champion Shawn Michaels
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
at In Your House: Mind Games
In Your House 10: Mind Games
In Your House 10: Mind Games was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on September 22, 1996 at the CoreStates Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
. Michaels won by disqualification via interference by Vader and The Undertaker. For several years, Foley considered this match his best ever, saying "Sure, at 280 pounds I still looked like hell, but after a brutal cardiovascular training regimen, I was able to go full-tilt for twenty-seven minutes with a smaller, quicker, better athlete than me."
The Mankind-Undertaker feud continued with the first ever Buried Alive match
Professional wrestling match types
Many types of matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, can be found in the form of performing art that is professional wrestling....
at In Your House: Buried Alive
In Your House 11: Buried Alive
In Your House 11: Buried Alive was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on October 20, 1996 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis, Indiana...
. Undertaker won the match, but Paul Bearer, Terry Gordy
Terry Gordy
Terry Ray 'Bam Bam' Gordy, Sr. was a professional wrestler who was best known in North America for being a member of the Fabulous Freebirds.-Career:...
(as the Executioner), Mankind and other heels attacked the Undertaker and buried him alive. Afterward, he challenged Mankind to a match at Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1996)
Survivor Series was the tenth annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on November 17, 1996 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York....
, which he won. The feud ended after one more match at In Your House: Revenge of the Taker
In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker
In Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker was the fourteenth In Your House professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
for the WWF Championship, which Undertaker had won at WrestleMania 13
WrestleMania 13
WrestleMania 13 was the thirteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
. Undertaker won the match and Bearer took a leave of absence, ending the feud.
Jim Ross
Jim Ross
James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand...
then began conducting a series of interviews with Mankind. During the interviews, Ross brought up the topic of Foley's home videos and the character he played in them, Dude Love. Around this time, Stone Cold Steve Austin
Stone Cold Steve Austin
Steve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
and Shawn Michaels won the WWF Tag Team Championships from Owen Hart
Owen Hart
Owen James Hart was a Canadian professional and amateur wrestler who worked for several promotions including Stampede Wrestling, New Japan Pro Wrestling , World Championship Wrestling , and most notably, the World Wrestling Federation , where he wrestled under both his own name, and ring name The...
and The British Bulldog
Davey Boy Smith
Davey Boy Smith was a British professional wrestler, better known as "The British Bulldog" Davey Boy Smith, who was born in Golborne in North West England, United Kingdom. Smith is known for his appearances with Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling...
, but Michaels was injured and could no longer compete. Mankind tried to replace him, but Austin said he wanted "nothing to do with a freak" and resigned himself to facing Hart and the Bulldog alone the next week. Halfway into the match, however, Foley debuted a new persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
known as Dude Love who suddenly appeared and helped Austin take the victory, becoming the new Tag Team Champions. The following week in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dude teamed with Austin, and Mankind's longtime nemesis, The Undertaker, to face Bret Hart
Bret Hart
Bret Hart is a Canadian on-screen personality, writer, actor and Semi-retired professional wrestler. Like others in the Hart wrestling family, Hart has an amateur wrestling background, including wrestling at Ernest Manning High School and Mount Royal College...
, Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith, members of villainous anti-American
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
stable, the Hart Foundation
The Hart Foundation
The Hart Foundation referred to several teams or stables in the World Wrestling Federation , usually consisted of members or close friends of the Hart wrestling family from Canada....
, in a USA vs. Canada Flag Match—the first match of its kind broadcast on Raw. The Hart Foundation would ultimately win the match due to assistance from another Foundation member, Brian Pillman
Brian Pillman
Brian William Pillman was an American football player and professional wrestler best known for his appearances in the World Wrestling Federation, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Championship Wrestling....
. Austin and Dude vacated their tag team titles when Austin suffered a (legitimate) serious neck injury at the hands of Owen Hart at SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1997)
SummerSlam was the tenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 3, 1997 at the Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, New Jersey.-Background:...
. Dude Love feuded with Hunter Hearst Helmsley
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
, as the two competed in a Falls Count Anywhere match. One of Foley's most memorable vignettes aired before the match began, in which Dude Love and Mankind discussed who should wrestle the upcoming match. Eventually, "they" decided that it should be Cactus Jack, and Foley's old character made his WWF debut. Jack won the match with a Piledriver
Piledriver (professional wrestling)
A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
through a table. Shortly thereafter, Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
's Terry Funk
Terry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
joined the WWF as "Chainsaw Charlie," and he and Jack defeated the New Age Outlaws
New Age Outlaws
The New Age Outlaws, later known as the James Gang and the Voodoo Kin Mafia, were a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Federation, Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , Jersey All Pro Wrestling, and Maryland Championship Wrestling consisting of B.G...
at WrestleMania XIV
WrestleMania XIV
WrestleMania XIV was the fourteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on March 29, 1998 at the FleetCenter in Boston, Massachusetts....
in a Dumpster match to win the tag team titles. The next night, however, Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
stripped them of the belts and scheduled a rematch in a steel cage, which the Outlaws won with help from their new allies, D-Generation X
D-Generation X
D-Generation X was a professional wrestling stable in WWE . The group originated in the midst of the WWF's "Attitude Era" from 1997 to 2000...
.
On April 6, 1998, Foley turned heel when Cactus Jack explained the fans would not see him anymore because they did not appreciate him and only cared about Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
explained to Austin the next week that he would face a "mystery" opponent at Unforgiven. That opponent turned out to be Dude Love, who won the match by disqualification, meaning that Austin retained the title. McMahon, displeased with the outcome, required Foley to prove he deserved another shot at Austin's title with a number one contendership match against his former partner, Terry Funk. The match was both the WWF's first ever "Hardcore match
Hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...
" and the first time that Foley wrestled under his own name. Foley won, and after the match, a proud McMahon came out to Dude Love's music and presented Foley with the Dude Love costume. At Over the Edge
Over the Edge: In Your House
Over the Edge: In Your House was the first of what was to be an annual World Wrestling Federation pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It was also the 22nd pay-per-view event in the In Your House series...
, Dude Love took on Austin for the title. McMahon designated his subordinates Gerald Brisco
Gerald Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco is a former American professional wrestler, and prior to June, 2009, worked as a road agent for WWE on its Raw brand....
and Pat Patterson as the timekeeper and ring announcer, and made himself the special referee. The Undertaker, however, came to ringside to ensure McMahon called the match fairly, and with his presence, Dude Love lost the match and was "fired" by McMahon the June 1st edition of Raw.
Hell in a Cell
On that same episode of Raw, Foley then reverted to his Mankind character, who began wearing an untucked shirt with a loose necktie and feuding with The Undertaker. At King of the Ring, the two competed in the third Hell in a Cell match. In one of the most famous matches in professional wrestling history, Foley received numerous injuries and took two dangerous and highly influential bumps. The first one came as both wrestlers were brawling on top of the cell, and Undertaker threw Mankind from a height of 16 feet (4.9 m) and sent him crashing through the Spanish announcers' table. This event also triggered Jim RossJim Ross
James William "Jim" Ross is a professional wrestling commentator, former professional wrestling referee, restaurateur, occasional wrestler, and former company executive of WWE, where he currently works as a commentator on the WWE Raw brand...
famously shouting "Good God almighty! Good God almighty! That killed him! As God as my witness, he is broken in half!", and "Good God, Good God! Will somebody stop the damn match? Enough's enough!". With both men back on the top of the cell, Undertaker chokeslam
Chokeslam
A chokeslam refers to a type of body slam in professional wrestling in which the wrestler grasps their opponent's neck, lifts them up, and slams them to the mat. It is common in televised wrestling because it is simple and relatively safe, yet looks powerful on camera...
med Mankind, and a section of the cage gave way. Foley fell through and hit the ring hard; the cage giving way was a surprise to both Foley and the Undertaker, and the Undertaker later admitted he thought Foley was dead. A chair that had been atop the cage also slammed Foley's head and knocked out a tooth as he hit the canvas. He was also knocked unconscious for a few moments from the impact, but he finished the match after waking up. After getting up, the tooth could be seen up his nose, and his mouth was bleeding. Although Mankind lost, both wrestlers received a standing ovation for the match, and the event is often said to have jump-started Foley's main event career.
Many future matches attempted to replicate some of the spots from this match. In his autobiography Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks, Foley wrote that he couldn't remember much of what happened, and he had to watch a tape of the match to write about it. The match was voted Pro Wrestling Illustrateds Match of the Year for 1998. Although many fans regard the match as a classic, it has generated controversy as well. Critics charge that the falls in the match were so extreme and they set the bar for further bumps so high that the inevitable attempts to equal or surpass them would be unsafe for the wrestlers involved. Additionally, in his autobiography, Terry Funk
Terry Funk
Terrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
wrote that both falls, including the second one through the cage, had been planned with the cell designers, but the cell was supposed to sag rather than break open. Foley said in his first book that his wife cried during a post match phone conversation between the two, and this made Foley strongly consider retiring from wrestling. He also said that after the match, Vince McMahon thanked him for all he had done for the company, but made Foley promise to "never do anything like that again." He also made mention in the book of a rather humorous exchange he and Undertaker had backstage while being checked out by Dr. Pettit, the company's resident doctor. Foley, still somewhat dazed from the concussion he sustained, turned to the Undertaker and asked "Did I use the thumbtacks?", a staple of some of Foley's early matches. The Undertaker looked at him and rather sternly replied "Look at your arm, Mick!", at which point Foley discovered a significant number of thumbtacks still lodged in his arm.
WWF Championship and retirement (1998–2000)
Although conventional wisdom holds that the Hell in a Cell match was responsible for Foley's rise to main event status, live television crowds did not initially get behind Mankind because of the match. Following a summer where he teamed with Kane to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions, Foley decided that crowds might respond better if Mankind were more of a comedy character, and so he became less of a tortured soul and more of a goofy, broken down oaf. He began the transition into this character following Summerslam in 1998, after Kane turned on him and the two lost the tag team championships.The following month Foley began an angle with Vince McMahon, with Mankind trying to be a friend to the hated Mr. McMahon. On a September episode of Raw, while McMahon was in a hospital nursing wounds suffered at the hands of The Undertaker and Kane, Mankind arrived to cheer him up. Having succeeded only in irritating McMahon, Mankind unveiled a sock puppet named Mr. Socko. Intended to be a one-time joke, Socko became an overnight sensation. Mankind began putting the sock on his hand before applying his finisher, the mandible claw, stuffing a smelly sock in the mouths of opposing wrestlers. The sweatsock became massively popular with the fans, mainly because it was marketed (mostly by Jerry "The King" Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
during the events) as being a dirty, smelly, sweaty, repulsive, and vile sock.
McMahon manipulated Mankind, who saw the WWF owner as a father figure, into doing his bidding. McMahon created the Hardcore Championship
WWE Hardcore Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship is a hardcore wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and is contested under "hardcore" rules, meaning there is no disqualifications, no countouts, and pin falls could be counted anywhere...
and awarded it to Mankind, making him the first-ever champion of the hardcore division. Mankind was then pushed as the favorite to win the WWF Championship at Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1998)
Survivor Series was the twelfth annual Survivor Series professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on November 15, 1998 at the Kiel Center in St...
, as McMahon appeared to be manipulating the tournament so that Mankind would win. He and The Rock both reached the finals, where McMahon turned on Mankind. As The Rock placed Mankind in the Sharpshooter, McMahon ordered the timekeeper to ring the bell even though Mankind did not submit, a reference to the Montreal Screwjob
Montreal Screwjob
The Montreal Screwjob was a controversial, purportedly real life professional wrestling event in which the owner of the World Wrestling Federation, Vince McMahon, double-crossed the defending WWF Champion, Bret Hart, during the main event match of the professional wrestling pay-per-view event...
from the year before. As a result of Survivor Series, Mankind officially transitioned into a fan favorite, while The Rock became a villain and the crown jewel in McMahon's new Corporation
The Corporation (professional wrestling)
The Corporation was a heel stable in the late 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation .-History:The group was put together and led by WWF Chairman Vince McMahon in an attempt to secure control of the WWF and "crush the rebels" that were popping up on the WWF landscape...
faction.
After weeks of trying to get his hands on McMahon's new faction, the Corporation
The Corporation (professional wrestling)
The Corporation was a heel stable in the late 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation .-History:The group was put together and led by WWF Chairman Vince McMahon in an attempt to secure control of the WWF and "crush the rebels" that were popping up on the WWF landscape...
, Mankind received a title shot with The Rock at In Your House
Rock Bottom: In Your House
Rock Bottom: In Your House was the twenty-sixth pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation in the In Your House series...
. Mankind knocked The Rock out by shoving a dirty sweatsock in the Rock's mouth, but McMahon ruled that the title would not change hands because The Rock never gave up. After several weeks of going after the Corporation, Mankind had his big night on December 29, where Mankind defeated The Rock and won his first WWF championship. The taped show was broadcast on January 4, 1999, so that is the date WWE recognizes as beginning the title run. Having title changes on broadcast television rather than pay-per-view was uncommon in professional wrestling, but because of the Monday Night Wars, TV ratings became more important. The rival WCW, attempting to take advantage of the fact that their show Monday Nitro aired live while Mankind's title victory was taped the week before, had announcer Tony Schiavone
Tony Schiavone
Noah Anthony "Tony" Schiavone is an American sports broadcaster. He is the play-by-play broadcaster for the Gwinnett Braves of the International League...
reveal the ending of the Mankind-Rock match before it aired. He then added sarcastically, "That'll put a lot of butts in the seats." The move backfired for WCW, as Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
showed that Raw won the ratings battle that night, despite the Hogan vs. Nash main event which led to the reformation of the New World Order
New World Order (professional wrestling)
The New World Order was a professional wrestling stable that originally wrestled for World Championship Wrestling . The group later appeared in the World Wrestling Federation after the purchase of WCW by the WWF...
. Foley said that the ratings indicate that large numbers of viewers switched from Nitro to Raw to see him win the title and took great personal pride from this, and "Mick Foley put my ass in this seat" signs began showing up at WWF events.
Royal Rumble (1999)
Royal Rumble was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 24, 1999 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The title of the event was taken from a promise by Mr...
. During the match, Foley took several bumps, including eleven unprotected chair shots. This match is featured on Barry Blaustein's documentary Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat is a 1999 documentary directed by Barry W. Blaustein. The movie focuses on the lives of professional wrestlers outside of the ring, primarily Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Jake Roberts, as well as some aspiring wrestlers...
, which shows the impact the match had on Foley and his family at ringside. The match ended after Mankind lost consciousness and The Rock's allies played a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" from an earlier interview. The match was also voted 1999's Match of the Year by the readers of Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Mankind won the title back at a rematch on Halftime Heat, which aired during halftime at Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII
Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played on January 31, 1999, at Pro Player Stadium in Miami, Florida to decide the National Football League champion, following the 1998 regular season. The American Football Conference champion Denver Broncos defeated the National Football...
, in the WWF's first ever Empty Arena match. The two then competed in a Last Man Standing match
Professional wrestling match types
Many types of matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, can be found in the form of performing art that is professional wrestling....
at St. Valentine's Day Massacre
St. Valentine's Day Massacre: In Your House
St. Valentine's Day Massacre was the 27th pay-per-view under the In Your House name from the World Wrestling Federation. It took place on February 14, 1999 at The Pyramid in Memphis, Tennessee...
, which ended without a winner, meaning that Mankind retained the title. Mankind was said to have thrown out his left shoulder early in the match, but showed no signs of it and refused to stop the match. It had to be popped back into place afterward. The next night, Mr. McMahon booked a ladder match for the championship, which The Rock won with help from The Big Show
Paul Wight
Paul Donald Wight, Jr. , better known by his ring name, Big Show, is an American professional wrestler and actor, currently signed to WWE on its Raw brand....
. Later in the year, Foley and The Rock patched up their friendship and teamed up to form a comedy team called the Rock 'n' Sock Connection
Rock 'n' Sock Connection
The Rock 'N' Sock Connection is a former professional wrestling tag team of The Rock and Mankind that wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation between 1999 and 2000 and briefly in 2004...
, becoming one of the most popular teams during that time. The pair won the tag team titles on three occasions. Foley helped WWF Raw achieve its highest ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
ever with a segment featuring himself (as Mankind) and The Rock. The "This is Your Life" segment aired on September 27, 1999 and received an 8.4 rating.
Foley returned from knee surgery as Mankind to win the WWF Championship for the third time at SummerSlam
SummerSlam (1999)
SummerSlam was the twelfth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on August 22, 1999 at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.-Results:Tag Team Turmoil...
in a triple threat match against Steve Austin and Triple H
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
. It is believed that Mankind was booked to win the championship that night because Austin refused to lose it to Triple H. Foley stated the reason he was booked into the match was because Austin had torn a ligament in his knee and a triple threat match would add enough intangibles to make an acceptable match without aggravating Austin's knee. Mankind's win also led to an enraged Triple H to assault Austin, justifying Austin's absence while his knee healed. Triple H defeated Mankind and won the title the next night on Raw. A major feud developed between Mankind and the McMahon-Helmsley regime, led by Triple H, which led to Mankind's reverting to his Cactus Jack persona and facing Triple H for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (2000)
Royal Rumble was the thirteenth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 23, 2000 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York....
in a Street Fight
Hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...
. Cactus used barbed wire and thumbtacks, trademark weapons from his pre-WWF days, but Triple H won the match after delivering two pedigrees, the second onto a pile of tacks. This feud culminated with a rematch at No Way Out
No Way Out (2000)
No Way Out was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation , which took place on February 27, 2000 at the Hartford Civic Center in Hartford, Connecticut...
in a Hell in a Cell match, where stipulations held that if Cactus Jack did not win the title, Foley would retire from wrestling. Triple H won, after throwing Foley over him onto the cage. The cage gave away, snapped and Foley fell through the canvas thus ending the match, ostensibly ending Foley's career. Foley left for a few weeks but returned at the request of Linda McMahon
Linda McMahon
Linda Marie McMahon is an American professional wrestling magnate and politician. She is notable for her career developing WWE with her husband Vince McMahon. She was in the company from 1980 to 2009. During this time, WWE grew from a small regional business in New York to a large multinational...
to wrestle for the title at WrestleMania 2000
WrestleMania 2000
WrestleMania 2000 was the sixteenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on April 2, 2000 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California...
against Triple H, The Rock, and The Big Show. Triple H won, and Foley did not wrestle again for four years.
Commissioner (2000–2001)
Personas
In marketing and user-centered design, personas are fictional characters created to represent the different user types within a targeted demographic, attitude and/or behavior set that might use a site, brand or product in a similar way. Personas are a tool or method of market segmentation...
. Foley has said that he intended for his Commissioner Foley character to be a "role model for nerds," cracking lame jokes and making no attempt to appear tough or scary. He also had a knack during this time to have no one spot for his office; rather, Mick would have an office in all sorts of odd places (for example, closets). Foley turned getting cheap pop
Pop (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a pop refers to the reaction of the crowd, often integrated into the show. It is measured by the amount of cheers or derision a wrestler gets during his entrance, interviews, and in-ring performance . There are many kinds of pops...
s into something of a catchphrase, as he shamelessly declared at each WWF show that he was thrilled to be "right here in (whatever city he was performing in (e.g, New York))!" punctuated with an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up gesture. During this time, Commissioner Foley engaged in rivalries with Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
, Edge and Christian
Edge and Christian
Edge and Christian was a tag team made of real life best friends Edge and Christian , who performed in WWE and the Canadian independent circuit. They won the WWF Tag Team Championship on seven occasions...
, and Vince McMahon without actually wrestling them. He left the position in December 2000 after being "fired" on screen by McMahon.
Foley made a surprise return on the Monday Night Raw just prior to WrestleMania X-Seven
WrestleMania X-Seven
WrestleMania X-Seven was the seventeenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on April 1, 2001 at the Reliant Astrodome in Houston, Texas. The event was the first WrestleMania held in the state of Texas...
and announced that he would be the special guest referee in the match between Mr. McMahon and his son Shane at WrestleMania. After WrestleMania, Foley made sporadic WWF TV appearances throughout the spring and summer, at one point introducing Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura during a taping of Raw in the state as a foil to Mr. McMahon, as well as serving as the guest referee for the Earl Hebner versus Nick Patrick Referee match at the WWF Invasion
WWF InVasion
Invasion was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on July 22, 2001 at the Gund Arena in Cleveland, Ohio...
pay-per-view.
Foley returned as commissioner in October 2001, near the end of The Invasion angle. During this brief tenure, Foley had the opportunity to shoot
Shoot (professional wrestling)
A shoot in professional wrestling is a term that refers to any unplanned, unscripted or real-life occurrence within a wrestling event. Contrary to popular belief, the name does not originate from "shooting in" for a takedown, as in amateur wrestling - rather it is a carny term shortened from...
on the WWF's direction and how dissatisfied he was with it. Saying that there were far too many championships in the company, he booked unification matches prior to the final pay-per-view of the storyline, Survivor Series
Survivor Series (2001)
Survivor Series was the fifteenth annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation...
. After Survivor Series, he ended his commissionership at Vince McMahon's request and left the company.
Sporadic appearances and departure (2003–2008)
Foley returned in June 2003 to referee the Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and Kevin Nash at Bad Blood. On June 23, during a Raw broadcast in Madison Square GardenMadison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, often abbreviated as MSG and known colloquially as The Garden, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in the New York City borough of Manhattan and located at 8th Avenue, between 31st and 33rd Streets, situated on top of Pennsylvania Station.Opened on February 11, 1968, it is the...
, he was honored for his achievements in the ring and presented with the retired WWE Hardcore Championship
WWE Hardcore Championship
The World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship is a hardcore wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and is contested under "hardcore" rules, meaning there is no disqualifications, no countouts, and pin falls could be counted anywhere...
belt. The evening ended with Foley taking a beating and kicked down stairs by Randy Orton
Randy Orton
Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand...
and Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
. In December 2003, Foley returned to replace Steve Austin as co-general manager of Raw. He soon grew tired of the day-to-day travel and left his full-time duties to write and spend time with his family. In the storyline, Foley was afraid to wrestle a match with Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton and walked out of the arena rather than face him.
In 2004, Foley returned briefly to wrestling, competing in the Royal Rumble and eliminating both Orton and himself with his trademark Cactus Jack clothesline. He and The Rock reunited as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection and lost a handicap match to Evolution
Evolution (professional wrestling)
Evolution was a villainous professional wrestling stable on WWE's Raw brand between 2003 and 2005. At the height of its existence, the group consisted of Triple H, Ric Flair, Randy Orton, Batista and briefly Eugene....
at WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX was the twentieth WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on March 14, 2004 at Madison Square Garden in New York....
when Orton pinned Foley with an RKO as Foley pulled out Mr. Socko, this match turned out to be The Rock's final match (before a 7 year break) in the WWE. The two continued to feud, culminating in a hardcore match
Hardcore wrestling
Hardcore wrestling is a form of professional wrestling that eschews traditional concepts of match rules in favor of matches that take place in unusual environments, using foreign objects that are not normally permitted...
for the WWE Intercontinental Championship
WWE Intercontinental Championship
The WWE Intercontinental Championship is a professional wrestling championship in WWE. It is the original secondary title of the promotion. Currently, it is the secondary championship exclusive to the SmackDown brand...
at Backlash
Backlash (2004)
Backlash was the sixth annual Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on April 18, 2004 at the Rexall Place in Edmonton, Alberta and was a Raw brand-exclusive event...
, where Orton defeated Foley as his Cactus Jack persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
to retain the title with a botched RKO onto a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, which Foley now regards as possibly the best match of his career. Later in the year, he would make a one-time appearance at Japanese promotion HUSTLE, challenging for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against then champion, Toshiaki Kawada
Toshiaki Kawada
is a Japanese professional wrestler who is most known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 2005, he started freelancing in other promotions....
, albeit in a losing effort.
Foley appeared as a color commentator at WWE's ECW One Night Stand
ECW One Night Stand (2005)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 12, 2005 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York. The main event was a tag team match between The Dudley Boyz and the team of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman...
, which aired on June 12, 2005, and subsequently renewed his contract with WWE. Foley returned in 2005 in a match where fans were able to vote on which persona he would appear as—Mankind, Dude Love, or Cactus Jack—against Carlito
Carly Colon
Carlos Edwin "Carly" Colón, Jr. is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler better known internationally by his ring name Carlito. He is best known for his work in the World Wrestling Entertainment , but was released from his contract on May 21, 2010. In his native Puerto Rico, he is known as both...
at Taboo Tuesday
Taboo Tuesday (2005)
Taboo Tuesday was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on November 1, 2005 at the iPayOne Center in San Diego, California. It was the second annual Taboo Tuesday event in which the fans were given the chance to vote on...
. Foley cut promos for each character and an online vote was held. The fans voted for Mankind, who went on to win the match. On the February 16, 2006 Raw, Foley returned to referee the WWE Championship match between Edge
Adam Copeland
Adam Joseph Copeland is a retired Canadian professional wrestler and actor, better known by his ring name Edge. He is currently signed to WWE under a Legends contract....
and John Cena
John Cena
John Felix Anthony Cena is an American professional wrestler, actor, rapper, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE as a member of its WWE Raw brand....
. After Cena won, Edge attacked Foley, and the following week, Edge challenged Foley to a match at WrestleMania 22
WrestleMania 22
Notes: .The predominant feud on the SmackDown! brand was between Kurt Angle, Rey Mysterio, and Randy Orton over the World Heavyweight Championship. Mysterio won the 2006 Royal Rumble match, last eliminating Orton, to earn a World Championship match at WrestleMania. At No Way Out, Orton defeated...
. Edge defeated Foley after spearing him through a flaming table. In the weeks after the match, Foley turned heel and allied himself with Edge against the newly rejuvenated ECW. This would be the first WWE heel turn (and his final heel turn) of Foley since his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin as Dude Love in 1998. This would also be his first heel run under his real name. Also during that time he would change his "thrilled to be here" catch phrase into a more heelish type way. For example on a RAW epsiode in Las Vegas Foley would say, "I'm thrilled to be right here in Las Vegas!" Then right after that he would say, "Well actually, Las Vegas isn't all that great." Then he would continue to make more negative comments while fans start booing at him. At ECW One Night Stand
ECW One Night Stand (2006)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 11, 2006 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York....
, Foley, Edge and Lita
Amy Dumas
Amy Christine Dumas , known by her primary stage name Lita, is the lead singer for the band The Luchagors as well as a retired professional wrestler and WWE Diva active from 1999 to 2006....
defeated Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...
and Beulah McGillicutty
Trisa Hayes
Trisa Hayes Laughlin is an American professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Beulah McGillicutty. She is best known for her appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling in the late 1990s...
.
Foley then engaged in a storyline rivalry with Ric Flair, inspired by real-life animosity between the two. In Have a Nice Day!, Foley wrote that Flair was "every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it." In response, Flair wrote in his autobiography that Foley was "a glorified stuntman" and that he was able to climb the ladder in the WWF only because he was friends with the bookers. The two had a backstage confrontation at a Raw event in 2003, but Foley has said that they have largely reconciled. To spark the feud, Flair again called Foley a "glorified stuntman
Stunt performer
A stuntman, or daredevil is someone who performs dangerous stunts, often as a career.These stunts are sometimes rigged so that they look dangerous while still having safety mechanisms, but often they are as dangerous as they appear to be...
" and Foley called Flair a "washed up piece of crap" and challenged him to a match. The result was a Two out of Three Falls match at Vengeance
Vengeance (2006)
Vengeance was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on June 25, 2006 at the Charlotte Bobcats Arena in Charlotte, North Carolina. It was the sixth annual Vengeance event. Eight professional wrestling matches were featured on the...
, where Flair beat Foley in two straight falls; with a rollup counter to the figure four in the first and by disqualification in the second after a trashcan shot. After the match, Flair was split wide open by Foley with a barbed wire bat. The two then wrestled an "I Quit" match at SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2006)
SummerSlam was the nineteenth annual SummerSlam professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on August 20, 2006 at the TD Banknorth Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, and featured performers from the Raw, SmackDown!, and ECW brands...
, which Flair won when he forced Foley to quit by threatening Melina
Melina Perez
Melina Nava Perez is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Women Superstars Uncensored. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring mononym Melina....
with a barbed wire bat. On the August 21 edition of Raw, Foley literally kissed Vince McMahon
Vince McMahon
Vincent Kennedy "Vince" McMahon is an American professional wrestling promoter, announcer, commentator, film producer, actor and former occasional professional wrestler. McMahon is the current Chairman, CEO and Chairman of the Executive Committee of professional wrestling promotion WWE...
's buttocks
Buttocks
The buttocks are two rounded portions of the anatomy, located on the posterior of the pelvic region of apes and humans, and many other bipeds or quadrupeds, and comprise a layer of fat superimposed on the gluteus maximus and gluteus medius muscles. Physiologically, the buttocks enable weight to...
as part of McMahon's "Kiss My Ass Club" gimmick after he threatened to fire Melina. Shortly thereafter, she betrayed Foley and announced that he was fired.
Seven months later, Foley made his return to Raw on March 5, 2007 as a face again and tricked McMahon into giving him his job back. On April 9, Foley contributed to the Make-a-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...
and helped a young child named Michael Peña to become an honorary General Manager of the night. Foley appeared again on June 11 for Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night insulting McMahon. Foley also announced his place as a number one contender for the WWE Championship. During the Raw broadcast before Vengeance
Vengeance: Night of Champions
Vengeance: Night of Champions was the seventh annual professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment within its Vengeance chronology, and the last to be promoted with the Vengeance name until 2011. It featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown, and ECW brands. The...
, Foley was scheduled to make his official in-ring return in a match against Umaga but he attacked Umaga before the match, and the match was never started. At Vengeance, Foley wrestled in a WWE Championship Challenge match involving WWE Champion John Cena, Randy Orton
Randy Orton
Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand...
, King Booker
Booker Huffman
Robert Booker Tio Huffman , better known by his ring name Booker T, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE, on its SmackDown brand, as part of the announcing team. Booker is best known for his time in both the World Wrestling Entertainment and World...
, and Bobby Lashley. Cena retained by pinning Foley. A month later, Foley made an appearance on Raw as the special guest referee for a match between Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan William Coachman , also known as "The Coach", is a former professional wrestling color commentator and authority figure. He is also a former college basketball player, and football play-by-play announcer...
and Mr. McMahon's storyline illegitimate son Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle won the match, after Foley handed him a miniature Mr. Socko. Foley then made an appearance on SmackDown the same week, where he defeated Coachman with Hornswoggle as the special guest referee. On the January 7, 2008 episode of Raw, Foley and his tag team partner Hornswoggle qualified for the Royal Rumble
Royal Rumble (2008)
Royal Rumble was the twenty-first annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on January 27, 2008 at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York and featured talent from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands. The event was...
by defeating The Highlanders
The Highlanders (professional wrestling)
The Highlanders are a Scottish professional wrestling tag team consisting of storyline cousins Robbie and Rory McAllister who were best known for wrestling for World Wrestling Entertainment on the Raw brand.-History:Couch and Murray were both born and raised in Oban, Scotland The Highlanders are...
, but Foley was eliminated by Triple H during the Rumble.
Foley debuted as a color commentator for SmackDown alongside Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
at Backlash
Backlash (2008)
Backlash was the tenth annual Backlash professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It took place on April 27, 2008 at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore, Maryland...
in 2008, replacing Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan William Coachman , also known as "The Coach", is a former professional wrestling color commentator and authority figure. He is also a former college basketball player, and football play-by-play announcer...
. On the August 1 edition of SmackDown, Foley was kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
attacked by Edge during Edge's promo for his SummerSlam
SummerSlam (2008)
SummerSlam was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment , which took place on August 17, 2008 at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. It was the 21st annual SummerSlam event and starred wrestlers from the Raw, SmackDown and ECW brands.Seven...
match against The Undertaker. Foley sat out the August 8 SmackDown to sell his recovery from the injuries. Tazz filled in for Foley as a color commentator on SmackDown, while Raw wrestler Matt Striker
Matthew Kaye
Matthew Kaye is an American actor, wrestling commentator and semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Matt Striker. He is signed to WWE, where he serves as the host of WWE NXT....
filled in for Tazz on ECW. Foley told Long Island Press pro wrestling columnist Josh Stewart in August 2008 that "creatively, the announcing job wasn't working out too well". Foley allowed his contract with WWE to expire on September 1, 2008 and quietly left the company.
Independent circuit (2003-2005)
During his absences from WWE, Foley made frequent appearances on the independent circuit from 2003 to 2005, primarily in non-wrestling roles, either as a referee, manager, or special guest.His first indy appearance was on December 12, 2003 for International Wrestling Cartel, where he was the special guest referee for the match between Dusty Rhodes
Dusty Rhodes (wrestler)
Virgil Riley Runnels, Jr. , better known as "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler currently working for WWE...
and Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
.
Foley would not appear on the independent circuit again until May 2004, when he appeared for the Japanese promotion HUSTLE
HUSTLE
is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion managed by Nobuhiko Takada. Hustle can be described as an industry experiment to market the sports entertainment style of professional wrestling in Japan.-History:...
and returned to the ring to face Toshiaki Kawada
Toshiaki Kawada
is a Japanese professional wrestler who is most known for his work in All Japan Pro Wrestling. In 2005, he started freelancing in other promotions....
for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship, but ended up losing.
On September 14, Foley made his debut for Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...
(where he made frequent appearances for his entire tenure on the independent circuit) and cut a promo, praising ROH and referring to it as "Ring of Hardcore", thus establishing himself as a babyface
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
. After his initial appearance with ROH, Foley refereed a match between Jerry Lawler and Slyck Wagner Brown for the New England Wrestling promotion on October 3. On October 15, Foley returned to ROH where he confronted Ricky Steamboat
Ricky Steamboat
Richard Henry Blood , better known by his ring name Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat, is a retired American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE working as a road agent. He was one of the few wrestlers who stayed a babyface throughout his career...
, who claimed that traditional wrestling was better than hardcore wrestling. The next day, both Foley and Steamboat cut promos on each other, leading to a match between Team Steamboat (Nigel McGuiness and Chad Collyer
Chad Collyer
Chad Collyer is an American professional wrestler. A Heartland Wrestling Association mainstay, Collyer is perhaps best known for his appearances with Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling.-Career:...
) and Team Foley (Dan Maff
Dan Lopez
Dan Lopez is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Dan "Danny" Maff. He retired in March 2005 following an as yet undisclosed incident involving his trainer, Homicide, and remained inactive until returning in June 2008....
and BJ Whitmer) later in the night, which Team Steamboat won. On November 6, Foley teased a heel turn when he called Samoa Joe
Samoa Joe
Nuufolau Joel "Joe" Seanoa is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Samoa Joe. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
(who was then the ROH Champion
ROH World Championship
The Ring of Honor World Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in Ring of Honor. The championship has also been through other companies in cooperation with ROH through the Global Professional Wrestling Alliance , the governing body of many independent wrestling...
) "softcore". On November 20, Foley made a surprise appearance for New York Wrestling Connection, making a run-in during Mikey Whipwreck
Mikey Whipwreck
John Watson , better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling where he became the third ECW Triple Crown Champion....
and Ken Scampi's match against Mayhem and Tony Burma, where he helped Whipwreck's team win.
Foley made an appearance on the Night of Appreciation for Sabu, where he refereed the match between Shane Douglas and Raven, where Sabu himself interfered in the match and helped Douglas win.
Foley returned to ROH on December 26 at ROH's Final Battle event and had his final confrontation with Ricky Steamboat (who had been rehired with WWE as a road agent), and the two made peace. On January 15, 2005, Foley turned heel after he was confronted by Samoa Joe and hit Joe over the head with a steel chair. One week later, Foley appeared with Border City Wrestling
Border City Wrestling
Border City Wrestling was an independent professional wrestling promotion once based in Windsor, Ontario. It was the base promotion for several Total Nonstop Action Wrestling wrestlers, including all of the former Team Canada, Chris Sabin and Alex Shelley. Many BCW employees were trained by Scott...
to referee the match between Alex Shelley
Alex Shelley
Patrick Martin , is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Alex Shelley. He wrestles for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he currently teams with Chris Sabin as The Motor City Machine Guns. He previously gained fame on the independent circuit, working most notably for...
and Chris Sabin
Chris Sabin
Joshua Harter is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Chris Sabin. He is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he currently teams with Alex Shelley as The Motor City Machine Guns.After being trained by Scott D'Amore, Sabin debuted in 2000 for...
for the BCW Television Championship, which Sabin won.
Foley refereed the main event of the first WrestleReunion
WrestleReunion
WrestleReunion is the premier professional wrestling and fan convention, founded by Sal Corrente in 2005.-WrestleReunion 1:...
show, which saw Dusty Rhodes, Dustin Rhodes, and Mike Graham battle Abdullah the Butcher
Abdullah the Butcher
Lawrence Robert "Larry" Shreve best known as Abdullah the Butcher, and also at times The Madman from the Sudan, is a semi-retired Canadian professional wrestler known as one of the most brutal or "hardcore" professional wrestlers of all-time...
, Kevin Sullivan
Kevin Sullivan (wrestler)
Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
, and CM Punk
CM Punk
Phillip Jack "Phil" Brooks , better known by his ring name CM Punk, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to WWE and working on its Raw brand currently serving his second title reign as WWE Champion....
.
On February 19, Foley resumed his feud with Samoa Joe in ROH, teasing a return to the ring but instead choosing Vordell Walker
Vordell Walker
"Eddie" Walker is an American professional wrestler, currently wrestling under the ring name Vordell Walker. He is perhaps best known for his work in Ring of Honor and Total Nonstop Action.-Professional wrestling career:...
to fight Joe. After Joe defeated Walker, Foley introduced his "backup plan" New Cactus Jack to fight Joe in a second match, which Joe won as well. Foley disappeared from ROH for a while after this.
On February 26, Foley appeared with Frank Goodman's USA Xtreme promotion, cutting a promo saying that there was no need to wait until June for an ECW reunion (referring to the upcoming Hardcore Homecoming
Hardcore Homecoming
Hardcore Homecoming was a series of professional wrestling events which were advertised as a reunion of talent from the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion....
show put being together by Shane Douglas), and brought out Axl Rotten
Axl Rotten
Brian Knighton is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name, Axl Rotten.-Early years:After watching a professional wrestling match on television, Knighton decided to become a wrestler...
, Shane Douglas, Chris Candido
Chris Candido
Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...
, Tammy Sytch, Balls Mahoney
Balls Mahoney
Jonathan Rechner better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney , is an American professional wrestler...
, Al Snow
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...
, Justin Credible, The Sandman
Jim Fullington
James "Jim" Fullington better known by his ring name Sandman, is an American professional wrestler, best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling , where he developed into a "Hardcore Icon"...
, Terry Funk and Sabu, much to the excitement of the crowd, who began an "E-C-Dub!" chant. But then, out came Raven
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...
, who cut a promo saying that he had only ever been the one true star of ECW and everyone else had just been a jobber
Job (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling slang, the term job describes a losing performance in a wrestling match. It is derived from the euphemism "doing one's job", which was employed to protect kayfabe. As professional wrestling is scripted, inevitably a wrestler will be required to lose to an opponent.The term...
, leading to a match between Raven and Balls Mahoney later in the night, which Raven won by DQ when he threw fire in Mahoney's eyes. After this, Foley and several of the other ECW alumni came to the ring and attacked Raven.
On April 2, Foley appaered with Harley Race
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race is a retired American professional wrestler and current promoter and trainer. During his career as a wrestler, he held the NWA World Heavyweight Championship 7 times...
's World League Wrestling to referee a match between Trevor Rhodes and Brandon Bishop, which was ruled a No-Contest. After the match, Rhodes, Bishop, and Johnny Gold all attacked Foley until Terry Funk and Harley Race made the save. Afterwards, Foley left the arena with Funk and Race.
On April 30, Foley refereed a match at a Northeast Wrestling show between Jerry Lawler and King Kong Bundy
King Kong Bundy
Christopher Alan "Chris" Pallies is an American professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor, better known by his ring name, King Kong Bundy.-Personal:...
, which Lawler won.
On May 7, Foley returned to the ring at the Mark Curtis Memorial Show, teaming with Shane Douglas and with his trainer, Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci
Dominic DeNucci is an Italian-American professional wrestler. He is also an accomplished trainer, counting former World Heavyweight champions Mick Foley and Shane Douglas, as well as referee Brian Hildebrand, among his students.-Early career:...
, in his corner, to take on the team of Al Snow and D'Lo Brown
D'Lo Brown
Accie Julius Connor better known by his ring name D'Lo Brown , is an American professional wrestler. Well known for his appearances with World Wrestling Entertainment, he is currently working as an agent for Impact Wrestling.Connor has held forty-eight championships in various promotions during...
, who were managed by Les Thatcher
Les Thatcher
Leslie Alan Malady better known by the name Les Thatcher is a former professional wrestler who achievied many accolades over his career...
. Foley and Douglas won the match.
The main event of the ECW reunion show Hardcore Homecoming was Terry Funk versus Sabu versus Shane Douglas in a Triple Threat Elimination No Ropes Barbed Wire Match. During the middle of the match, Bill Alfonso
Bill Alfonso
William Matthew "Bill" Alfonso is a former professional wrestling referee and manager. He achieved his greatest success in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the mid to late 1990s...
, who was in Sabu's corner, began pulling Shane Douglas into the wire, which led to Francine
Francine Fournier
Francine Fournier , known simply as Francine, is an American former professional wrestling valet most known for her work in Extreme Championship Wrestling.-Extreme Championship Wrestling:...
who was in Douglas' corner, attacking Alfonso. Using this as a distraction, Douglas brought a ladder into the ring when suddenly the lights in the arena went out. When they came back on, Foley was in the ring, as Cactus Jack, wearing a referee shirt. Foley pulled out a barbed-wire wrapped Mr. Socko and applied the Mandible Claw on Douglas, then DDT'd Douglas onto a steel chair. Terry Funk then crawled onto Douglas and eliminated him when Foley made the 3-count. After that, Funk targeted Sabu, throwing him into the barbed wire, then setting up a table and putting Sabu on it. Funk then climbed up the ladder, but before he got far, it collapsed from under his weight, sending him crashing through the table. Sabu then recovered, gave Funk an Arabian Facebuster off a chair, and pinned Funk to win the match. After the match ended, all four of them were greeted with chants of "Terry!" and "Sabu!" and "Foley!" and "Thank You Shane!" and of course "E-C-Dub! E-C-Dub!". The entire locker room emptied moments later and celebrated with Funk, Sabu, Foley, and Douglas in the ring to continued "E-C-Dub" chants.
On July 8, Foley returned to ROH as a face, confronting ROH Champion CM Punk, who had turned heel and mocked ROH and the championship after he had signed with WWE and threatened to take the title with him to WWE. Foley acted as a direct line to Vince McMahon, attempting to convince Punk to defend his title one last time on McMahon's orders before he departed from ROH (which he eventually would.)
On August 13, Foley made an appearance with Ballpark Brawl to make fun of Matt Striker, who had been doing an impersonation of The Rock. Later in the event, Foley refereed the Canes, Tables, and Chairs match between Sandman and Sabu, which Sandman won. After the match, Foley celebrated with Sandman by drinking beer with him in the middle of the ring.
On August 20, Foley returned to ROH again, as a face, to rescue Jade Chung
Jade Chung
Jade Chung is a Canadian professional wrestler and wrestling manager who has appeared in Border City Wrestling, IWA Mid-South, the National Wrestling Alliance, Ring of Honor and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla...
from Prince Nana
Prince Nana
Prince Nana Osei Bandoh is an American professional wrestler of Ghanaian extraction, better known by his ring name, Prince Nana. He has stated that he is an Ashanti prince.-Professional wrestling career:...
. Foley was then attacked from behind by Alex Shelley and The Embassy until Austin Aries
Austin Aries
Daniel Healy "Dan" Solwold, Jr. better known by his ring name Austin Aries, is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where he is the current X Division Champion...
and Roderick Strong
Roderick Strong
Chris Lindsey is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Roderick Strong. Strong currently competes in several independent promotions, most notably Ring of Honor , Full Impact Pro , and Pro Wrestling Guerrilla .He initially debuted as The Jester on the Floridian...
chased them off. One week later, Foley returned to the ring for the second WrestleReunion show to team with Terry Funk and Dory Funk, Jr in a losing effort against the Midnight Express (Stan Lane
Stan Lane
Wallace Stanfield "Stan" Lane is an American professional wrestler, trained by Ric Flair, who started wrestling in 1974 in Championship Wrestling from Florida. For a brief time in Florida, he was nicknamed Nature Boy...
, Bobby Eaton
Bobby Eaton
Robert Lee "Bobby" Eaton is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, who made his debut in 1976. Eaton is most famous for his work in tag teams, especially his days as one-half of the team the Midnight Express. Under the management of Jim Cornette, Eaton originally teamed with Dennis...
, and Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey
Dennis Condrey is an American professional wrestler, best known as being one half of the tag team Midnight Express....
.)
Foley made his final regular appearance with ROH on September 17, when he was in A.J. Styles
A.J. Styles
Allen Neal Jones , better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
' corner in a match against Embassy member Jimmy Rave
Jimmy Rave
James Guffey is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Jimmy Rave. He is best known for working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
, which Styles won. Afterwards, Foley put over ROH huge saying he enjoyed being on ROH shows and would speak highly of it.
Foley made his final major independent circuit appearance on the Tribute to Starrcade show on November 19 as the referee for the match between Dustin Rhodes and Terry Funk, which ended in a No-Contest.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2008–2011)
Executive shareholder and championship reigns (2008–2009)
On September 3, 2008, Foley's agency, Gillespie Talent, issued a press release that stated Foley had signed a short-term deal with Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
(TNA). Foley claimed in the statement to be "very excited about the specifics of this agreement and the potential it holds". Foley made his TNA debut on September 5, at a TNA house show giving a short speech about how he loved the product, in which he also belittled WWE. The official TNA Wrestling website featured an image of a smiley face with a variation of Foley's catch phrase, "Have a nice day!" (and, before No Surrender
No Surrender (2008)
No Surrender was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on September 14, 2008 at the General Motors Centre in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada...
, "Have a nice Sunday!").
Jeff Jarrett
Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , an organization he co-founded along with his father and in which he holds some stock but not total control...
introduced him to the audience on the arena's video wall. Two weeks later, Foley made his full television debut in a promo making comments about the WWE roster, Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle
Kurt Angle
Kurt Steven Angle is an American professional wrestler, amateur wrestler, and 1996 Olympic gold medalist. He is currently under contract with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he is recognized as a 15-time World Heavyweight Champion...
. At Bound for Glory IV
Bound for Glory IV
Bound for Glory IV was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on October 12, 2008 at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. It was the fourth annual Bound for Glory event and the first to be referred to in roman numerals...
, he was the special guest enforcer for Jarrett and Angle's match. Later, on Impact!, Foley said goodbye, but was then approached by Jeff Jarrett with a new offer; he later indicated that they had come to terms on a new contract and would make a major announcement the next week. On the October 23 episode of Impact!, Foley announced that he was now co-owner of TNA along with Jarrett, just after Kurt Angle headbutted him.
On November 27, Thanksgiving Day, TNA presented the Turkey Bowl. Alex Shelley
Alex Shelley
Patrick Martin , is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Alex Shelley. He wrestles for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he currently teams with Chris Sabin as The Motor City Machine Guns. He previously gained fame on the independent circuit, working most notably for...
ended up being pinned by Rhino, and Foley handed Rhino the check. Afterwards, the defeated Shelley had to put on a Turkey Suit in compliance with the match rules, albeit with much refusal. However, Shelley "flipped off
Finger (gesture)
In Western culture, the finger , also known as the middle finger, is an obscene hand gesture, often meaning the phrases "fuck off" , "fuck you" or "up yours"...
" Foley and proceeded to beat him up. In the aftermath, Mick mentioned that Shelley is lucky he still has his job. The Main Event Mafia
The Main Event Mafia
The Main Event Mafia was a heel stable in the professional wrestling promotion Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
's Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
, Booker T
Booker Huffman
Robert Booker Tio Huffman , better known by his ring name Booker T, is a semi-retired American professional wrestler and currently signed to WWE, on its SmackDown brand, as part of the announcing team. Booker is best known for his time in both the World Wrestling Entertainment and World...
, and Scott Steiner
Scott Steiner
Scott Carl Rechsteiner is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Scott Steiner. Steiner is perhaps best known for his appearances with World Championship Wrestling alongside his older brother Rick as the Steiner Brothers and as a member of the New World Order...
were going to take on Brother Devon, A.J. Styles
A.J. Styles
Allen Neal Jones , better known by his ring name A.J. Styles is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
, and Mick Foley in his debut matchup at Genesis. Nash, however, suffered a legitimate staph infection and missed Genesis. He was replaced by Cute Kip
Monty Sopp
Monty Kip Sopp is an American professional wrestler, best known as Billy Gunn during his tenure for World Wrestling Entertainment. He is probably best known as one of the members of the New Age Outlaws. He also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Kip James...
. Foley got the pin when he hit Scott Steiner with a double arm DDT onto a chair.
On April 19, 2009 at Lockdown
Lockdown (2009)
Lockdown was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on April 19, 2009 at the Liacouras Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was the fifth event under the Lockdown chronology...
, he defeated Sting
Sting (wrestler)
Steven James "Steve" Borden , better known by his ring name Sting, is an American semi-retired professional wrestler, currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship
TNA World Heavyweight Championship
The TNA World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is currently the highest ranked championship in TNA and is primarily defended in TNA's heavyweight division...
for his first ever championship in TNA, and his fourth World title overall. Mick did not lose the championship, but Sting became the new leader of the Main Event Mafia by pinning Kurt Angle at Sacrifice
Sacrifice (2009)
-Pre-show:Before the show was broadcasted live, there was a match that aired on TNA's Web site and for free on television, which pitted Amazing Red against Kiyoshi...
. Foley had also stated on Impact!
TNA iMPACT!
Impact Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling that currently airs in the United States and Canada on Spike...
tapings that if he retained the TNA World Heavyweight Title at the King of the Mountain match
King of the Mountain match
The King of the Mountain match is a professional wrestling match exclusive to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It consists of five competitors competing for the TNA World Heavyweight Championship or the TNA X Division Championship as of Slammiversary 2009...
at Slammiversary
Slammiversary (2009)
Slammiversary was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on June 21, 2009 at The Palace of Auburn Hills in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It was the fifth event under the Slammiversary chronology and used to commemorate the seventh...
, he would only put the title up in a match once a year. However, he lost the title to Kurt Angle in the King of The Mountain match at Slammiversary. He received a rematch at Victory Road
Victory Road (2009)
Victory Road was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on July 19, 2009 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...
, commenting he had only submitted once in his career (to Terry Funk, in a spinning toe hold) and swore he'd never do it again. He lost the match when Angle forced him to submit again with the ankle lock.
On July 30, 2009, the 200th episode of Impact!, Foley won the TNA Legends Championship by pinning champion Kevin Nash in a tag team match where Nash teamed with Angle and Foley with Bobby Lashley. At Hard Justice
Hard Justice (2009)
Hard Justice was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on August 16, 2009 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida. It was the fifth event under the Hard Justice chronology....
Nash defeated Foley to regain the title, following interference from Traci Brooks
Tracy Brookshaw
Tracy Brookshaw is a Canadian professional wrestler, professional wrestling valet and professional wrestling referee, better known by her ring name Traci Brooks. She is currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , where she has spent most of her career.-Early life:Brookshaw grew up on a...
.
Storylines with Abyss and Bischoff (2009–2010)
On the September 24 edition of Impact! Foley turned heelHeel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
again when he attacked Abyss during and after a TNA World Tag Team Championship
TNA World Tag Team Championship
The TNA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is primarily contested within TNA's tag team division. It was created and debuted on May 14, 2007 at the taping of TNA's primary television program,...
match against Booker T and Scott Steiner. Foley revealed Abyss as the one who tore up his picture and beat him to a bloody pulp with a video tape and the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Abyss then challenged Foley to a Monster's Ball match
Monster's Ball match
A Monster's Ball match is a professional wrestling, hardcore match staged by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. The name is derived from the 2001 film Monster's Ball....
which Foley accepted. At Bound for Glory
Bound for Glory (2009)
Bound for Glory was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on October 18, 2009 at the Bren Events Center in Irvine, California. It was the fifth event under the Bound for Glory chronology. The Event was the Premiere...
Abyss defeated Foley in the match. Two weeks later, Foley turned face
Face (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a babyface or face or in simple words, a fan favorite is a character who is portrayed as a heroic relative to the heel wrestlers, who are analogous to villains...
by turning on Dr. Stevie and saved Abyss from him. The following week he explained that he had played Dr. Stevie all along and had challenged Abyss to a match at Bound for Glory in order to see how tough he really was. On the November 12 edition of Impact! Raven returned to TNA and saved Stevie's future in the company by costing Abyss a match and throwing a fireball in Foley's face.
After this, Foley turned his attention away from Abyss and Dr. Stevie and concentrated on Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
's arrival in TNA, appearing to be paranoid about Hogan taking over TNA. On the December 3 edition of Impact! Foley teased another heel turn by booking face Kurt Angle in a handicap match, after Angle refused to give him information on who Hogan is bringing to TNA. At Final Resolution
Final Resolution (2009)
Final Resolution was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion, which took place on December 20, 2009 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...
Abyss and Foley defeated Stevie and Raven in a "Foley's Funhouse" tag team match. On January 4, 2010, the day of Hulk Hogan's debut for TNA, Foley was assaulted by the reunited Kevin Nash
Kevin Nash
Kevin Scott Nash is an American professional wrestler and actor. As of 2011, Nash is signed to a five year contract with WWE under their WWE Legends program and appears as part of their Raw brand roster...
, Scott Hall
Scott Hall
Scott Hall is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for his tenure with the World Wrestling Federation in the early and mid 1990s under the ring name Razor Ramon, as well as for his period in the mid 1990s and early 2000s with World Championship Wrestling under his real name...
and Sean Waltman
Sean Waltman
Sean Michael Waltman is an American professional wrestler currently signed with WWE in their developmental program. He wrestled there under the ring names 1–2–3 Kid and X-Pac off and on from 1993–2002, World Championship Wrestling under the ring name Syxx, and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ...
, when trying to get a meeting with Hogan. On the January 21 edition of Impact! new Executive Producer Eric Bischoff
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff is an American entrepreneur, and professional wrestling booker and on-screen personality currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
fired Foley, after claiming to have been attacked by him. On the February 11 edition of Impact!, Bischoff and Foley "talked it over", as Hogan had suggested two weeks prior, and Foley was entered in the 8 Card Stud Tournament at Against All Odds
Against All Odds (2010)
-See also:*TNA Against All Odds*List of TNA pay-per-view events-External links:**...
. The match was a No Disqualification match against Abyss, who won the match and advanced. On the March 15 edition of Impact! Bischoff announced that he would be shaving Foley bald as a punishment for trying to help Jeff Jarrett in a handicap match the previous week. At first Foley was seemingly going along with the plan, but at the last second he shoved Mr. Socko down Bischoff's throat, put him on the barber's chair and shaved him nearly bald. On the following edition of Impact!, Foley lost to Jarrett in a No Disqualification Career vs. Career match set up by Bischoff, forcing Foley to kayfabe
Kayfabe
In professional wrestling, kayfabe is the portrayal of events within the industry as "real" or "true". Specifically, the portrayal of professional wrestling, in particular the competition and rivalries between participants, as being genuine or not of a worked nature...
leave TNA. In reality, Foley was taken off television due to him being on his way to exceed the maximum number of dates per year on his contract, at the pace he was making appearances.
EV 2.0; feud with Immortal (2010–2011)
Foley returned to TNA on July 12, 2010, at the tapings of the July 15 edition of Impact!, leading an invasion of fellow ECW alumni TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van DamRob Van Dam
Robert Alexander "Rob" Szatkowski , better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam , is an American professional wrestler and actor who is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Stevie Richards, Rhino, Brother Devon, Pat Kenney
Pat Kenney
Patrick Joseph Michael "Pat" Kenney , known also by his ring name, Simon Diamond, is a retired American professional wrestler, currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent...
and Al Snow
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...
forming the team of EV 2.0. The following week, TNA president Dixie Carter agreed to give the ECW alumni their own reunion pay–per–view event, Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand
Hardcore Justice (2010)
Hardcore Justice was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on August 8, 2010 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...
, as a celebration of hardcore wrestling and a final farewell to the company. At the event Foley refereed a Final Showdown match between Tommy Dreamer and Raven. On the following edition of Impact!, the ECW alumni, known collectively as Extreme, Version 2.0 (EV 2.0)
ECW Originals
The ECW Originals was a professional wrestling stable that made sporadic appearances in various wrestling promotions, including World Wrestling Entertainment and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling....
, were assaulted by A.J. Styles, Kazarian
Frankie Kazarian
Frank B. Gerdelman is an Armenian-American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Frankie Kazarian or simply Kazarian. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling...
, Robert Roode, James Storm
James Storm
James Allen Cox is an American professional wrestler who competes under the ring name "The Cowboy" James Storm. Since 2002, Storm has been employed by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, where he, along with A.J...
, Douglas Williams
Doug Williams (wrestler)
Douglas Clayton Durdle is an English professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Doug Williams. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Douglas Williams...
and Matt Morgan of Ric Flair's Fourtune stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA. In August Foley began writing a weekly column for TNA's website. On the October 7, 2010 live edition of Impact!, Foley defeated Ric Flair in a Last Man Standing match. At Bound for Glory
Bound for Glory (2010)
Bound for Glory was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , that took place on October 10, 2010 at the Ocean Center in Daytona Beach, Florida. It was the sixth annual event under the Bound for Glory chronology. Bound For Glory is considered to be...
Foley was in EV 2.0's corner, when Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Richards and Sabu defeated Fourtune members Styles, Kazarian, Morgan, Roode and Storm in a Lethal Lockdown match. After not appearing for two months, Foley returned on the December 23 edition of Impact!, confronting Fortune and Immortal
Immortal (professional wrestling)
Immortal is a villainous professional wrestling alliance in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . It currently consists of Eric Bischoff, Bully Ray, Gunner, TNA founder and AAA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett, his wife and valet Karen Jarrett, Kurt Angle, Ric Flair and Scott Steiner...
. After Genesis
Genesis (2011)
Genesis was a professional wrestling pay-per-view eventproduced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , that took place on January 9, 2011 at TNA Impact! Zone in Universal Studios Florida...
, Foley once again disappeared from TNA television, but kept making regular appearances at TNA house shows. At the tapings of the May 12 edition of Impact!, Foley made his return to TV as he was revealed as the "Network" consultant, who had been causing problems for Immortal for the past months. On May 23, Foley, who had expressed frustration with TNA and said that he did not plan to renew his contract with the promotion once it would expire in the fall of 2011, made a joke on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
, comparing his Empty Arena match with The Rock to a TNA house show. On the following edition of Impact Wrestling on June 2, Hulk Hogan
Hulk Hogan
Terrance Gene "Terry" Bollea , better known by his ring name Hulk Hogan, is an American Semi-retired professional wrestler, actor, television personality, and musician currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ....
announced that Foley had been fired as the Network Executive. This was done to write off Foley, who had asked for his release from TNA, off television. His departure from the promotion was confirmed on June 5, 2011.
Return to WWE (2011–present)
Foley returned to WWE at a house show in Dublin, IrelandIreland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
on November 2, 2011, making an in-ring promo with The Miz and R-Truth
Ron Killings
Ronald Aaron "Ron" Killings is an American professional wrestler and rapper. He is currently signed to WWE working on its Raw brand. Since working for the company, he has been a one time United States Champion under the ring name R-Truth and a two time Hardcore Champion under the ring name K-Kwik...
and then guest refereed the tag team match, appearing again in Manchester on November 5. Foley was in the UK during his comedy tour. Foley returned to Monday Night Raw on November 14, which featured him presenting a "This is Your Life" celebration for John Cena (he presented a similar segment for The Rock 12 years earlier). Among those brought out were Cena's former tag team partner Bull Buchanan
Barry Buchanan
Barry Buchanan is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances as Bull Buchanan and B-2 in the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment.-National Championship Wrestling :...
, his former baseball coach, and his father; however the segment was interrupted by The Rock, who delivered a Rock Bottom to Foley before leaving the ring, ending the segment. Foley was the special guest host on the live edition of Smackdown on November 29, 2011.
Writing career
Ghostwriter
A ghostwriter is a professional writer who is paid to write books, articles, stories, reports, or other texts that are officially credited to another person. Celebrities, executives, and political leaders often hire ghostwriters to draft or edit autobiographies, magazine articles, or other written...
, as he proudly notes in the introduction — in almost 800 pages of longhand. The book, Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks
Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks
Have a Nice Day!: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks is an autobiography of former World Wrestling Entertainment and TNA wrestler Mick Foley. It details his life all the way from his upbringing in New York to winning the WWF Championship from The Rock in December 1998...
, became hugely popular and topped The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
bestseller
New York Times Non-Fiction Bestsellers of 2001
This is a list of adult non-fiction books that topped The New York Times Non-Fiction Best Seller list in 2001....
list for several weeks. The follow-up, Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling
Foley is Good: And The Real World is Faker Than Wrestling
Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling is the second autobiography of wrestler Mick Foley, formerly of WWE and TNA. It details his career from January 1999 until his retirement in April 2000 at WrestleMania 2000...
, was published in 2001 and debuted at number one on the Times list. Foley has also written three children's books, Mick Foley's Halloween Hijinx, Mick Foley's Christmas Chaos, and Tales from Wrescal Lane. He has also authored Tietam Brown
Tietam Brown
Tietam Brown is wrestler Mick Foley's first novel, published in 2003.- Plot introduction :The book is about a period of time in the life of Antietam Brown V and his father Antietam Brown IV...
, a coming-of-age story which was nominated for the WHSmith People's Choice Award in 2004. Foley's second novel, Scooter, was published in August 2005. His writing has generally received favorable reviews. The third part of his autobiography was called The Hardcore Diaries
The Hardcore Diaries
The Hardcore Diaries is the third autobiography of New York Times best-selling author and former WWE wrestler Mick Foley.-History:Foley's original idea for the book was a more behind the scenes look into Vince McMahon and the lead-up to WrestleMania...
, and highlights his 2004 feud with Randy Orton
Randy Orton
Randal Keith "Randy" Orton is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand...
, his match and later partnership with Edge, and program with Ric Flair
Ric Flair
Richard Morgan Fliehr is an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Ric Flair. Also known as "The Nature Boy", Flair is one of the most well-known professional wrestlers in the world....
in 2006. The Hardcore Diaries also spent time on the New York Times bestseller list. Foley's newest book "Countdown to Lockdown" was published on October 1, 2010. On September 30, 2010, Joey Styles
Joey Styles
Joseph Carmine Bonsignore better known by his ring name Joey Styles, is an American professional wrestling play-by-play commentator and former professional in the field of advertising sales...
interviewed Foley on WWE.com, even though he's still with TNA, about his new book, while Michael Cole
Michael Cole
Michael Sean Coulthard , better known by his ring name Michael Cole, is an American professional wrestling commentator, currently signed to WWE on both its Rawand SmackDown brands. Coulthard is a former news journalist....
plugged the book on the September 27 edition of Raw and a piece was published by Foley in Slate of which portions were adapted from Countdown. The promotion of a product released by a Superstar employed by a rival company was a quite unusual move and a welcomed surprise for Foley, who has since stated that he was delighted at the respect shown by his former employer. On November 10, 2010, Foley appeared on The Daily Show
The Daily Show
The Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
and Off the Record
Off The Record (TSN TV series)
Off the Record with Michael Landsberg, a.k.a. Off the Record or OTR, is a Canadian sports talk show on TSN hosted by Michael Landsberg...
to discuss the book and his charity work. Countdown to Lockdown wound up becoming Foley's first memoir not to make it to the New York Times bestseller list.
List of works
MemoirMemoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
s
- (1999)
Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks
Have a Nice Day!: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks is an autobiography of former World Wrestling Entertainment and TNA wrestler Mick Foley. It details his life all the way from his upbringing in New York to winning the WWF Championship from The Rock in December 1998...
. ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-039299-1. (credited as Mankind/Mick Foley)
The Hardcore Diaries
The Hardcore Diaries is the third autobiography of New York Times best-selling author and former WWE wrestler Mick Foley.-History:Foley's original idea for the book was a more behind the scenes look into Vince McMahon and the lead-up to WrestleMania...
. PocketBooks. ISBN 1-4165-3157-2
Children's fiction
Children's literature
Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
- (2000)
Adult fiction
- (2003)
Tietam Brown
Tietam Brown is wrestler Mick Foley's first novel, published in 2003.- Plot introduction :The book is about a period of time in the life of Antietam Brown V and his father Antietam Brown IV...
. Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41550-5.
Film, television and radio
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, Foley appeared in Atlanta filmmakers Barry Norman and Michael Williams' short subject
Short subject
A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all...
Deadbeats as "Bird", an armed robber
Robbery
Robbery is the crime of taking or attempting to take something of value by force or threat of force or by putting the victim in fear. At common law, robbery is defined as taking the property of another, with the intent to permanently deprive the person of that property, by means of force or fear....
turned debt collector
Collection agency
A collection agency is a business that pursues payments of debts owed by individuals or businesses. Most collection agencies operate as agents of creditors and collect debts for a fee or percentage of the total amount owed....
. One of Foley's first TV guest appearances was as a wrestler on USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
's short-lived action-comedy G vs E
G vs E
G vs. E is an American fantasy-based television action series that had its first season air on USA Network during the summer and autumn of 1999. For the second season the series switched to Sci Fi Channel in early 2000. The series stars Clayton Rohner, Richard Brooks, and Marshall Bell.G vs...
. He also featured prominently in the documentary
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat
Beyond the Mat is a 1999 documentary directed by Barry W. Blaustein. The movie focuses on the lives of professional wrestlers outside of the ring, primarily Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Jake Roberts, as well as some aspiring wrestlers...
. Foley, as Mankind, also starred in a series of commercials for Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee
Chef Boyardee is a brand of canned pasta products sold internationally by ConAgra Foods. Named after its founder, Italian-American immigrant Ettore Boiardi, the company began production in the United States in the 1920s...
's beef ravioli. He appeared in the Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse
Insane Clown Posse is an American hip hop duo from Detroit, Michigan. The group is composed of Joseph Bruce and Joseph Utsler, who perform under the respective personas of the "wicked clowns" Violent J and Shaggy 2 Dope. Insane Clown Posse performs a style of hardcore hip hop known as horrorcore...
vehicle Big Money Hustlas
Big Money Hustlas
The film's music was written by Psychopathic Records producer Mike E. Clark. A soundtrack album was released in 2001, and featured new music from the film, in addition to previously released tracks by Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid, and the theme to the 1976 film The Human Tornado, performed by...
as Cactus Sac, which was basically the same character as his Cactus Jack persona.
In late 2001, Foley hosted a series of Robot Wars
Robot Wars (TV series)
Robot Wars is a British game show modelled on a US-based competition of the same name. It was broadcast on BBC Two from 1998 until 2003, with its final series broadcast on Five in 2003 and 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot...
dubbed "Extreme Warriors." He also provided a guest voice for two episodes of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender
Avatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...
, in which he portrayed a satirical earthbending wrestler named the Boulder (essentially a parody of Foley's friend and former partner the Rock), and provided the voice for Gorrath in the pilot episode of Megas XLR
Megas XLR
Megas XLR is an American animated television series that aired on the Toonami block on Cartoon Network and is produced by Cartoon Network Studios. It was created by Jody Schaeffer and George Krstic...
. Foley appeared in an episode of Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World
Boy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
as Mankind, giving advice to Eric Matthews before giving Eric the mandible claw and an airplane spin. Foley was also a voice in an episode of Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch
Celebrity Deathmatch is a claymation television show that depicts celebrities against each other in a wrestling ring, almost always ending in the loser's gruesome death. It was known for its excessive amount of blood used in every match and exaggerated physical injuries...
where he was an animated version of Mankind doing a stunt from the ceiling, and later in the same episode he fought and defeated Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist. His economic and understated style had a strong influence on 20th-century fiction, while his life of adventure and his public image influenced later generations. Hemingway produced most of his work between the mid-1920s and the...
. Foley also had a small role in the 2007 thriller movie Anamorph
Anamorph (film)
Anamorph is an independent psychological thriller film directed by Henry S. Miller and starring Willem Dafoe. Dafoe plays a seasoned detective named Stan Aubray, who notices that a case he has been assigned to bears a striking similarity to a previous case of his...
starring Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
.
Foley has frequently appeared on Air America Radio's Morning Sedition, including several stints as a guest host and has appeared on The Rachel Maddow Show. He also hosted WWE's radio show. Foley also occasionally appears on the Opie and Anthony Show
Opie and Anthony
Opie and Anthony are the hosts of The Opie & Anthony Show, a talk radio program airing in the United States and Canada on XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Since the merger of the two satellite companies, this is now called Sirius/XM...
. In the summer of 2007, Mick Foley was filmed for the film Bloodstained Memoirs
Bloodstained Memoirs
Bloodstained Memoirs is a professional wrestling documentary released online via an official stream in 2009. It is compiled by interviews featuring wrestlers synonymous with different eras in wrestling and different wrestling regions . Production was filmed in the UK, USA, France, Japan, and Italy...
, a wrestling documentary.
In 2009, Foley had a guest voice appearance on Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
show Squidbillies
Squidbillies
Squidbillies is an animated television series about the Cuylers, an impoverished family of anthropomorphic hillbilly squids living in the Appalachian region of North Carolina's mountains. The show is produced by Williams Street Studios for the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network and...
as Thunder Clap, a former pro-wrestler (strongly resembling Hulk Hogan in both appearance and speech), who had recently gone through some tough times, during the Season 4 episode "Anabolic-holic". On August 22, 2009, Foley made his stand-up
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
debut at the Improv
The Improv
The Improv is a comedy club franchise. Originally, it was a single venue founded in 1963 by Budd Friedman and located in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York City on West 44th near the SE corner of 9th Ave. A second location was opened in 1974 at 8162 Melrose Avenue in the Fairfax District...
in Los Angeles, CA. The event is being billed the "Total Xtreme Comedy show" and also features comedians, Steve Simone, Brad Williams
Brad Williams (comedian)
Brad Williams is a comedian and actor. He regularly appeared on the show Mind of Mencia.Williams was born with Achondroplasia, a type of dwarfism. His condition plays a large part in the bits in both his stand-up comedy and television roles...
, Bret Ernst
Bret Ernst
Bret Ernst is an American stand-up comedian. He was one of four comedians featured in Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights - Hollywood to the Heartland, along with Ahmed Ahmed, John Caparulo, and Sebastian Maniscalco. Ernst has also appeared on the television programs Comedy...
and Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor
Ring of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...
's Colt Cabana, who is also making his stand-up debut. The money Foley makes from the event will go to Wrestler's Rescue, which creates awareness and helps raise money to support the health care needs of retired professional wrestlers. In October 2009, Foley was guest DJ on E Street Radio
E Street Radio
E Street Radio is a Sirius XM Radio channel, broadcasting on Sirius 20 and XM 20 since November 12, 2008, as well as on Dish Network channel 6010...
, a Satellite radio station dedicated to the music of Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...
.
On November 19, 2009 Foley made his first appearance on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Deemed the "Senior Ass Kicker", Foley defended the pro-gay rights views of Will Phillips
Will Phillips
Will Phillips is an American student from West Fork, Arkansas. At the age of ten, while a fifth grader at West Fork Elementary School in 2009, Phillips gained international attention for his refusal to say the Pledge of Allegiance because of social-political reasons.Phillips objected to reciting...
. He showed up again on March 15, 2010 to help correspondent Wyatt Cenac
Wyatt Cenac
Wyatt Cenac is an American stand-up comedian, actor and writer. He is currently working as a correspondent and writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.-Early years:...
compare politics to pro wrestling, giving speeches for and against the use of the filibuster
Filibuster
A filibuster is a type of parliamentary procedure. Specifically, it is the right of an individual to extend debate, allowing a lone member to delay or entirely prevent a vote on a given proposal...
. Due to his charitable work and for standing up for a Will Phillips, Foley was awarded a "Medal of Reasonableness" by Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart
Jon Stewart is an American political satirist, writer, television host, actor, media critic and stand-up comedian...
at the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.
In mid 2010, Foley has appeared on Chicago Comic Con, where he had his own booth promoting TNA
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
. He was also interviewed by Victory Records
Victory Records
Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It is a privately held corporation. It also operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several smaller independent record labels....
, mentioning his interest in Swedish hard rock band Sister Sin
Sister Sin
Sister Sin is a female-fronted "old-school metal" band from Gothenburg, Sweden.- History :Formed in 2002 and releasing various recordings via smaller indie labels they came out with their first non-indie debut via Victory Records in October 2008. Switchblade Serenades reached number 107 on Top...
.
On September 27, 2010, it was announced that Union Square Agency and American Original would be producing a feature film based on Foley's life.
In November 2010 Foley was a contestant on an all TNA week of Family Feud
Family Feud
Family Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
, teaming with Jay Lethal
Jay Lethal
Jamar "Jay" Shipman better known by his ring name Jay Lethal, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to Ring of Honor , where he is the ROH World Television Champion...
, Matt Morgan, Mr. Anderson
Ken Anderson (wrestler)
Kenneth Anderson is an American professional wrestler and occasional actor. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Mr. Anderson. He is a former two-time TNA World Heavyweight Champion, making him an overall two time world champion. He wrestled under the ring...
and Rob Van Dam against Angelina Love, Christy Hemme
Christy Hemme
Christina Lee "Christy" Hemme is an American actress, singer, model, professional wrestling valet and former professional wrestler. Hemme is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, as a backstage interviewer and ring announcer.-Early life:Hemme was born in Poway, California, but she...
, Lacey Von Erich
Lacey Von Erich
Lacey Dawn Adkisson is an American professional wrestler better known by her ring name Lacey Von Erich. She is the daughter of Kerry Von Erich and the granddaughter of Fritz Von Erich...
, Tara
Lisa Marie Varon
Lisa Marie Varon , is an American professional wrestler, bodybuilder and fitness competitor of Puerto Rican and Turkish descent...
and Velvet Sky
Velvet Sky
Jamie Szantyr is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Velvet Sky. She is a former TNA Women's Knockout Champion and TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with her former Beautiful People partners Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich...
.
Filmography
- 2010: Family FeudFamily FeudFamily Feud is an American television game show created by Mark Goodson and Bill Todman. Two families compete against each other in a contest to name the most popular responses to a survey question posed to 100 people...
- as Himself (5 episodes) - 2010: "Warren the Ape: Anger Management" - as Himself.
- 2010: Savage Hot Babe Massacre
- 2009–2010: The Daily ShowThe Daily ShowThe Daily Show , is an American late night satirical television program airing each Monday through Thursday on Comedy Central. The half-hour long show premiered on July 21, 1996, and was hosted by Craig Kilborn until December 1998...
- Himself (Job Title: "Senior Ass Kicker")(2 episodes) - 2009: Hard Knocks - as TBA (Post-Production)
- 2009: SquidbilliesSquidbilliesSquidbillies is an animated television series about the Cuylers, an impoverished family of anthropomorphic hillbilly squids living in the Appalachian region of North Carolina's mountains. The show is produced by Williams Street Studios for the Adult Swim programming block of Cartoon Network and...
- as Thunderclap (1 Episode, Anabolic-Holic) - 2009: Bloodstained MemoirsBloodstained MemoirsBloodstained Memoirs is a professional wrestling documentary released online via an official stream in 2009. It is compiled by interviews featuring wrestlers synonymous with different eras in wrestling and different wrestling regions . Production was filmed in the UK, USA, France, Japan, and Italy...
- as Himself - 2007: AnamorphAnamorph (film)Anamorph is an independent psychological thriller film directed by Henry S. Miller and starring Willem Dafoe. Dafoe plays a seasoned detective named Stan Aubray, who notices that a case he has been assigned to bears a striking similarity to a previous case of his...
- as Antique Store Owner - 2007: Staten Island - as Pawn Shop Owner
- 2006–2007: Avatar: The Last AirbenderAvatar: The Last AirbenderAvatar: The Last Airbender is an American animated television series that aired for three seasons on Nickelodeon from 2005 to 2008. The series was created and produced by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, who served as executive producers along with Aaron Ehasz...
- as The Boulder (Voice, 2 Episodes) - 2003: Jimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel LiveJimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
- as Himself (Guest Co-Host, 5 Episodes) - 2001: The Tonight Show with Jay Leno - as Himself (1 Episode)
- 2001: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? is a television game show which offers large cash prizes for correctly answering a series of multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty. The format is owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Television International. The maximum cash prize is one million pounds...
- as Himself (Contestant) - 2001: Robot Wars: Extreme WarsRobot Wars (TV series)Robot Wars is a British game show modelled on a US-based competition of the same name. It was broadcast on BBC Two from 1998 until 2003, with its final series broadcast on Five in 2003 and 2004. Additional series were filmed for specific sectors of the global market, including two series of Robot...
- as Himself (Host) - 2000: Saturday Night LiveSaturday Night LiveSaturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
- as Himself (1 Episode) - 2000: Big Money HustlasBig Money HustlasThe film's music was written by Psychopathic Records producer Mike E. Clark. A soundtrack album was released in 2001, and featured new music from the film, in addition to previously released tracks by Insane Clown Posse and Twiztid, and the theme to the 1976 film The Human Tornado, performed by...
- as Cactus Sac - 2000: Now and AgainNow and AgainNow and Again is an American television series that aired in the US from September 24, 1999 until May 5, 2000 on CBS. The story revolves around the United States government engineering the perfect human body for use in espionage, but not being able to yet perfect the brain...
- as Charlie (1 Episode, "The Eggman Cometh") - 2000: Celebrity Death Match - as Mankind (1 Episode, "Battle of the Heavy Metal Headbangers")
- 1999: Late Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'BrienLate Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
- as Himself (1 Episode) - 1999: The Martin Short ShowThe Martin Short ShowThe Martin Short Show was a syndicated talk show, based on the late night model, hosted by actor Martin Short with announcer/sidekick Michael McGrath. The talk show aired for one season in . It was produced by King World Productions...
- as Himself (1 Episode) - 1999: The Howard Stern Show - as Himself (1 Episode)
- 1999–2001: The Howard Stern Radio Show - as Himself (3 Episodes)
- 1999: G vs EG vs EG vs. E is an American fantasy-based television action series that had its first season air on USA Network during the summer and autumn of 1999. For the second season the series switched to Sci Fi Channel in early 2000. The series stars Clayton Rohner, Richard Brooks, and Marshall Bell.G vs...
- as Himself (1 Episode, "Sunday Night Evil") - 1999: Boy Meets WorldBoy Meets WorldBoy Meets World is an American comedy-drama series that chronicles the events and everyday life lessons of Cory Matthews, played by Ben Savage, a kid from suburban Philadelphia who grows up from a young boy to a married man. The show aired for seven seasons from 1993 to 2000 on ABC, part of the...
- as Mankind (1 Episode, "For Love And Apartments") - 1999: Total Request LiveTotal Request LiveTotal Request Live is a television series on MTV that featured popular music videos. TRL was MTV's prime outlet for music videos as the network continues to concentrate on reality-based programming. In addition to music videos, TRL featured daily guests...
- as Mankind (1 Episode) - 1999: Beyond the MatBeyond the MatBeyond the Mat is a 1999 documentary directed by Barry W. Blaustein. The movie focuses on the lives of professional wrestlers outside of the ring, primarily Mick Foley, Terry Funk, and Jake Roberts, as well as some aspiring wrestlers...
- as Himself
Personal life
Foley and his wife Colette (née Christie) have three sons and a daughter: Dewey Francis (born in 1992), Noelle Margaret (born in 1993), Michael Francis, Jr. (born in 2001), and Hughie Francis (born in 2003). Foley's father, Jack Foley, died on September 13, 2009.Much of Foley's charitable work revolves around children. Among his involvement, Foley has participated in numerous Make-a-Wish Foundation
Make-A-Wish Foundation
The Make-A-Wish Foundation is a 501 non-profit organization founded in the United States that grants wishes to children who have life-threatening medical conditions. The charity now operates in forty-seven countries around the world through thirty-six affiliate offices.The president & CEO of this...
events, has made surprise visits to children in hospitals, and has visited schools and libraries to talk to students about the value of education and the importance of reading. Foley sponsors seven children with ChildFund International (formerly Christian Children's Fund), a group he has been affiliated with since 1992. In recent years, he has become one of the fund's leading donors, helping fund childhood education centers in the remote areas of the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
and Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...
, as well as four small community schools in the war-torn West African country of Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
. After visiting the country in November 2008, an experience he called "one of the best experiences of my life; maybe the best," Foley committed to funding a larger primary school as well, which was completed in September 2009.
Foley has visited U.S. troops at various military bases and military hospitals. For several years Foley visited wounded soldiers at Washington D.C.-based military hospitals on almost a monthly basis, becoming known as a "Legend among hurt troops," according to a Washington Times article.
Having become a devoted fan of Tori Amos
Tori Amos
Tori Amos is an American pianist, singer-songwriter and composer. She was at the forefront of a number of female singer-songwriters in the early 1990s and was noteworthy early in her career as one of the few alternative rock performers to use a piano as her primary instrument...
' music in 1993, (particularly the song "Winter
Winter (Tori Amos song)
"Winter" is a song by American singer-songwriter and musician Tori Amos. It was released as the fourth single from her debut studio album Little Earthquakes. It was released on March 9, 1992 by EastWest Records in the UK and Atlantic Records on November 24 in North America.-Background:The song also...
" from the Little Earthquakes
Little Earthquakes
-B-sides:The album is also known for its collection of B-sides. The four songs recorded with Davitt Sigerson that did not make it to the final version of the album were included on the singles released from Little Earthquakes....
album), and following a meeting with Amos at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, Foley became involved with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN), a group Amos co-founded in 1994. Since then, he has worked as a volunteer on their online hotline and as a member of their National Leadership Council. During a 15-month period ending in April 2011, Foley logged more than 550 hours talking to victims online. The same month, Foley offered to mow anyone's lawn who donated up to a certain amount to the organization, stating, "If you want to help survivors of sexual assault, or just want to see a big guy with long hair mowing your lawn in front of your friends, please take part..."
Continuing his campaign for the organization, in May 2011 Foley auctioned off on eBay two famous items associated with his wrestling career: his Cactus Jack lace-up "leopard skin" boots (still embedded with 149 thumbtacks from his Impact match with Ric Flair); and the white shirt that he wore as Mankind during 1998's "Hell in a Cell" match, among other items.
Foley has been outspoken in his support for the Democratic party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. During the 2004 election cycle, Foley argued the Democratic point of view in a WWE-sponsored debate against John "Bradshaw" Layfield, who spoke for the Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
side. He was a contributor to Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
's campaign for the U.S. presidency
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
in 2008.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
-
- Double arm DDT
- Mandible claw (WWF/E / TNATotal Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
) / Love Handle (WWF) / Mr. Socko (WWF/E / TNA) - PiledriverPiledriver (professional wrestling)A piledriver is a professional wrestling driver move in which the wrestler grabs his opponent, turns him upside-down, and drops into a sitting or kneeling position, driving the opponent head-first into the mat. The most common piledrivers are the basic belly-to-back, or Texas piledriver, and the...
(as Dude Love)
- Signature moves
-
- Cactus clothesline – Innovated
- Cactus Elbow (Diving elbow drop to the outside of the ring)
- Cactus Jack Crack Smash / Nestea Plunge (Senton to the outside of the ring, usually from the ring apron)
- Running knee lift to the face of an opponent seated in the corner
- Sweet Shin Music (Superkick to the shinTibiaThe tibia , shinbone, or shankbone is the larger and stronger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates , and connects the knee with the ankle bones....
) – parodied from Shawn MichaelsShawn MichaelsMichael Shawn Hickenbottom , better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American television host and retired professional wrestler. He presents the Outdoor Channel show MacMillan River Adventures, and is currently signed to WWE, where he has served in an ambassadorial role since December...
- ManagersManager (professional wrestling)In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
- The Grand Lizard of Wrestling
- Brian HildebrandBrian HildebrandBrian Curtis Hildebrand was a professional wrestling manager, wrestler and referee who sometimes went by the name of Mark Curtis...
- Paul Bearer
- Downtown Bruno
- Ron FullerRon Fuller (wrestler)Ronald Welch is a retired professional wrestler and manager better known by his ring names Ron Fuller and Tennessee Stud. He is the elder brother of Robert Fuller...
- Kevin SullivanKevin Sullivan (wrestler)Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
- NicknameNicknameA nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
s- "The Hardcore Legend"
- "The Unpredictable"
- "Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy"
- Entrance themesMusic in professional wrestlingMusic in professional wrestling serves a variety of purposes. The most common uses of music in professional wrestling is that of the entrance theme, a song or piece of instrumental music which plays as a performer approaches the ring...
- "Funeral March" by Frederic ChopinFrédéric ChopinFrédéric François Chopin was a Polish composer and virtuoso pianist. He is considered one of the great masters of Romantic music and has been called "the poet of the piano"....
(WCW) - "Mr. Bang Bang" by Jimmy Papa, Larry Velez, and Michael Seitz (WCWWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
) - "Welcome to the JungleWelcome to the Jungle"Welcome to the Jungle" is a song by American rock band Guns N' Roses, featured on its 1987 debut studio album, Appetite for Destruction. It was released as the band's second single on October 3, 1987, and reached number #7 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and number #24 on the UK Singles Chart...
" by Guns N' RosesGuns N' RosesGuns N' Roses is an American hard rock band, formed in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, in 1985. The band has released six studio albums, three EPs, and one live album...
(UWFUniversal Wrestling Federation (Herb Abrams)The Universal Wrestling Federation was an American wrestling promotion based out of Marina del Rey, California.-History:Herb Abrams founded the UWF in 1990 with hopes of returning professional wrestling back to its roots...
) - "Born to Be WildBorn to Be Wild"Born to Be Wild" is a rock song written by Mars Bonfire and made famous by the Canadian-American rock band Steppenwolf. It is often used in popular culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude...
" by SteppenwolfSteppenwolf (band)Steppenwolf are a Canadian-American rock group that was prominent in the late 1960s. The group was formed in 1967 in Los Angeles by vocalist John Kay, guitarist Michael Monarch, bassist Rushton Moreve, keyboardist Goldy McJohn and drummer Jerry Edmonton after the dissolution of Toronto group The...
(ECWExtreme Championship WrestlingExtreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
/ IWC / ROHRing of HonorRing of Honor ' is an American professional wrestling promotion, founded in 2002 by Rob Feinstein and Gabe Sapolsky. From 2004 to 2011, the promotion was under the ownership of Cary Silkin before being sold to the Sinclair Broadcast Group in May 2011...
) - "Back in BlackBack in Black (song)"Back in Black" is a song by AC/DC, appearing as the first track on side two of their 1980 album, Back in Black. Known for its opening guitar riff, the song was AC/DC's tribute to their former singer Bon Scott...
" by AC/DCAC/DCAC/DC are an Australian rock band, formed in 1973 by brothers Malcolm and Angus Young. Commonly classified as hard rock, they are considered pioneers of heavy metal, though they themselves have always classified their music as simply "rock and roll"...
(ECW) - "Schizophrenic" by Jim JohnstonJim Johnston (composer)James Alan "Jim" Johnston is an American music composer who has been working for WWE since 1985. His work is often accredited to the names Jim Johnston, James A...
(WWF) (April 1 1996–January 4 1999) - "Wreck" by Jim Johnston (WWF/E / IWC) (January 11 1999–September 1 2008; November 2, 2011–Present)
- "Chic Chic Bang Bang" by Dale OliverDale OliverDale Byron Oliver is an American music composer who works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Formerly a guitarist in BackHawk , Oliver serves mainly as a composer of theme music used in professional wrestling.-Music composer for TNA:Since 2003, Oliver writes, records, and produces music under...
and Serg Salinas (TNA) (September 3 2008–June 5 2011)
- "Funeral March" by Frederic Chopin
Championships and accomplishments
- Championship Wrestling AssociationContinental Wrestling AssociationThe Continental Wrestling Association was a wrestling promotion managed by Jerry Jarrett. The CWA was the name of the "governing body" for the Championship Wrestling, Inc. promotion which was usually referred to as Mid-Southern Wrestling...
- CWA Tag Team ChampionshipCWA Tag Team ChampionshipThe CWA Tag Team Championship was a major professional wrestling tag team title defended in the Continental Wrestling Association. It lasted from 1988 through 1990, when it was abandoned and replaced with the United States Wrestling Association Tag Team Championship.-Title history:-See...
(1 time) – with Gary Young
- CWA Tag Team Championship
- Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship WrestlingExtreme Championship WrestlingExtreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
- ECW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mikey WhipwreckMikey WhipwreckJohn Watson , better known by his ring name Mikey Whipwreck, is a retired American professional wrestler best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling where he became the third ECW Triple Crown Champion....
- ECW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mikey Whipwreck
- Extreme Mid–South Wrestling
- MSW North American Championship (1 time)
- George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Frank Gotch Award (2010)
- Great Lakes Championship Wrestling
- GLCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Wrestling Association of JapanInternational Wrestling Association of JapanInternational Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 1996....
- IWA World Tag Team Championship (IWA Japan version) (1 time) – with Tracy SmothersTracy SmothersTracy Smothers is an American professional wrestler.-Early career:Tracy started his career in the Memphis promotion on Saturday morning TV. Steve Armstrong and Tracy Smothers started teaming as The Southern Boys in Florida Championship Wrestling in 1987 where they feuded with The New Breed...
- King of the Deathmatch (1995)
- IWA World Tag Team Championship (IWA Japan version) (1 time) – with Tracy Smothers
- North American Wrestling
- NAW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- National Wrestling League
- NWL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Ozark Mountain Wrestling
- OMW North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Pro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling IllustratedPro Wrestling Illustrated is a professional wrestling magazine. PWI is currently based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and published by Kappa Publishing Group.-History:The first issue of Pro Wrestling Illustrated was released in 1979...
- PWI Match of the Year (1998) vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring
- PWI Match of the Year (1999) vs. The Rock in an "I Quit" match at Royal RumbleRoyal Rumble (1999)Royal Rumble was the twelfth annual Royal Rumble professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on January 24, 1999 at the Arrowhead Pond in Anaheim, California. The title of the event was taken from a promise by Mr...
- PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1993)
- PWI ranked him #19 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1999
- PWI ranked him #46 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
- Steel City Wrestling
- SCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Blue MeanieBrian HeffronBrian Heffron is a professional wrestler and actor better known as The Blue Meanie or Da Blue Guy.-Early career:...
- SCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Blue Meanie
- Total Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action WrestlingTotal Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...
- TNA Legends Championship (1 time)
- TNA World Heavyweight ChampionshipTNA World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe TNA World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship owned by the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling promotion. It is currently the highest ranked championship in TNA and is primarily defended in TNA's heavyweight division...
(1 time)
- World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
- WCW World Tag Team ChampionshipWCW World Tag Team ChampionshipThe World Championship Wrestling Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in World Championship Wrestling...
(1 time) – with Kevin SullivanKevin Sullivan (wrestler)Kevin Francis Sullivan is an American professional wrestler and booker, perhaps best known for his role in WCW as "The Taskmaster" and his leading of the "Dungeon of Doom".-Early career:...
- WCW World Tag Team Championship
- World Class Wrestling AssociationWorld Class Championship WrestlingWorld Class Championship Wrestling ' was a regional professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Dallas and Fort Worth, Texas. Originally owned by promoter Ed McLemore, by 1966 it was run by Southwest Sports, Inc., whose president, Jack Adkisson, was better known as wrestler Fritz Von Erich...
- USWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott BraddockScott BraddockScott Braddock is a retired American professional wrestler who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1980s and early 1990s including the Global Wrestling Federation, the United States Wrestling Association and World Class Championship Wrestling...
- WCWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- WCWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Super Zodiak II (1) and Scott Braddock (1)
- USWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Braddock
- World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling EntertainmentWorld Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
- WWF ChampionshipWWE ChampionshipThe WWE Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in WWE. It is the world title of the Raw brand and one of two in WWE, complementing the World Heavyweight Championship of the SmackDown brand. It was established under the then WWWF in 1963...
(3 times) - WWF Hardcore ChampionshipWWE Hardcore ChampionshipThe World Wrestling Entertainment Hardcore Championship is a hardcore wrestling championship in World Wrestling Entertainment and is contested under "hardcore" rules, meaning there is no disqualifications, no countouts, and pin falls could be counted anywhere...
(1 time) - WWF World Tag Team Championship (8 times) – with Stone Cold Steve AustinStone Cold Steve AustinSteve Austin , better known by his ring name "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, is an American film and television actor and retired professional wrestler...
(1), Chainsaw CharlieTerry FunkTerrence "Terry" Funk is an American professional wrestler and actor known chiefly for the hardcore wrestling style he adopted in the latter part of his career that inspired many younger wrestlers, including Mick Foley...
(1), Kane (2), Al SnowAl SnowAllen Ray Sarven is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name of Al Snow. He is best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a road agent.-Early career:Sarven...
(1) and The Rock (3) - Slammy Award (1997) for Loose Screw
- WWF Championship
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards
- Best Brawler (1991–2000)
- Best on Interviews (1995, 2004, 2006)
- Feud of the Year (2000) vs. Triple HTriple HPaul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley...
- Best Pro Wrestling Book (2010) for "Countdown to Lockdown"
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameThe Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...
(Class of 2000)
Lucha de Apuesta record
| Wager | Winner | Loser | Location | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Career | Triple H Triple H Paul Michael Levesque is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling authority figure, WWE Executive Vice President of Talent and actor, better known by his ring name Triple H, an abbreviation of the ring name, Hunter Hearst Helmsley... |
Cactus Jack | Hartford, Connecticut Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making... |
||
| Career | Jeff Jarrett Jeff Jarrett Jeffrey Leonard Jarrett is an American professional wrestler and wrestling promoter. He is currently signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , an organization he co-founded along with his father and in which he holds some stock but not total control... |
Mick Foley | Orlando, Florida Orlando, Florida Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States... |