Mick Foley - your overall thoughts?

I will never understand the "Mick Foley is a glorified stuntman" argument.

Yeah, he wasn't Bret Hart in the ring, but he had his own very unique style that allowed him to have excellent matches with wrestlers of all shapes and sizes. He didn't always have to jump off a cage to get a reaction.

Foley was also incredibly versatile. The original Mankind character was deranged and creepy, but then he was able to portray something totally different with Dude Love and a more comedic role later during the Mr. Socko era. He was always able to get an emotional response from the crowd which isn't easy.

Mick Foley isn't on my Mount Rushmore, but I have a ton of respect for him and question any real pro wrestling fan who doesn't.

I liked the WCW and ECW versions of Cactus Jack. I even liked the 1996 - 1998 Foley in WWF

But I didn't care for the Mankind character in the jogging pants and was like just Mick Foley pretty much wearing a mask and a white shirt with the jogging pants.

The greatest main event jobber to the stars

Love Foley. Was he a technical genius? No, but he knew how to tell great stories and put on 5* matches despite his lack of athleticism. And nobody can deny he wasn’t one of the biggest names during the Attitude Era. After Austin and Rock, it can be argued he was the #3 biggest name in the company for a time (even to the point many fans and analysts wanted WM15s main event to become a triple threat).

tons of respect!

wasnt a huge fan of his Cactus Jack WCW days, but LOVED Mankind, esp early Brown Mankind. Dude Love was fun too.

Mankind brown attire> button up shirt and tie all day long

Mick Foley the person, is kind of a complete douche though.

He preaches and talks about stuff like politics when the guy is a millionaire and never has to worry about money issues.

I feel his social media messages and tweets have made more fans hate him now than ever before.

Kevin Nash (who I am a huge fan of) and Batista also have the stigma about them. They are loaded with money and don't realize how the normal working man or woman lives so they feel they can bash things with how those people vote and what they believe in.

But overall, like I said in an earlier post, Cactus Jack of WCW and ECW was great. So was brown attire Mankind. Anything after that?? No thanks.

I get it's pretty nasty to turn down a child but at autograph shows if he signs one freebie, every one will want one. And sometimes guys are bringing themselves in and whatever they make is what they take with them if promoters can't pay. A guy like Foley is most likely getting paid well before agreeing to appear but he's a smart man he knows signing that one freebie will bring on everyone else wanting one. I personally believe he was going through some issues maybe 10-15 years ago, there was a whole thread on another board dedicated to him being a dick at signings. I used to post it anytime someone said how awesome he was when they paid him their $15-40 at shows for that experience. I think the autograph signing Foley that Terry Funk alluded to in his book is the real Foley. You, the fan are simply money to him but I do feel as if he has gotten better over the last few years.


I personally agree with Fabulous1971 but not as harsh. Looking back now, his matches were something you don't want your kids or younger fans seeing. I feel like he did those insane bumps, chair shots etc...because he severely lacked the talent that many others had. I don't see him making it with the other guys of 1996-2000 era WWF talents if he hadn't done those insane bumps. He was/is bitter at Marc Mero for getting the guaranteed contract while he probably came in to WWF for much less. But it's based on WWF had to go on. Johnny B. Badd was a star the last few years in WCW while Foley lost a loser leaves town match to an over the hill guy who would go years without being on TV but literally would pop up on WCW simply because he was the booker. He had some awesome matches with Sting and Vader but other than that, he was normally a lower card extra.

I don't get the absolute love for him but also can't hate on him too much. I feel like he did what he did to provide for his wife and kids. And as for his daughter being offended that Taker didn't mention him in the HOF speech, Mick didn't make Taker, Taker made Mick.

He did add a lot more for Taker than a lot of his previous opponents but much like his others, he and Mankind only feuded a few months before he moved on. The KOTR 98 was almost a makeshift feud. Like I think Mick was feuding with Steve Austin for some strange reason a PPV or two ago. His feuds with Mankind were about as long as Mabel, Giant Gonzalez and Kamala off the top of my head. And similar to Yoko as they feuded at other times.

Taker did benefit from Foley being willing to do literally anything for the feud. I think I was premature in saying Taker made Mick because a lot of it was what Mick did working with so many different guys and being willing to destroy his body that made him famous. But without falling onto concrete floors, falling from far heights, exploding barb wire and thumb tacks, Jim Ross loving the guy and goofy pandering to the crowd jokes, I don't see him as anything special.

With that being said, he is one heck of an author. At least the first two books. Not sure if he snuck anything perverse about Melina in another book. He ushered in a chance for anyone and everyone in wrestling to publish a book over the last 22 years. And unlike so many others he did the whole book himself, he didn't need a ghost writer. He is a super talented guy as an author, a great family man but as a wrestler I think he is what Flair said he is. Men and women in movies are probably doing far worse to their bodies than Foley did and have never and will never get the credit, fame or fortune that he has.