What is the most memorable moment of Mick Foley‘s professional wrestling career?
Was it his time in Japan as Cactus Jack? His match with the Undertaker when he was “broken in half?” Certainly, it wasn't his time in TNA, even if there were a few fun moments in that run, too.
No, to many, the one moment that meant the most in Foley's career wasn't a wrestling match at all, but instead, This Is Your Life, a near-30 minute segment where the Micker ran through his former Rock and Sock Connection member's life in order to convince him that they need to remain friends.
Discussing the segment in a special retrospective for WWE, Foley revealed how the segment came together and why the one person who didn't get behind the idea was the most important person of all, Vince McMahon.
“There's a phrase I use, it's called embracing the ridiculous. Some people, they're just a little short of being able or willing to do that. I think it's those that embrace the ridiculous, who sink their teeth into every opportunity that they are given that really make a difference. Rock was always in the zone, I'm not sure how neither one of us laughed during this scene, I don't know. Looking back on it now, he's the biggest star in the world, and I got to be two feet away from him. I really wanted this to go well,” Mick Foley told the WWE Universe via Fightful.
“What people don't know about This Is Your Life, almost everyone loved it, one person decidedly did not like it at all, and that was Mr. McMahon. Keep in mind, I think we had 14 minutes slotted, and we went 26 on live, national television. Prime time TV. They brought in some local actors to portray the coach, the teacher, the former girlfriend. Yerple was discovered in Michigan when we visited Mr. McMahon in the hospital. She and her husband had a place called Yerple and Jojo's Fun Time Palace. One of the heartwarming aspects of the story is to this day, Yerple and I are in contact.
“There have been other attempts to try to recreate that, and I don't think anyone's ever gonna get it like that, because part of the beauty is that it was so loosely produced. So Dwayne did have the chance to just make it such a star vehicle, and with so little effort. When it was clear that we had not tanked, but instead done the exact opposite, we went in bold pursuit of Mr. McMahon, and that's when we walked away with the agreement that we could do whatever we wanted from that point on.”
Did Foley's unique creative mind pull out an absolute gem? Yup, while the segment may not have been for everyone, it largely resonated with fans and remains incredibly popular to this day as a result of its sheer chutzpah. Say what you will about Mrs. Foley's baby boy, but he certainly knows how to impact an audience.
Mick Foley reveals the idea behind his Mankind mask.
Elsewhere in his Mankind's Greatest Moments video for WWE Digital, Mick Foley commented on his Mankind mask and how he worked through the confusing idea to create an iconic concept.
“I still remember my first meeting with Mr. McMahon, when he showered me a piece of artwork that was on the table. I thought that it was artwork designed for a new character for Max Payne. It looked like The Man In The Iron Mask, the Alex Dumas story later portrayed in the motion picture by Leonardo DiCaprio. It was probably an hour into our talk before he showed me that illustration and said it was for me. My first thought was, won't this cover up my facial expressions? Mr. McMahon said, ‘It's going to augment them,'” Mick Foley explained via Fightful.
“At the end of those conversations, I thought, I'm going to give this a try. Not only a try, I'm going to put everything I have into this character and I'm going to try and make it as different as I can from Cactus Jack. There will be a little carry over in the move set, but I'm going to have him speak differently, act differently, walk differently, feel differently.”
Would Foley have succeeded in WWE had he been introduced as Cactus Jack? Would he have been able to make that character work in a very different professional landscape, or did he need a reinvigoration in order to become a Superstar instead of a professional wrestler and hardcore legend? Fortunately, fans don't have to wonder, as Foley got to show his many faces across WWE programming, and they all got over, including just being Michael Foley from Bloomington, Indiana.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BahE2IpVptw&embeds_referring_euri=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.fightful.com%2F&source_ve_path=MjM4NTE&feature=emb_title
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