Real Name: Michael Francis Foley
Hometown: East Setauket, NY (billed from Truth or Consequences, NM)
Height/Weight: 6'2"/280
Signature Moves (in WCCW): Cactus Elbow, Cactus Clothesline, double-arm DDT
WCCW Titles Held: WCWA Light Heavyweight title, WCWA Tag Team titles (once each with Sheik Braddock and Gary Young)
Notable WCCW Feuds: Eric Embry, Percy Pringle, Jeff Jarrett, Matt Borne and Jimmy Jack Funk.
Need to Know Facts: Born in Bloomington, Indiana on June 7, 1965, Mick Foley was first inspired to become a professional wrestler when he attended a WWF card at New York's Madison Square Garden on October 17, 1983 and witnessed Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka's flying splash onto Don Muraco from the top of a steel cage. Trained by veteran Domenic DeNucci, Mick began his career putting various WWF stars over in televised squash matches before moving on to the indy circuit.
After a stint in Memphis, where he first teamed with "Gorgeous" Gary Young, Cactus and Young debuted in WCCW as members of Skandor Akbar's Devastation Inc. in late 1988 (using the Manson surname only in Dallas, as booker Eric Embry evidently thought Foley bore a resemblance to you-know-who). Though not yet known for the ultraviolent, hardcore brawling style he would later help to pioneer, Mick nonetheless wowed Dallas crowds with moves such as the Cactus Elbow (his running elbowdrop off the ring apron) and other high-risk maneuvers that no one else was attempting at the time. He played a major role in the storyline pitting Embry against Akbar's stable, which led to WCCW's transformation into USWA Dallas, but Foley's departure in late August of 1989 was unceremonious to say the least, as Embry booked himself to win their loser-leaves-Texas match in a matter of seconds.
Following stays in the late Herb Abrams' UWF, Joel Goodhart's Philadelphia-based Tri-State Wrestling (where Foley and Eddie Gilbert engaged in a violent and memorable feud) and the Global Wrestling Federation at the Sportatorium, Mick moved to WCW, feuding with Sting and Abdullah the Butcher, then taking on Leon "Vader" White in a series of shockingly brutal clashes that were unfortunately marred by the promotion's notoriously incompetent booking. One infamous Cactus-Vader bout on WCW Saturday Night was heavily censored due to Turner Broadcasting's policy against showing blood in televised matches; in another, which took place at a house show in Germany, half of one of Foley's ears was severed as he struggled to free his head from the excessively tight ring ropes.
Upon leaving WCW in 1994, Mick began working in the original ECW where he feuded with Sabu, Terry Funk and the Singapore cane-wielding Sandman. In 1995, he would launch an "anti-hardcore" gimmick, inspired when Foley was legitimately offended by a fan's sign which read "Cane Dewey" (Mick's oldest son, who was then three years old), eventually turning full-fledged heel and praising Vince McMahon and WCW president "Uncle Eric" Bischoff on ECW telecasts. During this period, Cactus also worked in Jim Cornette's Smoky Mountain Wrestling and the hardcore IWA promotion in Japan, where he defeated Terry Funk in the final round of the famous King of the Death Match tournament.
Mick left ECW for the WWF in 1996, establishing the Hannibal Lecter-influenced Mankind character who lived in a boiler room and tore out clumps of his own hair during matches. His initial feud there was with fellow WCCW alumnus The Undertaker, managed at the time by Paul Bearer (Percy Pringle). Mick would turn babyface in 1997, establishing his happy-go-lucky hippie alter ego Dude Love, who replaced the injured Shawn Michaels as Steve Austin's tag partner and co-holder of the Tag Team titles.
In 1998, Foley battled Terry Funk in the promotion's first official hardcore match and, as Mankind, renewed his feud with the Undertaker, leading to their jaw-dropping Hell in a Cell match at that year's King of the Ring PPV. In less than a half hour, Mick not only took two of the most frightening bumps in pro wrestling history (one off the top of the cage through an announcers' table, the other through the top of the cage with a steel chair landing on his face), but was slammed twice onto hundreds of thumbtacks before finally being pinned. Foley has stated -- probably correctly -- that this was the bout for which he will, for better or worse, always be remembered.
Not surprisingly, Mick subsequently elected to cut back on the hardcore brawling, reinventing Mankind as a comedic character and introducing the Mr. Socko gimmick (a sock puppet used while applying his Mandible Claw finisher). Later, however, he returned to his former brutal style, taking nearly a dozen chairshots in an "I Quit" match against The Rock at the 1999 Royal Rumble. Foley retired after losing to Triple H at No Way Out in 2000, taking on the role of commissioner for a time before leaving following a dispute with Vince McMahon. He would return in 2003, mostly in non-wrestling roles but working some matches in both WWE and its version of ECW.
Something of a renaissance man in pro wrestling, Mick Foley has authored several books, including a trio of autobiographies which tell his story in far more detail: the groundbreaking
Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks (the first of many wrestling biographies published in recent years) and its followups,
Foley is Good (and the Real World is Faker Than Wrestling), and
The Hardcore Diaries. He has also written works of fiction (
Tietam Brown and
Scooter) and books for children (
Christmas Chaos,
Halloween Hijinx and
Tales from Wrescal Lane). Mick has appeared as both a guest and guest host on the progressive talk network Air America Radio's
Morning Sedition, acted on episodes of the TV series
Now and Again,
Good vs Evil and
Boy Meets World, and hosted
Extreme Warriors, a U.S. version of the popular British series
Robot Wars. In recent years, Foley has worked many hours as a volunteer for the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network (RAINN), speaking with victims via telephone, and is a member of the organization's National Leadership Council. Mick and his wife Colette are the proud parents of a daughter, Noelle, and sons Dewey, Michael Jr. and Huey.
