Early Life & Career
Michael Francis Foley was born in Bloomington, Indiana, on June 7, 1965. His family moved to Long Island shortly after he was born. Foley competed in amateur wrestling in high school and was a pro wrestling fan; he was inspired to become a pro wrestler himself after seeing Jimmy Snuka face Don Muraco in a cage match in Madison Square Garden.
After training under Dominic DeNucci in Pennsylvania, Mick Foley made his wrestling debut in June 1986 under the ring name Cactus Jack. He worked across the independent circuit and as a jobber for WWE, though his career with the promotion wouldn’t take off until much later. Instead, Mick Foley worked for various promotions across the globe, establishing himself as one of the most eccentric and toughest performers the sport had ever seen.
The Rise Of Cactus Jack
After making a name for himself on the independent circuit, Cactus Jack began to rise to greater prominence. He wrestled for the UWF, CWA, WCCW, Smoky Mountain Wrestling, WCW, and ECW. He also started to compete overseas in All Japan Pro Wrestling and IWA Japan.
Cactus Jack built a very unique reputation for himself. He wasn't known for winning matches as much as he was known for enduring extreme amounts of violence and somehow coming out of the scrap alive. His ruggedness, disheveled appearance, and indomitable pain tolerance garnered him a cult following, especially among the death match circle.
Mankind Is Born
In 1996, Mick Foley was signed by WWE at the behest of Jim Ross, who had previously worked with Foley in WCW. Vince McMahon was incredibly skeptical regarding Mick Foley’s potential in WWE; he also wasn’t too fond of Foley’s appearance and wanted Foley to wear a mask. The initial persona crafted for him was a leather-clad masked villain named “Mason the Mutilator,” though the idea was quickly scrapped. Instead, Foley proposed an eerie, masochistic loner named Mankind.
Mankind was often found haunting the boiler rooms of venues, speaking with rats, and crying out for his mother. The gimmick was as unsettling as it was intriguing. Mankind’s most notorious feud was against The Undertaker; their Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998 lives on in infamy thanks to Mankind’s plunge from the top of the cage through the announce desk.
Foley also introduced WWE fans to his third persona, Dude Love, a fun-loving, womanizing hippie who reigned as WWE Tag Team Champion alongside Steve Austin. The three faces of Foley (Dude Love, Cactus Jack, and Mankind) all competed in the 1998 Royal Rumble, making Foley the only wrestler to compete in the same Royal Rumble match three times.
The Hardcore Legend
In 1998, Mankind formed a tag team with Kane and the pair enjoyed brief success. After Kane betrayed him at SummerSlam, Mankind then entered an angle with the chairman, Vince McMahon. Mankind saw Vince as a father figure and was easily manipulated into doing his bidding. It was also during this time that Mankind debuted his sock puppet companion, Mr. Socko. In November 1998, McMahon created the WWE Hardcore Championship and named Mankind the inaugural champion.
At Survivor Series 1998, McMahon betrayed Mankind during his WWE Championship match against The Rock, turning Mankind face as a result. The ensuing feud between Mankind and The Rock culminated in Mankind finally beating Rock for the title in Worcester, Massachusetts.
A few months later, The Rock and Mankind would bury the hatchet and form one of the most popular tag teams in WWE history, The Rock ‘n’ Sock Connection. The pair became three-time tag team champions.
Retirement & Hall Of Fame Induction
By 1999, years of hardcore action had taken its toll on Foley’s body. The need to retire was becoming impossible to ignore. Foley and WWE decided to work this into an angle, wherein Cactus Jack faced WWE Champion Triple H in a Hell in a Cell match at No Way Out. If Mankind did not defeat Triple H, he would be forced to retire. The match was brutal and devastating, and ended in a hard-fought loss for Foley.
After retiring from in-ring competition, Mick Foley served as WWE Commissioner and Raw General Manager in addition to making some appearances as a special guest referee. He also made appearances in various independent promotions, such as Ring of Honor and IWC. Foley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013. He remains one of the most universally revered and beloved stars in WWE history for his gutsiness in the ring and kindness outside of it.
