Mick Foley-Pro Wrestling's Greatest Secret.....REVEALED!!
Mankind/Cactus Jack/Dude Love
It seem that everyone is jumping on the "hardcore wrestling" bandwagon.
ECW make tons of money every year staging what they term "extreme" matches.
These matches can contain barbed wire, broken class, baseball bats..and anything
else they can get their hands on. While entertaining, these matches don't live
up to the actual wrestling skills of many other matches. There are a few exceptions.
The japanese wrestling companies have perfected this type of match,
satisfying both hardcore and technical wrestling fans. FMW and the IWA are
japan-based companies that put on great "death-match" style matches.
This is where Mick Foley learned the real tricks of the trade. While he DID
wrestle in WCW, WCCW, and CMW...he wasn't considered a big star, or a great talent.
Then he began going to japan every year. Mick Foley and Terry Funk wrestled many
times over there, and in some of the most "extreme" matches EVER seen. If you wanna
see some of this crazy-ass action, look up some tape dealers on the internet. you won't be
sorry. But it was over in japan that Foley learned how to take a real bump, and how to sell
his character better. Mr. Bang Bang was on his way.....
This is where he came to the attention of ECW. They were a new wrestling company,
and needed a gimmick to draw some fans. So, they decided to bring the "hardcore"
action back to the USA. They needed some crazy wrestlers, and who better that the death-match
champion himslef..Mick Foley?? So Cactus Jack brought his act home, better than before. The ECW fans
loved everything he did. This is where Mick Foley learned to give those great interviews. He
wrestled there for a few years, then the big call came. Mr. McMahon wanted Mick Foley. But not
Cactus Jack. A new character was created...."Mankind"
When he came in ti the WWF, he was hated by the fans. He fueded with one of wrestlings biggest
stars, The Undertaker. He is the only man to ever compile a winning record against The Undertaker.
In a great career move, he did a series of interviews with Jim Ross. They went over great with the fans.
And it brought to the WWF, Dude Love.
Dude Love was the boyhood fantasy of Mick Foley, and he danced, strutted, and showboated his way
to the tag-team titles with one "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Fans had a mixed reaction to the Dude.
He ended up selling out to Mr. McMahon, and thus killing Dude Love, but hopefully not forever!!
Finally, in a falls-count-anywhere match, Mick Foley brought Cactus Jack's madness to the WWF.
He whipped Triple H, and went on to win the Tag Belts with Terry Funk. While Cactus Jack was
popular with the fans, he wasn't the top star Mick Foley wanted him to be.
In a cage match, Him and Funk got beat up by Degeneration X, and the fans chanted "Austin, Austin"
This was the last straw for the man who had given everything to the same fans that didn't give a rat's ass about Cactus Jack.
In a stirring interview, Mick Foley said " it's gonna be a long time before you see Cactus Jack in the ring again."
Now on his own, He wrestled a few matched here and there, until the match that changed pro-wrestling
forever, "Hell in the Cell". I'm sure almost all of you have seen the footage of Mick being thrown off
the top of the cage, then thrown through the top of it, and finally being choke-slammed on a pile of thumbtacks.
Widely-regarded as the best match of the year, even the decade. This pushed Mankind to new hights.
In a screwjob by Mr. McMahon, Mick Foley lost the Survivor Series to the "corporate puppet" The Rock.
Mankind got screwed again at Rock bottom, then had his last shot at A RAW taping. He held Vince McMahons' son
hostage, until he gave Mankind the title shot. Mick won the match, with some help from Steve Austin.
As of right now, Mick Foley is the WWF champ, after taking a long and twisting
road to get there.
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