Mick Foley has the reputation as one of the greatest talkers in wrestling history for good reason. His ability to express his emotions, to get over the point of his promos with the audience is matched by few. His ability to take the despicable Mankind character and turn him into a sympathetic babyface in 1997 is a testament to just how good and how special a performer the future New York Times Bestseller was. During his days in Extreme Championship Wrestling, though, a very real sign of disrespect by a fan led Foley to lash out at the fans that he believed expected to much of the hardcore competitors who competed for Paul Heyman's upstart promotion.After seeing a sign with the words "Cane Dewey" written on it, a direct reference to Foley's young son, he cut a scathing promo on the fans and the hardcore style. He unleashed months worth of frustration on fans and created an anti-hardcore character that quickly developed into one of the best ECW had ever seen. He warned Tommy Dreamer that fans did not care about him but, rather, what he was willing to do to his body for their entertainment. Though he was dropping a pipebomb based in reality, he was able to translate it into a successful character that ultimately caught the attention of Vince McMahon and WWE.