15 Things We Learned From Dark Side Of The Ring: Mick Foley's Hell In A Cell

15. “12 Hours Of Japanese Wrestling A Day”

Punch "technical wrestler" into Google and you won't see Mick Foley name pop up. Whether he was Cactus Jack, Mankind, Dude Love or just plain ol' Mick, "Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy" was never known for his technical acumen between the ropes. That doesn't mean Mick couldn't appreciate rugged strong style grappling or technical prowess though. In fact, he was obsessed with it.

Colette Foley recalls the couple's initial bedroom furniture being a humble mattress on the floor. There was a beat up old black and white TV with a semi-broken VCR player next to it, and that VCR was always stuffed with the latest delights from Japan. Mick told VICE he’d sometimes watch up to 12 hours of Japanese wrestling a day before going there to work opposite Terry Funk. He was fascinated by the realism and storytelling.

Of course, Foley particularly enjoyed the hardcore stylings that proved popular on the tape trading market. Explaining his love of deathmatches, Mick said: "You have to defeat the surroundings”. That's a unique way of looking at things, and it puts a fresh spin on some of Foley's most iconic matches in Japan, WCW, ECW and WWE.

One can only imagine how patient Colette was to sit through some of this stuff though. She wasn't a huge wrestling fan, so it must've been...interesting to sit there and watch her soon-to-be husband devour every Japanese wrestling nugget he could get his hands on. Technical wrestling, strong style matches, hardcore garbage style - Mick adored it all.

12 hours a day made Foley a pro wrestling expert before he was ever a big star.