Be it Mankind, Cactus Jack or Dude Love, Foley was a hardcore pioneer and upon his arrival in the WWE, he made a mark with a combination of death defying bumps and memorable intense promos. His original 'From The Boiler Room' segments first got him over as the truly deranged Mankind and much like the aforementioned Goldust, they set him apart from the rest of the roster as a truly unique character. You can see traces of this in Bray Wyatt's dark backstage promos today. He showed a more humorous side with both Dude Love and the babyface version of Mankind, the latter being part of the highest ever rated segment of Monday Night Raw. In the segment entitled 'The Rock: This Is Your Life' Mankind attempts to pay tribute to his then-tag partner The Rock by wheeling out faces from his past. These included his old cooking teacher, his high school gym coach and his high school girlfriend, all as an apology for hitting him with Mr. Socko during a four way title match the night before. It backfires with rather hilarious results and is long recognised at the funniest comedy segment in pro wrestling history. Foley's ability to bounce around from deluded psychotic heel to loveable underdog babyface simply via his demeanor and choice of words has always been his greatest skill as a pro wrestler, more so than any crazy bump, fall or explosion he was willing to take.
Just a jolly ol' pop culture nerd living just outside London in England. I dabble in a little bit of everything but specialise in wrestling, gaming and comic books.
