10 Disturbing Backstories Behind WWE Gimmicks

5. Mankind

After being Cactus Jack for years in WCW, ECW, Smoky Mountain Wrestling and Japan, Mick Foley debuted in the WWF in 1996 with a new persona: ‘Mankind’.

It was a disturbing character in Mick Foley's early run with WWF, as he presented himself to the audience as mentally tortured whilst squealing/screaming continuously in his promos. He talked of his woes to a rat named George, wailed for his "Mommy!", wore a Hannibal Lecter-esque mask, festered in boiler rooms and regularly abused himself.

Mankind was shown as a deranged individual that touched on mental health/pain in the WWF for the first time. Mick’s later said in interviews he was emotionally drained playing Mankind.

Mankind participated in a sit-down interview with Jim Ross in 1997 that gave some clues into his backstory (before he put the Mandible Claw on JR), claiming he enjoyed pain, saying about society: “They ruled me out because I had a strange appetite for strange things!" and "I never had the chance to show the world that I can love and be loved." He spoke of how he was bullied at school and was called a freak.

Mankind was a tragic character in his early heel days, with Mick playing him as if Mankind truly believed he was the hero in the WWF.