10 Incredible WWE Attitude Era Moments Nobody Ever Talks About
5. "I Think You Know The Guy..."
Like The Undertaker, Mick Foley has entertained fans with multiple personas over the years--and some even existing within others. Whilst WWE fans will often look to the fan favourite of Mankind being his most popular, the masked boiler room dweller is only his most recent. Foley's earliest incarnation was Dude Love, but the character he portrayed in-ring for the longest time was Cactus Jack.
Though he was never intended for the gentler and more family-friendly WWE crowds at the time, Foley brought Cactus Jack back to face Triple H in autumn of 1997. This version wasn't quite the rabid 'King of the Deathmatch' that hardcore fans knew and more casual fans had heard about. Not yet, anyway.
As the Attitude Era matured WWE's content, Cactus Jack would make a few more sporadic appearances. However, the veteran Foley still seemed to hold back somewhat on the violence--with this version of Cactus being more homage than homicidal. That was, until early 2000--when, having been fired, re-hired and then beaten up, Mankind ditched the mask and unveiled the psychotic persona once more. Though we had only seen him mere months previously, Mick Foley would cement the true return of Cactus Jack in a subtle yet brilliant promo on the following SmackDown. Triple H looked like he'd seen a ghost, and Foley acted like this was someone WWE audiences had never seen.
Unlike his previous incarnation of the same character, this was the real King of the Deathmatch, the real Hardcore Legend; the real Cactus Jack.