The most deranged athlete to ever grace a WWE ring, Mankind made his debut with the company in April 1996 and immediately took the industry by storm. Sporting an elaborate brown mask, matching garb and two fingers wrapped in brown tape, Mankind was the complete opposite of the cartoonish characters that had contributed to WWE's downfall in the middle of the decade. He was edgy, dangerous and wasted no time in targeting the biggest dog on the block, The Undertaker. With a dreaded finisher known as the Mandible Claw and a propensity for inflicting as much damage on himself as he did on his opponents, Mankind was unlike any Superstar fans had ever seen before. His enigmatic and unstable personality and the fact that he seemed to enjoy physically punishing and tormenting his opposition made him an absolutely captivating character. His wars with Undertaker, Shawn Michaels, and Hunter Hearst Helmsley established him as an elite star in WWE while a series of interview segments in the summer of 1997 endeared him to the audience and resulted in a babyface turn that did not come out of the booking room but, instead, occurred naturally and as the result of the fans' admiration of the hard-working and thoroughly entertaining performer. That did not change the fact that Mankind did not live in the same world as the rest of us. He had multiple personalities and a unique brand of humor but was not above unleashing sheer violence on anyone who stood in his path when the time called for it. He was bizarre, insane and great and that is why Mick Foley, the man behind the mask, was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2013.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
