10 Pivotal Mick Foley Moments From The Monday Night Wars
4. Birth Of Mr. Socko
Along with his new comedic style, Foley needed a prop to cement his new lovable, goofy character. Austin had his Steveweisers, Rock his eyebrow, Undertaker his urn but what for Foley? The answer came during the infamous Mr. McMahon hospital segment. Foley needed gimmicks to surprise his stricken boss with. Scrabbling around for ideas he asked his old friend Al Snow if he had any ideas. Snow suggested a sock puppet. Everyone hates a sock puppet, right? Well... so you'd think.
Mr. Socko was an instant hit with fan-made signs throughout the arena at the very next event. The world's worst ventriloquist act was born. By now, Foley was constantly evolving and providing hit after hit for the company. WCW had an open cheque book but Foley had a connection with the WWE fans that money couldn't buy.
That dirty old gym sock gave the Mankind character a lease of life and was a shot in the arm for crowd reactions, storylines and merchandising just when Foley was slowing down as a performer.