The first of Mick Mankind Foleys 4 World Championship runs actually lasted for less than a month, but it meant a hell of a lot to Foleys hardcore fanbase and (probably) even more to the man himself... Mick Foley was a well-respected indie talent and ECW icon before being signed up to the WWF in the mid 1990s. Although he had been criminally underused in WCW, Mick Foley (who wrestled there as Cactus Jack for the one guy reading this who didnt know that), had still engaged in a brutal, bloody and excellent feud with Vader and had memorably teamed with Abdullah The Butcher, as well as main eventing the occasional WCW Pay Per View. However, he was hardly a household name and was probably best known for putting his body on the line in all manner of gory stipulation matches with the likes of Sabu, Shoji Nakamaki, Tommy Dreamer and, of course, the legendary Terry Funk. Mick was never a prime physical specimen (although he was in much better shape than most people give him credit for) and the Mankind character, who appeared to have been modelled on Hannibal Lector at first, never seemed likely to become the poster boy for the clean cut, respectable WWF. However, with the change in tastes of the late 90s, a combination of Foleys innate charisma, ingenious promo work (he always was one of the best in the biz on the mic) and, of course, THAT Hell in a Cell bout at 1998s King of the Ring Pay Per View, made Mankind SUPER over with the WWF fanbase. He always had good chemistry with The Rock (both as friends and as rivals) and, from a booking standpoint; two thirds of Mankinds WWF Championships were aimed at enhancing The Rocks stature within the company. However, once again, it seems clear (to me, at least) that Vince McMahon wanted to acknowledge Foleys various sacrifices to the business and the company he loved. It seems that the decision to put the belt on Mankind was an acknowledgement to the fans, as well. It was as if the McMahons quietly looked up and realized just how much Mick Foley meant to us and just how many of us tuned in to WWF programming just to see Mick Foley do something crazy, or funny, or scary (often all three). Like Daniel Bryan in the run-up to WrestleMania XXX, Foley won over the fans, before he won over the McMahons. Mankind was a bona-fide WWF main eventer and one of the companys biggest stars, of course, but it was obvious that he was never getting his hands on that belt for any significant period of time. Still, Mick seems to have been fine with that... Honestly, I really think that all he ever wanted from the business was to be compensated well financially for the pain he put himself through and to be remembered as a guy that gave 150% of himself, every single night. Being a three-time WWF Champ is just the icing on the cake, really.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
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Latcho Drom,
- CQ
