10 Wrestlers Scarier Than The Fiend

6. Mick Foley

Fiend Doink
WWE.com

Beyond the Mandible claw transferred to him, Mick Foley is a clear inspiration on Bray Wyatt, who has tweaked the teacher's jarring shifts in cadence, erratic body language - and has even adopted Foley's sudden "Have a nice day!" into his own, breezy goodbye.

It's not the same.

Foley as Mankind was genuinely unsettling. His introductory vignettes were terrifying to the preadolescent audience haunted by them. His grasp of character was as tremendous as the premise behind it; Mankind was the manifestation of every marginalised, broken member of society who, unable to bear a life in the shadows, was to emerge from them in awful vengeance.

This was a darkness tethered to reality, and his work in the role was as committed as it was terrifying; Foley ripped clumps of his hair from his head and spoke in larynx-killing pig squeals to put over the idea that he was demented, and had already endured a lifelong pain far more damaging than anything physical that could be wrought upon him.

This of course manifested in spectacularly masochistic in-ring showings, in which he blended character and action with genius psychology.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael Sidgwick is an editor, writer and podcaster for WhatCulture Wrestling. With over seven years of experience in wrestling analysis, Michael was published in the influential institution that was Power Slam magazine, and specialises in providing insights into All Elite Wrestling - so much so that he wrote a book about the subject. You can order Becoming All Elite: The Rise Of AEW on Amazon. Possessing a deep knowledge also of WWE, WCW, ECW and New Japan Pro Wrestling, Michael’s work has been publicly praised by former AEW World Champions Kenny Omega and MJF, and current Undisputed WWE Champion Cody Rhodes. When he isn’t putting your finger on why things are the way they are in the endlessly fascinating world of professional wrestling, Michael wraps his own around a hand grinder to explore the world of specialty coffee. Follow Michael on X (formerly known as Twitter) @MSidgwick for more!