10 Wrestlers Who Succeeded Against The Odds

Overweight, unattractive, and unathletic, Mick Foley became one of the biggest stars in professional wrestling history. Vince McMahon initially saddled Foley with the Mankind mask as a means of hiding his rough appearance, but that couldn’t stop Foley from reaching the top. It was his relatable everyman charm along with his incredible heart and desire that made him a superstar in spite of the industry’s ideals.

Simply put, Foley is the biggest underdog in wrestling history. He went completely against the grain of everything WWE expected from their main eventers at the time, and he still became a megastar. From WWE and ECW to Japan and Mexico, there was barely a place on Earth that Foley didn’t wrestle, but he found his feet as Mankind in the 1990s.

Initially playing an unhinged tortured soul, Mankind was gradually lightened-up, and more and more of Foley’s personality shone through. His popularity surged as the fans’ respect for him grew, and when WCW famously leaked news of his first WWE Title victory live on Nitro, hundreds of thousands of viewers immediately changed the channel to Raw.

Mick Foley accomplished his childhood dream that night. He’d gone from scrappy backyard wrestler to WWE World Champion, and he sacrificed a lot of blood, sweat, and tears to get there. Moreover, Foley opened the door for wrestlers like Kevin Owens and Bray Wyatt to succeed where their physical appearances may have seen them cast aside in the past.

His rise is one of the most awe-inspiring and heart-warming tales in wrestling history.