10 WWE Superfans That Actually Made It

7. Mick Foley

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WWE

One of the first occasions of WWE acknowledging the childhood fandom of their roster members, the famous re-tooling of the deranged Mankind in 1997 shone a spotlight on the high-risk hijinks of a young Mick Foley as he played wrestler with his friends in the early 1980s.

Sharing clips of Foley's backyard comedy movies 'The Legend of Frank Foley' and 'The Loved One', WWE fans saw for the first time what would prove to be the two biggest moneymaking attributes in his arsenal - banal comedy and ludicrous risk.

Exposing 'Dude Love' to fans for the very first time, WWE screened Foley's insane roof dive, in which he gracelessly threw himself off the top of his own house through a makeshift table set up outside his front door.

This was tied together with the heartwarming tale of the young Foley hitchhiking to Madison Square Garden, where the sight of Jimmy Snuka flying through the air to land on top of Don Muraco from a Steel Cage was the exact moment he knew he had to become a professional wrestler.

Foley would achieve even greater fame with his own steel structure tumble, which completely redefined stunts in professional wrestling for an entire generation.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett