4. Mankind
Mick Foley was of the last generation of territory based performers. He paid his dues in independents, WCW and ECW before being given the chance to shine in the WWF. He was saddled (and I mean saddled) with a gimmick, which in the hands of a lesser man, would have floundered (anyone remember Papa Shango) Mankind was a wild man, a sadistic, maniacal madman. He scored victories over the Undertaker and even had a championship match against Shawn Michaels. So did Vader. History tells the tale often of a heel pushed to main event and subsequently buried. Foley easily could have followed Vader into mediocrity. His act got tired in 1997 mostly due to that the WWF never believed him to be a main eventer. Foley was then given a multiple personality disorder gimmick. Again Foley flourished appearing three times in the Royal Rumble as Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind in one of the most memorable moments in Rumble history. He even had a tag team title run with Terry Funk (as the ridiculous Chainsaw Charlie) Yet the top prize and the respect were still out of his hands. In 1998, Foley turned heel once more to be Austin's first challenger for his newly won WWF title. Yet, no one believed Foley was going to get the title. Like many unique and strange characters, he was there to help others get over. Cut to June 1998. Hell in a Cell, Mick Foley became a superstar. He also got severely injured. The scene of Foley falling 30 feet off the cage onto the announce table below is one of the most shown scenes in WWE's history. It was also the moment that made Foley. (Many tend to forget Foley's second fall through the cage almost killed him, literally. It was also not planned) In that match, Foley did two major things (other than getting injured). He proved to management his toughness and willingness to do anything for his craft. But he more importantly, proved to the fans that he was a superstar. From that point on, Foley is God signs started to appear. A WWF championship was not far behind.