Whether as Cactus Jack, Mankind, Dude Love (god help us) or as plain old Mick Foley whod usually be played as some weird Cerberoid combination of all three of them Michael Francis Foley can lay claim to being one of the greats simply because of the number of moments he gave us. Taking a cue from his mentor Terry Funk, Foley would unretire, retire again and unretire a fair few times over the course of his long career. His finest work would probably be between 1992 and 1996, the year he left ECW for the WWF. Almost everything after that (with the notable exception of his exceptional stunt show in Hell In A Cell at King Of The Ring 1998 against the Undertaker, and a storming performance against Edge at Wrestlemania 22) is a case of diminishing returns - while he'd reach his greatest fame as Mankind, the work he was putting in wasn't at the level it had been before, and he'd make his name as the Hardcore Legend, a lovable, shambling loser with a fantastic tolerance for pain, not as a great wrestler and in-ring storyteller. His greatest promo work would probably take place at ECW remember the heelish anti-hardcore interviews? while his best in-ring performances were probably in WCW, despite the poor quality of most of the angles he participated in: Foley was younger, less broken, and noticeably slimmer in his first run as Cactus Jack, and it showed. So while its as Mankind that everyone will remember him, it's worth digging back into his pre-WWF days for the real best of Mick Foley. The image of Hell In A Cell's first fall from the top of the cage through the table is engraved on the inside of the eyelids of every pro wrestling fan there is which is why we dont feel the need to repost it. So heres Cactus Jack versus Vader from Halloween Havoc 1993 instead, a match that set new standards for brutality in WCW. http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x21yhnk_wcw-halloween-havoc-1993-cactus-jack-vs-vader_sport
Professional writer, punk werewolf and nesting place for starfish. Obsessed with squid, spirals and story. I publish short weird fiction online at desincarne.com, and tweet nonsense under the name Jack The Bodiless. You can follow me all you like, just don't touch my stuff.
