Legends Wrestling
Mick Foley, the “hardcore Legend”
Growing up in East Setauket, New York, the young Mick Foley was a huge fan of professional wrestling, even hitch-hiking to Madison Square Garden in 1983 to witness his favourite wrestler Jimmy “Superfly” Snuka battle his arch rival Don Muraco in the confines of a steel cage. Foley now points to The Superfly’s dive off the top of the cage onto the prone Muraco as the precise second when he decided he wanted to become a professional wrestler.
Mick began training in Pennsylvania, oftentimes having to sleep in the back of his car and subsisting on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches due to the financial constraints of driving 18 hours every weekend to train while still being at college. Mick embraced this difficult situation however, aware that this was all part of him “paying his dues”. He quickly realised that what he lacked in technical wrestling skill, he more than made up for in his ability to take a beating and get right back up.
Mick eventually made it up to WCW in 1989, then the second largest wrestling promotion in the United States behind the then-WWF; but, after being placed in ridiculous storylines and having office staff tell him he’d never be a success due to the fact that he “didn’t look like a star”, Foley left the company and travelled to Japan, where he cemented his reputation as a madman - particularly after his participation in the King of the Death Match tournament in Tokyo. The event promoted inhuman matches featuring barbed wire, thumbtacks, glass and fire. Foley wrestled three matches that day, with fans witnessing Foley being blown up by C4 explosives while wrapped in barbed wire with thumbtacks sticking in his head. Foley emerged the winner, acquiring the legendary status he has had in Japan ever since.
Upon his return to the United States, Foley received word that the biggest wrestling company in the world, the WWF, wanted to meet with him. After an initial meeting Foley finally got his dream job in the company that he had watched while growing up. He packed up his belongings, gave his car to a young trainee wrestler he knew (a welcome gesture considering money and new and used car credit wasn’t something a poor, independent wrestler could get their hands on all that easily) and moved back home to New York. Mick quickly became popular due to his combination of an intense, realistic wrestling style and the sheer lunacy of some of the falls he took including falling over 20 feet twice in one match (including one fall that knocked him out cold), and having to finish the bout with bruised kidneys and a dislocated shoulder.
Despite all his efforts, Mick was resigned to the fact that since he didn’t look like a star, he’d never be given the chance to be champion. However, at the end of 1998, WWF decided to give him the title belt due to his efforts over the years. He retired from the ring in 2000 and wrote two autobiographies that shocked the world when they both entered the New York Times bestseller list at number one on the day of their releases.
His journey through life has been the inspiration for, not only wrestlers, but musicians and actors everywhere to follow their dreams - no matter how slim the chances of “making it” appear to be; evidenced by the “Foley Is God” signs that appear in wrestling arenas all over the world.
About the Author
Matthew Pressman is a freelance writer and frequent flyer. When not travelling, he enjoys golf and fishing.
WWE 24/7 Legends of Wrestling - The Iron Sheik Part 1/3
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