“If God built me a ladder to heaven, I would climb it and elbow drop the world” Several ideologies about the wrestling industry (moreover WWE’s business practices) have evolved mostly for the better. Women are now presented as legitimate athletes, rather than eye candy. Size (at least on the surface), doesn’t dictate your place on the card. And the cut-throat locker-room type mentality has seemed to have disappeared. This cut-throat mentality also extends to how the pro wrestling industry was perceived as a selfish industry at one time; and the act of putting someone else over was often problematic towards mid-top-level talent. Notwithstanding this, there was one talent, who never ever had an issue with taking another talent to the next level, giving that talent that extra boost they needed to solidify their main event status or even push them into the main event picture with a thumbtack in the eye or two. That talent was Mick Foley. There are numerous occasions throughout Mick’s WWE run that he was called upon to either solidify a talents title run such as Shawn Michaels’ run in 1996, Steve Austin’s run in 1998 and Triple H’s acclaimed run in 2000. Another role Mick had was to christen a new talent as ‘the next big thing’, such as Randy Orton in 2004 and Edge in 2006. On all of these occasions Mick put his heart, mind and soul into without hesitation.
THE INFLUX OF MANKIND
When Mick made his WWE debut in 1996 posing as the deranged Mankind character; a man who enjoyed physical and mental pain, he would soon be programmed into a feud with the legendary Undertaker. The feud was a success for both men as it showed to Vince and the audience that Mick was a top guy and it showed the audience that Undertaker could take it to the next level in his matches. Following a short break in the programme with Undertaker; Mick was chosen to be one of Shawn Michaels’ first opponents in his first ever WWE Title run.
Their first match would come at the underrated In Your House: Mind Games PPV. Despite the match ending in a disqualification, the match was a 27-minute gem, that really highlighted Shawn’s babyface fire. The match which was awarded 4 and ¾ stars in the Wrestling Observer, made Mick look like he was 150lbs, and really highlighted Shawn’s ability to turn-it-on in serious, legitimate feuds. Up until 2004 (which will be discussed later), Mick referred to this match in 1996 with Shawn as his best ever, he stated: "Sure, at 280 pounds I still looked like hell, but after a brutal cardiovascular training regimen, I was able to go full-tilt for twenty-seven minutes with a smaller, quicker, better athlete than me".
OWWW! HAVE MERCY!
Following losing the Tag Titles to newly joined D-Generation X members, The New Age Outlaws, Mick who was using the Cactus Jack character reverted to the Dude Love character. The reversion ended up being one of the most logical story-lines of the Attitude Era, Mick would blame the fans for his new corporate attitude, citing that the fans cared more about Stone Cold than they did about himself and his well-being. WWE gave Mick the responsibility of having Austin’s first two PPV matches as WWE Champion. One at Unforgiven and one at Over The Edge respectively. The two matches would go onto to be cited as some of Austin’s personal favourite matches, as they worked wonders for his title run and stature as face of the company.