In 1988 no one ever suspected a young man named Mick Foley would be one of the greatest pro wrestlers in history.
However, by 1998 the world totally realized he was special.
After spending years wrestling around the world in the scariest of hardcore matches -- including everything from barbed wire to flaming 2X4s -- the beloved veteran captured the hearts of wrestling fans around the world.
In fact, his popularity soared so much that he was voted Time Magazine Man of the Year in 1998 by WWE fans who flooded the voting. Time Magazine actually disqualified Foley because they didn’t feel a pro wrestler deserved such an honor. Foley responds to that in this interview.
In 1998, Time magazine held an online poll to determine its Man of the Year. WWE fans besieged the site and voted for Mick Foley, giving him a huge lead. Time officials later disqualified Foley’s voted stating he hadn’t done anything worthy to win the award. pic.twitter.com/NlBXZwVpAi
— Wrestling Facts (@WrestlingsFacts) March 30, 2022
And, of course, the thing that made Foley a superstar perhaps more than any one singular event was the iconic (and horrific) spot in the middle of a “Hell In A Cell” match against the Undertaker when he was thrown off the top of a steel cage through a table.
It’s the definition of a match you show to anyone who ever dares call pro wrestling “fake.” Violence of that magnitude certainly can’t be faked.
And, of course, Foley was beloved for his ongoing case of multiple personalities in the ring where he took on three iconic characters: Mankind, Cactus Jack & Dude Love. Seldom does a wrestler take on multiple characters and all get “over” (popular) with the fans. Foley accomplished that like no other.
Foley also discusses what life is like right now and how his body is holding up after spending some of the most brutal decades of any human in history in the ring. And fans still adore him for it.