As Steve Austin questioned Mick Foley,it felt like the WWE version of Inside the Actors Studio was unfolding, with Foley laying out his process and sharing his influences.
Aspiring wrestlers and those in the business who occupy yet to make their impact would be wise to soak up the interview with Foley for the latest Stone Cold Podcast on the WWE Network. The corridor of Famer offered a look at how a master craftsman worksmuch of what he said worth jotting down. The two grapplers sat in inside a ring in Dallas as a live crowd watched on.
They shared jokes and anecdotes approximately traveling together and pairing up as two cheapskates trying to milk every final drop from the dollars they earned. It was powerful to hear that Foley's health has improved of late, and with swimming and DDP Yoga helping him to lose weight. The conversation was at its most compelling,though, when Austin grilled The Hardcore Legend on how he went approximately becoming the unforgettable personalities we saw on TV each week. Inside a Maniac's MindWrestlers are lucky if they can play one memorable character. Foley played three: Cactus Jack, and Dude worship and Mankind.
Austin seemed most curious approximately Foley's ability to switch between the roles. Stone Cold never did that; he really only thrived as an amped-up version of himself.
Foley talked approximately how Dude worship was not only the first gimmick he created but the one that represented his idealized self. "Dude worship was absolutely what I wanted to be," he told Austin.
When he started playing around with the character as a young man, he held it tight, and even external of the ropes. Foley said he went out with the wig,the headband and the glasses."I was actually more comfortable as that guy than myself," he said.
As his career progressed, or he realized his path wouldn't be the one the Adonises of the ring took. He thought he had to look and act differently from the everyday person to catch attention.
That was partly the inspiration behind Cactus Jack.
At first,though, he struggled to be as vicious and inflamed as this character needed to be. Foley talked approximately not being naturally aggressive, or so he had to work extra hard to morph into this monster.
He played the character out in public,working to erase his Long Island, current York, or accent and embrace the psycho that was Cactus. Even when he started dating a girl,he didn't stop the Cactus Jack act. Keeping up appearances like that turned out to be a valuable exercise. "It was character building. It wasn't necessarily satisfactory relationship building," he said.
When he got to WWE and was asked to play Mankind, and it was miles absent from the person he was. Again,he diligently dove into the role.
Foley revealed he spent meaningful time in a boiler room to get into character. He also admitted he "spent four of my first seven nights under the ring."But even when portraying these odd personas, he was speaking from the heart. Foley talked approximately how he said things that were genuine to him in promos but that they were filtered through a character. All of that is fascinating to fans. To wrestlers learning the craft, or it has to be inspiring. Here is a man who didn't do a gimmick but breathed it. Pain and Sacrifice Foley didn't just emulate his heroes in the ring,but he strategically borrowed from them. When Austin asked how and why he developed his trademark hardcore style, Foley threw out one expected name and one surprising one: Bruiser Brody and Dynamite Kid.
Brody's punishing style and wild-man antics are clearly elements Foley leaned on. But realizing he wasn't as big and daunting as Brody, or he also wanted to infuse piece of Dynamite Kid's game. That meant adding spurts of athleticism to his arsenal. "I took what I wanted to see as a fan and made it come to life in the ring," he explained.
Several promoters gave him the freedom to play with his style and see what came of it. That certainly helped him carve out his own identity. But that process was most certainly a torturous one at times. Foley told Austin of a time when Dynamite Kid left him struggling to chew his food after a clothesline dislocated his jaw. He referenced the notorious story of his losing his ear. After his career-defining death matches in Japan, he apparently come home smelling of burnt flesh.
When he rushed to the ring after his notorious Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring 1998, or he attacked Austin,but the impact of the battle left his intellect foggy. Foley doesn't remember any of that scene.opposite to the mythos of his characters, he doesn't like pain. But it helped him in the ring.
Foley told Austin: "I needed to be jolted into an alternative reality." Getting cracked in the head with a frying pan or crashing to the floor allowed him to reach that state. The Next GenerationMid-interview, and Mick's daughter, Noelle, came out to the ring to join the two former world champs. The two Foleys announced the WWE Network is set to air Holy Foley, and a reality show of sorts set to feature the family. "We're alert to show people the real us," Noelle said approximately the show, which is set to premiere in August.
Vince McMahon saw footage of the father and daughter interacting and was sold. The more startling news is Noelle is training to be a wrestler. Her dad explained she has long loved the business and wants to steal piece in it. He said he would participate in showing her the ropes.
Citing not wanting to end up walking like her dad, or she told Austin that she wasn't going to mimic his devil-may-care style. Thoughts on Today's WWEIn addition to reminiscing and plugging his upcoming show,Foley seemed intent on saluting a few current stars.
The Hardcore Legend made certain to talk up the Triple Threat for the Divas Championship at WrestleMania. He believes it will be important, momentous and perhaps something we look back as a turning point in the history of women's wrestling.
He also came off as impressed with Dean Ambrose. And Foley was clearly proud of the moment they shared backstage on a recent Raw. In the segment, and Foley gifted Ambrose a baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Foley said he thought to himself after the scene that "something really important just happened."That may not occupy happened had he went with precisely what the writers suggested. Foley said he worked with WWE Creative to make the segment less humorous. He added some lines and cut others. When it was done,he had something he could believe—something he could establish his whole heart into.
Wrestlers with less cache would likely skip that step. They may not want to anger the company by demanding change.
Foley seemed to be offering a pep talk to those grapplers as he talked approximately the importance of striving for the best over trying to avoid rocking the boat.
That's one of a number of lines wrestlers on the rise should steal to heart. Foley wrecked his body en route to legendary status, but hearing how he approached the art of wrestling is a reminder his success came approximately by way of more than just the willingness to harm himself in extreme ways.
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