The many pages of Foley
By ALEX RISTIC -- SLAM! Wrestling
Mick Foley has multiple personalities. No, he's not a schizophrenic, but
as the vast majority of the wrestling world has borne witness, Foley has
been known to be an entertainer, insane person, hardcore icon, clown,
father, administrator (his run as WWF commissioner), author, and pretty
much everything else in between.
If anything, although his career has spanned the better part of
20 years, it has been within the last five years in the World Wrestling
Federation that most people have seen Foley show all these facets to his
personality. The nihilistic and neurotic Mankind, the clown-like Dude
Love, hardcore "fossil" Cactus Jack, a loving father in the recent film
Beyond The Mat, and as an author with his best selling books "Have A
Nice Day..." and his most recent page-turner "Foley Is Good; And The Real
World Is Faker Than Wrestling."
At a recent Toronto stop to promote his latest literary effort, and WWF
related products, Foley sat down and chatted with several journalists,
and displayed all of his personality facets, and also found time to talk
about wrestling.
At the point in time when this interview took place, Foley's book had
already been on the market for the better part of a month, yet, through
various WWF TV programming, as well as print, radio, and television
interviews through other media outlets, the promotional aspects of
marketing his tome seemed heavy handed. On almost every RAW or Smackdown!
broadcast 'Foley Is Good' seemed to be mentioned at an incessant pace.
It came to the point that many Internet dirt sheet writers had gone to
the point of calling Foley a caricature of himself, something the ring
legend does not agree with.
"I've only talked about it for a couple of weeks," defends Foley the
book promoter. "They're free to think what they want. I don't take myself
nearly as seriously as some people take me. I think the time to shove
the book down people's throats is over, but I think it was important
because a lot of them really didn't know it was out there."
As for the book itself, Foley is very pleased with it. "That's why I
decided to write another book. I loved writing, and I think that was
apparent to people who read it, the way that the writing came through."
According to Foley, he had plans to make 'Foley Is Good' different from
his previous non-fiction effort (he does have a children's book out, and
is working on a slew of others), however, his change in focus still
presented problems. He couldn't think of anything else to write about
but himself, so he continued on that tack, but decided to take a
decidedly less historical path. So Foley said he decided to write about
the last 16 months of his in-ring career, as according to the author,
they were "the most successful and stressful time" throughout any other
point in his 17-year career.
Most of the book lends a little more insight this time around into
Foley's personality. It's a funny coincidence as well, because SLAM!
went into the interview with Foley with the intentions of not focusing
solely on his latest literary efforts. Yet, 'Foley Is Good' does as
good a job of mirroring the many sides to Foley as the man does himself.
For instance, Foley puts on the hat of critic, to a large degree,
throughout the book, giving his thoughts on certain wrestling angles,
politics, and a whole host of other topics.
Take his opinion on Vince Russo, for example. In the book, Foley details
the former WWF writer as a seemingly nice guy, who attempted to push
Foley to the hilt before he left the company. But that doesn't leave the
former WCW writer unscathed, as Foley levies some heavy criticisms
Russo's way for the job he did at the then WWF's biggest rival.
"It was definitely deserved," said critic Foley of his comments in the
book. "He deserves full criticism for his WCW faults. I think you have
to look at Russo as a very, very talented writer who needed to be
reigned in to be effective. I think it's safe to say that if Vince Russo
stayed in the WWF he never would have won the WWF title. He just went a
little nuts there."
Foley, although perhaps not purposely, also takes on the role of
educator somewhat. It's safe to say that after nearly two decades in the
wrestling business, and a career that spanned from the 1980s to the new
millennium, that he knows a thing or two about the game. Chatting about
the business in general, he gave his thoughts on wrestlers need to
inject some humour into their characters, but the truly great sports
entertainers must know when to get serious also.
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Cactus Jack
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"It's a difficult blend," says Professor Foley. "You have to be able to
cut off the laughter at the appropriate point. I think it's a talent,
and not everyone has it. Time will tell if Edge and Christian have that,
because I know they can make us laugh, and I know they can have
wonderful matches, it's just a matter of cutting off the laughter at the
right time. I think the simplest formula for success is to establish
likeable characters and put them in peril, and it's all a matter of
timing and how it's done."
"It's a simple formula, but very difficult to execute properly."
Covering some aspects of the behind-the-scenes shenanigans that occur in
pro wrestling, Foley actually had quite a bit of advice to give in his
book, including to several members of the WWF roster. But as the former
three time (three time, three time) WWF champion admits, not all of his
points were accepted as constructive criticism.
"I tell you what; the comments I wrote about Billy Gunn seemed a little
funnier when I was writing them than when I was alone in the dressing
room with him," admits Foley the sage. "A lot of those comments are
meant as jokes about Al Snow and
Test, and some of the comments are
meant as serious criticisms, like a guy like X-Pac , who I criticized
and said he appreciated it. There's some guys who, I'm sure, my
criticisms stung a little bit, but I didn't do anything maliciously. By
and large I think the guys have enjoyed the book."
And your boss, Vincent K. McMahon?
"Vince has not read it. He's finishing a book on Richard Nixon before he
reads my book. One problem I never had was criticism about Vince; he
allows me the freedom to criticize, and he laughs about it."
During the course of the conversation, Foley comes off as a pleasant
individual. Depending on the topic, and the question, his various
beliefs and personality traits come to the forefront even more. This
observation is interesting, as not many wrestlers break-off from their
public personas. Indeed, Foley has gone on record in the past as saying
some of the most successful characters base their ring alter egos on
their true-to-life personalities.
At one point, the topic of
Beyond The Mat comes up. In it, Foley is
portrayed several ways -- caring father, ring legend, class clown.
Just talking about the movie also brings out all of these aspects in the
shaggy man. He talks about how people felt that the film was a "downer,"
perhaps too real for the audience. He also admits that he thought the
film focused too much on Foley's infamous match with The Rock, where he
took quite a few chair shots to head with his family watching at
ringside. However, knowing the conversation is taking a serious turn,
the prankster in Foley comes out in spades.
"I didn't know I was so sensitive; I didn't know I cried that much. How
many times did I talk about my eyes welling up with tears? I want to
make a distinction: Unless the tears actually come down, you're not
officially crying. So I may well up a lot ... "
The topic sticks to Beyond The Mat however, where it appears Foley now
takes on the role of the diplomat. A source close to Foley once told
SLAM that his involvement with the film almost cost him his job. For a
little background, apparently McMahon had two problems with the film; a)
the producers of the film would not pay the WWF for promotion, so he
frowned upon its stars in the film talking about it publicly, and b) he
thought it may have portrayed the WWF in too negative of a light. Foley
does admit relations between he and McMahon became heated, but he never
had to worry about his career.
"I talk about my relationship with Vince being a rocky one at that time,
but there was never a sense of teaching me a lesson or terminating me.
If you look at it, that's when I was pushed the hardest actually. If you
look at January/February of 2000 that was when I was pushed the hardest.
So Vince, I'm not saying he didn't yell at me a couple of times, but I
think he has a good knack for separating personal and business."
Now it's time for Foley to don the cap of prognosticator. The question on
many minds is when, if ever, will Foley return to the ring? He may have
retired, but even he admits nothing lasts forever.
"Unfortunately, or fortunately, the nature of the show is that all
altercations end up in the ring. ... I don't think we can end all of our
involvements with gentlemanly discussions, it wouldn't be much of a
show, so I would imagine I would probably get in the ring sometime. It
may not be tremendous, but hopefully it will be enjoyable enough."
Yeah Mick, but when?
"I don't know. I don't think it's a secret that at one point I was
scheduled to be involved in Wrestlemania, and my feeling was a) I was
woefully out of shape and couldn't get into shape in time, and b) it was
like 'why do it if it's going to do big business anyway?' Looking back I
kind of wished I had because I would have taken full credit for the
extra 300,000 buys -- it'd be like 'hey; without Foley, and with Foley.'
I could have taken credit for the difference."
A feud that many are hoping to see would be one that pits the former WWF
commissioner against the most recent in
William (Steven) Regal. Funnily
enough, it seems that many newer fans haven't been exposed to the old
WCW, as Foley and Regal already had a few matches in the early to
mid-'90s. Making a pseudo-prediction, Foley says he thinks it may happen.
"I think the chemistry is real good in the ring. We're such polar
opposites, not just in personality, but in ring style, that I think it
would make a pretty good match. Probably not one that would end up on
the Best Of Foley archives, but hopefully one that wouldn't be
embarrassing."
One thing that Foley says does interest him is taking part in the
current WCW-ECW vs. WWF angle. Could he be showing us a new side to his
personality -- that of a turncoat?
"There's that part of wanting to be a pioneer, which is the same feeling
I had when I went to the IWA in Japan; to take a little group and to try
and make it successful," states Foley matter-of-factly. "WCW obviously
had their share of problems, and I think maybe if I went there I could
put my handprint on it instead of just being another cog in a successful
machine like the WWF."
Donning the hat of author more, along with carnival barker salesmen,
Foley leaves off with information on a future book project that he's
currently working on.
"I've got a children's book coming out for Halloween. It's a very cute
book, maybe not for the hardcore fans. If the hardcore fans don't like
my very sanitized version of the world that's fine, but I know I'm more
comfortable with creating fun little characters than I am with being
busted wide open every night."
