Original subtitles

[heartbeat thumping]

[crowd cheering]

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- When you begin to write \hthe story of your life,

sometimes it’s best to forego \h\h\h\h\h\h\ha grand plan...

♪ ♪

And just put pen to paper.

♪ ♪

\hA lot of times, I’ll just go back

\h\h\hand think about all the questions I was asked

over those 20 years.

Does it hurt?

- Cactus Jack.

He knocked it over.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Oh, God! Right on the concrete!

- Oh, no!

- Are you some sort \h\h\hof psychopath?

Ahh, my face!

♪ ♪

Some sort of masochist?

[howling]

\h\hYou seem like such a normal guy.

- Yay!

- Why would you do that \h\h\h\h\h\hto yourself?

[crowd ohh-ing]

[woman shrieks]

I used to answer all those \hquestions the same way.

I’m Mick Foley.

[grunting]

This is what I do.

♪ ♪

But June 28th, 1998,

that was the first time \h\hI came face-to-face

with my own mortality.

[dramatic music]

And now I was the one asking the question...

♪ ♪

Is it worth it?

[heartbeat thumping]

♪ ♪

[pensive music]

♪ ♪

\hOur neighborhood was a great place.

It was small,

\h\hbut we had some close-knit families.

♪ ♪

My parents have been here \h\h\hfor almost 60 years.

♪ ♪

Really, it hasn’t changed \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat much.

\h\h\h\hStill looks like a good place to grow up.

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h\hMy mom and dad used to always use the word "sweet"

to describe my demeanor.

I wasn’t like a tough kid

or a bad kid.

I was a sweet kid.

♪ ♪

\h\h\hTo me, this was an idyllic childhood.

\h\hI would leave at 9:00, 9:30 a.m.

We were either swimming, \h\h\h\hplaying Frisbee,

playing Wiffle ball, \h\h\h\hbasketball,

football in the street.

\hAnd my mom would ring a bell for us

when it was time \hto eat dinner.

- We just got into \hso much trouble.

But, you know, good trouble.

- When I was eight years old,

\h\h\h\h\h\hand we’re playing "Kill The Guy" with the ball--

that was an actual game--

in diving for someone \h\hwho had the ball,

\h\htheir heel kicked me in the bottom of the lip,

and it bled profusely.

\hAnd I remember seeing the reactions of people

when they saw my blood...

and not disliking it.

My dad worked long hours.

He was the director of health,

physical education \h\hand recreation

\hfor the entire school district.

♪ ♪

I was pretty shy in high school.

\h\hI was playing football and basketball, lacrosse.

And I was definitely living \hin the shadow of my dad,

trying to break out.

And I was becoming a, you know, \h\h\h\h\h\hpeculiar young man.

Very imaginative.

Very creative.

\h- It’s funny, because he wasn’t a macho tough guy.

\h\h\h\h\hHe was just-- he was a gentle spirit.

- I was a running back on the football team,

and they said they needed \h\h\hanother heavyweight.

I would wrestle with Mick \h\hevery day, you know?

\hWe were in there training together,

\h\h\hand just kind of beating each other up.

\hAnd it was a blast. We had a lot of fun.

He was quirky.

Always a weird look, \h\h\hweird haircut.

One of the parades, he was on \h\ha prom float and all that.

He was just crazy.

- You’re gross. Everybody thinks you’re disgusting.

You wear the same clothes \h\h\h\h\h\h\hevery day.

You never comb your hair.

\h\h\h\h\hYou’re fat. You’re an endomorph.

You have the body of a bowling pin.

- I guess I’ve always been \h\h\h\hself-deprecating.

I was never really comfortable \h\h\h\hwith the way I looked,

especially physically.

I was always heavyset.

And I got teased a lot \h\h\h\h\h\habout it.

So I was beating people \h\h\hto the punch line

\h\h\h\hbefore they could make their own punch line about me.

♪ ♪

- Yeah, it was... \h\h\h\h[stammers]

We both struggled a little bit

to find ways to bond.

And it was really wrestling that--

\h\hthat was like the glue that held that relationship together

through that three-year period.

That was the one thing, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know.

Maybe we didn’t get along \h\hthe rest of the week,

\h\hbut when it came time Saturday night, you know?

"Hey, Dad, you want to watch \h\h\h\h\hwrestling with me?"

\hAnd the answer was always "Yes."

- Hello, everyone, welcome to Madison Square Garden.

\h\hVince McMahon here at ringside.

- You know, when we were kids,

if you watched Ivan Putski

and, you know, Billy Graham

and Andre the Giant,

all these wrestlers \h\hhad something.

\h\h\hMicky didn’t have any of those qualities.

None of them.

- Hey. Oh! Elbow drop! \h\h\h\h\hUnbelievable.

- We would go outside, \hfilm little matches.

\h\h\h- Oh! - [grunts]

- Oh! Blow to the head.

Never in my life have I seen \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hsuch action.

- And I think I gave you \h\h\h\h\ha backbreaker,

and someone snapped a twig.

"Oh, you could hear that \h\h\hthat backbreaker!"

- And then I did \hthe convulsion.

- Oh! I think he might have broke his back on that one.

- Number one, man!

You remember that, \h\hVince McMahon!

You remember that!

- I had it on my mind \h\h\h\hall the time.

It’s really all I wanted \h\h\h\h\hto do or watch,

was professional wrestling.

♪ ♪

- You walk out these doors

and you’re in the heart \h\h\hof the Big Apple,

where the whole world \h\h\h\h\h\hrevolves.

And right now it’s revolving \h\h\h\h\h\haround us, Snuka.

In a cage.

\h- Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka and the Magnificent Muraco

had a great feud that culminated

with a steel cage match.

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd I knew, like, I absolutely had to be there.

♪ ♪

I was going to college \hin upstate New York,

but I hitchhiked \h\hto be there

and paid for a seat \h\hright up front.

♪ ♪

And I just vividly remember

the way I felt when Superfly \h\hgets up to the top rope.

You could feel that buzz, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hright?

Which is good,

\h\h\hbut we all felt like there was something better.

\h\h\h- No, wait. [crowd cheering]

He’s climbing to the top \h\h\hof the steel cage!

I don’t believe it!

15 feet high!

Oh, my God!

♪ ♪

[bell rings]

\h\h\h\h20,000-plus going bananas here.

- And even though I’m all by myself,

\h\hI now feel like I’m in a community.

Like, there’s a feeling \h\h\h\hof togetherness.

I remember thinking \h\h\h\h\hto myself

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat one day, I wanted to make people feel

the way that I felt \h\h\h\hright then.

I went back to school.

And when I told my housemates

\h\hthat I wanted to be a wrestler,

they all called me a weirdo.

I told my parents too,

\hand they actually supported the idea,

but it wasn’t something \h\hthey would allow me

to drop out of school for.

So even though I was obsessed \h\hwith this wrestling dream,

I still tried to have a normal college life.

There was a young lady I was really fond of.

And you could see it \h\h\h\hin her smile.

Like, her face would light up \h\h\h\h\h\hwhen she saw me.

\h\h\h\hAnd I walked this young lady home.

I believe we held hands.

\h\h\hAnd I think there was a, you know, a nice parting kiss.

And I said to her,

"I had such a good time, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hJoanne."

She looked at me and said,

"I had a good time too, Frank."

And I just--I felt my little \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hheart break.

\h\h\hI had no way to deal with the pain that I felt,

except to write this story.

And when I got home \hfor summer break,

\h\hmy friends and I recorded "The Legend of Frank Foley."

- I had a good time tonight. \h\h\h\hThanks a lot, Frank.

- My name is Mick.

- Oh, I’m sorry. Good night, Mick.

♪ ♪

So I create this fictional \hcharacter of Dude Love,

\h\h\h\hwho is essentially everything that I was not.

Let me tell you something \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\habout me.

I am the molten lava of lust.

The object of so many \h\hwomen’s desires.

\h\h\h\h\hIt was long ago. I refuse to count them all.

It was a fairy tale. \h\hIt was Dude Love,

one of the greatest performers \hin the history of wrestling.

I may have been kicked around \h\h\h\h\has fat Mick Foley.

\h\h\hFat, ugly Mick Foley. Mick Foley with no chicks.

But let me tell you \h\hsomething now.

I’m telling you people \hout in the audience,

out there in TV wonderland,

Dude Love is another name \h\h\h\h\h\hfor respect,

and I will get that respect, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hbrother.

I need respect.

And I found that I was \h\h\h\h\hmore natural.

Like, I was portraying \h\h\h\h\ha character,

but I wasn’t acting.

I was feeling it.

- My brother says, "Hey, Teddy, \h\h\h\h\h\hwe’re doing a movie

"about Micky as a wrestler,

\h\hand we need you for a scene in..."

You know, for a scene. For, like, 15 minutes.

You gotta wrestle Micky in the \h\h\hbackyard. I’m like, okay.

He tells me these different \h\hmoves we’re going to do.

And then it’s going to finish \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hby Micky--

\h\h\hput you down on this mattress,

and he’s going to jump off \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe roof.

\h\hI just remember thinking, That’s gotta be 20 feet high.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI’m like, "This is not a good idea."

- This is where the magic \h\h\htook place, right?

- Yeah.

\h\h\h\h- Tightrope must be 50, 60, 70 feet in the air!

- Put your arms up. \h\h\h- Dude Love!

\h\h\h- [howls] [all shouting]

I stay up there an inordinate \h\h\h\h\h\h\hamount of time,

trying to gather the courage.

Like, aah!

[yelling]

\h\h\h\hInstead of leaping, I kind of just went like...

[groaning]

- You know, you’re so lucky,

because when you watch \h\h\h\h\hthat video,

the mattress, they separated.

- They separate, yeah. \h- And you--you know.

The roof is here, buddy. \hWant to--one more try?

- Absolutely not.

- [laughs] \h\h- Not.

- There was a charity \h\h\hwrestling event

at the high school.

And Mick came to work \h\h\hsecurity on it.

- I was really fortunate.

My dad told the promoter

that his son wanted \hto be a wrestler.

He pulled me aside \h\h\hand asked me

if I wanted to join \h\hhis ring crew.

That meant when I went back \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto college,

\h\h\h\hI would come down at about a 250-mile drive

couple weekends a month.

And if I got the ring set up \h\hbefore the fans arrived,

\h\h\hhe would have a veteran wrestler,

Dominic DeNucci, \hwork with me.

\h- First of all, you come in here,

you couldn’t tie your shoes.

- Right. \h- Yeah?

You were flipping over your own \h\h\h\h\h\h\hfeet in the ring.

- I did not like the pain.

I liked the fact that I seemed \h\h\hto have a hold over it.

And I had an ability to make \h\hmy opponents look good.

\h\hAnd that was something that every promoter was looking for.

[static buzzes]

[crowd cheering]

I turned pro after a year \h\h\h\h\h\h\hof training.

And I was just awful.

It looked like a mating ritual \h\h\h\h\h\h\hof two bull elk.

[cheers and applause]

I knew there was so much more \h\h\h\h\h\h\hI had to learn.

So on the weekends, I was working the independents.

And I did that all the way \h\h\hthrough graduation.

But it didn’t matter to me \h\hthat I was getting $10

for a 900-mile round trip.

And while other college students

are going on their \h\hspring break,

I’m in Poca, West Virginia,

in front of 26 people

because I could feel myself \h\h\h\h\h\h\hgetting better

every time I went out there.

[crowd shouting]

This was my life now.

And anything was possible.

\h\hLook at that! Did you see that?

- I don’t make it a point \hto practice my hygiene

\hwhile leaning on somebody else’s...

[chuckling] \h\hTruck.

But it’s not the first time.

Yeah, I mean, you...

I have changed clothes \h\hmany times in cars.

\h\h\h\hThere’s a place called the Admiral Perry Motor Lodge

that was $15 a night \h\hwhen I broke in.

\h\hI would stay there every Saturday night,

but every Friday night \h\h\h\hwas car night.

\h\h\hAnd I would pull over no matter how cold it was.

\h\hI had two sleeping bags in the back seat of my car.

It felt pretty good to me.

[mellow music]

I wanted to be Dude Love.

But I was realistic enough to know that I wasn’t there yet.

So I thought, let me just find \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe most generic,

vanilla, homogenized name \h\h\h\h\h\hI could find.

- From Truth or Consequences, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNew Mexico,

260 pounds,

Cactus Jack!

- [yells]

I remember being in my buddy \h\h\h\h\hBrian Hildebrande--

at his house in Pittsburgh.

And he’s got this insider \h\hwrestling newsletter

I’d only heard rumor of.

And he goes, "You’re in it." \h\h\h\hI said, "I’m in it?"

[typewriter clacking]

- On every wrestling show, there’s gonna be a dozen,

two dozen wrestlers.

\h\hOnes who do something spectacular, they make--

\hwhen you go home, you remember them,

and those are the ones \h\h\h\hwho stand out.

\hAnd the rest of them kind of just blend in.

\hAnd very quickly, he didn’t blend in.

He was a guy who you started \h\h\h\hhearing things about.

Like, hey, this guy’s having \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hgood matches.

- I remember it to this day.

It’s Cactus Jack is the best

no-name independent wrestler \h\h\h\h\h\h\hon the scene.

Like, that was some really, \h\h\h\hreally high praise

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hcoming from the "Wrestling Observer."

The people in charge read it,

and I had three offers \h\h\h\hwithin a week.

That’s how I became part

\h\h\hof the Memphis wrestling territory.

- Uh-oh.

\h\h\h\h\hWhat is this? A new recruit for the...

\h\h\h- I know who he’s talking about.

It’s Cactus Jack!

Welcome to the stadium, baby.

This man right here \his in the stable.

My cousin’s named Cactus Jack, \h\h\hbecause he’s tough, baby!

And ’cause he wins matches!

♪ ♪

\h- All right, we got "Gorgeous" Gary Young

and Cactus Jack.

Young out of Little Rock, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hArkansas.

\h\hCactus Jack out of Truth or Consequences, New Mexico.

- Mick, from the very beginning, had a unique...

not just aura about him,

but he had a unique style.

- And now whipping, \hbut it’s reversed.

\h\hAh! - Whoa!

- Jack was right behind him.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- You know, nobody was making any money.

So there wasn’t necessarily \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\ha reason

to really go all out.

- I wanted to be the guy \h\h\hwho delivered moves

that nobody else could do.

Even if it was as simple \h\h\h\h\h\h\has saying,

"All right, back body drop."

- Cactus Jack with Dundee.

Whoa! Look at that!

\h\h\h- Yeah, that’s an impressive-looking move

in the ring.

Let’s do it outside the ring.

- Cactus Jack far bigger \h\h\h\h\h\hthan Mongo.

And right in front of us.

And out comes Cactus Jack...

- Oh, by the right hand! \h\h\h\hBy the roofers!

Oh, with that right hand. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hboth: Oh!

- [groans]

- Brother Chavo on the ring...

- People were genuinely \h\hconcerned for Mick.

\hLike, "Mick, don’t take this crazy bump tonight."

Mick would have a sly grin.

It’s like, "Ah, thanks, \h\h\h\hbut no thanks."

- He was a good-hearted guy

that would just give and give \h\hand give to the business.

\h\h\h\hA lot of times, guys that are like that

get run over.

\h\h- It was a great learning experience.

I didn’t feel like I fit in,

but I learned something \h\h\h\h\h\h\hevery day.

And it was a perfect \h\h\hstepping-stone

for a bigger opportunity.

♪ ♪

- Listen to the fans cheer

\h\hthe superstars of pro wrestling.

\h\h\h\h- The greatest name in professional wrestling today:

\h\hthe Von Erichs, have been for years.

- World Class was always \h\hlooking for villains

for the Von Erich boys.

[crowd screams and cheers] \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Whoa!

[girls crying, shouting]

- Kevin, at least move! \h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Kevin!

- No.

- Robert Fuller says,

\h\h"You know who you remind me of, Jacko?"

I said, "Who’s that?"

He goes, "You remind me of that Manson feller."

\h\h\h\hI was like, "Rob, I do not want

\h\h\hto be associated with Charles Manson."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe says, "Jacko, there’s not too many

"good-paying jobs in this business.

\h\hMan like you could ride a good gimmick a long way."

I decided, if I’m gonna be \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthis guy,

I’m going to do the best job \h\h\h\h\hat being this guy

that I can be.

\h\h[crowd cheering] - Cactus Jack Manson.

The unorthodox individual...

[rock music playing]

- [shouting indistinctly]

♪ ♪

[bell rings]

- The bells sounds. \h\h\h\hAway we go.

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h- He is just beating Young Doug Masters to death.

[bell rings]

\h\h\h- Your winner, ladies and gentlemen:

Cactus Jack Manson!

[cheers and applause]

- I remember seeing Cactus Jack Manson.

\h\hI was going to college in North Texas State University.

\hAnd I would go down to the Sportatorium.

And I was thinking, man...

- [shouts]

- This guy is out of his mind.

[crowd cheering]

- [indistinct shouting]

- He was fun to watch.

- Come on, get up! \h\hGet in! Get in!

- I mean, here was a guy \h\h\h\h\hthat would take

every kind of crazy bump \h\h\h\h\h\h\himaginable.

I thought I was a big bump guy \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hat the time.

And then when I saw Cactus Jack, I went,

"Wow, this guy’s got to be nuts \h\h\hor something," you know?

- Back in the day he used to run down that apron

\h\h\hand do that elbow off onto the guy on the floor.

- Manson now getting back \h\hin the ring, or is he?

Look out! Look out!

Oh, my goodness!

He dropped an elbow \h\h\hon the floor!

And that floor doesn’t give.

- And he would just splatter \h\h\h\h\hhimself down there.

And you would hear this horrific thud.

[loud thud]

- I would go to the cameraman, \h\h\h\hI would say, you know,

"When you shoot the elbow drop \h\h\h\h\h\h\hover my shoulder,

\h\h\h\hwe’re kind of losing the impressive perception of depth."

\h\h\hAnd the guy: "What do you mean?"

\hI said, "Can we come in with a low camera shot?"

And within a week or two, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know,

\hit looks like I’m flying into people’s living rooms.

- The hip buster... \h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Oh!

\h- The only wrestling move named for the damage it does

to the man who delivers it.

\h- And I thought, well, I know how much it hurts

to land in the ring.

How is he doing that?

\h- I did think to myself, What if I created a style

that had no loopholes?

Where no one looking \h\h\hat a VHS tape,

no matter how many times they \hfast-forwarded, slow motion,

that they could find \h\h\h\hthe secret.

\h\h\h\h\h\hThe secret is, I was really getting hurt.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hLike, ta-da! There’s my magician’s secret.

Like, yeah, if it looked like it hurt, it’s because it did.

Gary Young pulls me aside \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand he says

\hthey’re putting us with Skandor Akbar.

He was Devastation, \h\h\hIncorporated.

That was his group.

\h\hOh, man, it was like having a rocket attached to our backs.

- Hey, what’s going on \h\h\h\h\h\hout here?

\h\h\hSomeone crawled out from underneath the ring!

It’s Cactus Jack Manson

\h\h\htrying to hit home runs with Eric with that ball bat.

He may lose his career, \h\h\h\hif not his life.

\h\h\h- I walked out the front and my tires had been slashed

on my Plymouth Arrow.

I came back inside and I said,

"I don’t know how I’m going \h\h\h\h\h\h\hto get home."

\hEric Embry goes, "What did you say?"

I said, "I don’t know how \hI’m going to get home."

He says, "No, no, not that. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNot that.

I don’t really care about that. \h\h\h\hWhat else did you say?"

I said, "All my tires \hhave been slashed."

He said, "All of them?" \h\hAnd I said, "Yes."

And he looked at me, he said,

"You’ve got good heat, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hbrother."

Like, only in this line \h\h\h\h\h\hof business

could getting your tires slashed in a parking lot

be seen as a compliment.

- We’re always looking \h\hfor the next star.

\h\hAnd we’re always looking to beat the other promotions

to grabbing the next stars.

So when Mick was generating that type of buzz in Texas,

everybody in the industry \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hnoticed.

[soft dramatic music]

♪ ♪

\h- Yeah, I’ve lost two sets of teeth.

I lost these top ones...

♪ ♪

In a car accident.

And I was really concerned,

because I just started working \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor WCW,

\hand I was worried that having no teeth

was not going to be \h\h\h\ha good look.

As soon as I got back to work \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin WCW,

Jim Ross took a look at it, he goes, "I love the look."

- He was a big teddy bear.

\hJust this great big kid that had a great attitude.

Was happy to come to work, \h\h\h\h\h\hmake no money.

Give him a hot dog, \h\h\h\hhe’s cool.

- WCW was a crucial period \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor me.

It was the number two \h\hwrestling company

in the world.

And I was essentially there \h\h\h\h\hon a trial basis.

- We found out very quickly

Mick was not a typical \h\h\h\h\hpro wrestler

who shows up for work

\h\h\h\hwaiting for you to tell him what to do.

He had ideas.

\h- I started building an audience by losing

\h\h\h\hand attacking partner after partner.

- Now he’s consoling \h\h\h\hhis partner.

No, he’s not!

- And what’s this?

Typical.

- He’s going to run out \h\h\h\hof partners soon

if he keeps doing this.

\h\h\h\h- Kevin Sullivan is my tag-team partner.

\h\hHe looks for the tag and I’m reading a book.

[laughs]

Yeah, there it is.

\h- Wait a minute, what’s the title?

"I Am in Urgent Need \h\h\h\hof Advice."

- I was throwing so many \h\hthings at the wall.

And not all of it stuck, \h\hbut a lot of it did.

♪ ♪

I would have gladly stayed \h\h\h\h\h\h\hin the WCW,

but the top level in creative \h\hdidn’t care for my style.

So that meant moving back \h\h\h\h\hto Long Island,

living with my parents

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand doing the independent circuit.

And the first show that I do \h\h\h\h\h\his for Tommy D,

my first promoter.

\h\h\hSo he has me handing out fliers

\h\h\h\h\h\hat the raceway in Riverhead, Long Island.

♪ ♪

While I’m handing out fliers,

I see the most beautiful woman \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin my life.

Like, I can’t take my eyes \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hoff her.

♪ ♪

- I had never been \h\hto car racing.

I was dreading it.

I mean, it was not \h\hmy cup of tea.

And then I saw this very \h\h\hunusual creature--

big, strong, hairy guy--

signing some autographs.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- And I said, "Hello, I’m Cactus Jack."

She said, "Who’s Captain Jack?"

\h\h\h\h\h[laughs] She was not a fan.

- The first thing that I saw

were his eyes.

\h\h\h\hThen he had all this moppy hair,

which was adorable.

I could see he was \h\hvery innocent.

♪ ♪

My friend saw us together.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThey said, "Either he’s a drug dealer,

or he’s rich." \h\h\h[laughs]

\h\h- [laughing] That was the woman I would go on to marry.

- When I started seeing \h\h\h\h\h\hhis videos,

some of the actions \h\h\hand behavior,

I really didn’t like.

Like being slapped \h\h\hin the face.

- She just thought I was capable of doing more.

That I could be that guy \hat the top of the card.

And from that point on,

\h\hevery time I did an independent show,

I was going to steal the show.

- Battling in the gymnasium,

Cactus throws Eddie onto the bleachers.

\h- I would tear apart these high school gyms

and leave it looking like \h\ha tornado had gone by.

♪ ♪

Word started getting around,

to the point now where WCW

\h\h\h\his looking for credible heels

to work with their top guy, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hSting.

And I get the phone call.

\h\h\h- People say, "Sting, have you ever seen anybody

\h\h\h\h\h\hwho acts like they kind of like pain?"

And I say, "Guess what? Yes!"

♪ ♪

- He came back as Cactus Jack,

but it was a much different \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hcharacter.

And it was mostly a question \h\h\h\h\h\h\hof confidence.

- Hello, Mommy!

World Championship Wrestling

has just given birth \h\h\hto a monster!

[yells]

- That’s got to be the most \h\h\h\hbizarre individual

\h\h\h\h\h\hI’ve ever been around in World Championship Wrestling.

- He’s a sociopath. He’s a psychopath.

♪ ♪

- Now you’re tapping into Mick \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\has an artist.

And now, Mick had an opportunity to show everyone

just how ahead of the game \h\h\h\h\h\h\hhe truly was.

- One of you little Stingers, \h\h\h\h\hyou watch your step,

because I’ll go up \h\hin those stands

and I’ll beat your parents up \h\h\hright in front of you.

[crowd cheering]

- It was a shot in the arm \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto him.

♪ ♪

It was a career-maker for me.

[indistinct shouting]

I’d given people so much \h\h\h\h\has a bad guy,

it was almost like they could all simultaneously understand,

this guy’s doing a lot \h\h\hto entertain us.

\h\h\hAnd there was a connection there.

- He power-bombs him here, \h\h\hJim, he’ll kill him.

- [grunts]

- Oh, no, no! No!

Oh!

\h\h- Mick rooted himself around doing crazy bumps.

\h\hWould do anything to get a match over.

[somber music]

- Even to this day,

I don’t like stuff like that.

I said, "You know, you’re not \h\hgoing to be able to walk

when you’re 30 years old, \hyou know what I mean?"

Don’t do any of that. \h\hYou don’t need to.

It’s not wrestling.

- Pool cue, lead pipes, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hchairs...

- Wham.

- Is it hard?

Do I respect it? Yeah.

But that doesn’t make you...

\h\h\h\hYou know? How many tables--

Everybody’s got Bruno Sammartino on this--

\h\h\h\h\hHow many tables does he ever go through?

None.

Did he ever fall off a ladder? \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hNone.

But he’s so sensitive.

I went to him one time \h\h\h\h\hand I said,

"You don’t need to do that \h\h\h\h\h\hevery night."

\h- Sure, I was sensitive to that type of criticism,

\hbecause I felt like I knew what I was capable of doing.

\h\h\h\hAnd I didn’t feel like I’d even scratched the surface.

I wanted to prove people wrong.

\h\hI wanted to prove that I could succeed.

\h\hUh, that I could be something special.

- There’s a cycle of life \h\h\h\h\h\hin wrestling.

\h\h\hThe younger guys throw themselves around

and do crazy things.

And then the older guys \hwho are 35 and over,

who have been through that \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand feel it,

\h\hthey kind of, like, warn the younger guys.

\h\h\h\h\h\h"You really-- you know, don’t do this."

And the young guys \h\h\hnever listen.

- When I wrote my book, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI said,

"You’re a 300-pound stuntman."

\h\h\h\hI wanted them to take it personally.

\h\h\h\h\h\hYou know? His wife is beautiful.

The kids are young \h\hand beautiful.

You know...

we get hurt enough.

♪ ♪

I felt like in Germany,

\h\h\h\h\hit was not a sold-out building.

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd I had seen him take this bump that he learned

\hfrom Dory Funk Jr., where he would get--

Dory would get his foot caught \h\h\h\h\hin the ropes, right?

\h\hIt was a really good-looking bump.

And Mick now would get his head caught in it.

You know, as crazy as Mick was, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hright?

And I told him, I said, \h\h\h\h"Don’t do that.

\h\h\hWe’re in Germany. Nobody gives a [bleep]."

♪ ♪

- You know, we’re trying \hto create the illusion

of hanging by my neck.

And the way we create \h\hthat illusion is,

I’m actually going to hang by my neck.

♪ ♪

But on this night,

\hI couldn’t get the ropes apart.

They were too tight.

And I felt like I was a fox \h\h\hin a trap, you know?

Like, I’ve got to get out \h\h\h\h\hof this thing.

And when I did,

my right ear did not \h\h\hcome with me.

♪ ♪

- I was watching it, yeah.

I was looking through \h\h\h\hthe curtain.

- "Stupid mother[bleep].

You got nothing to prove."

♪ ♪

- And when I’m on my way \h\h\h\hto the hospital,

instead of being down about it,

I’m thinking to myself,

"Imagine the promos \h\h\h\hI can cut."

[speaking German slowly]

Those were the words I said \h\h\h\h\hApril 16th, 1994,

\h\h\h\has the ambulance pulled into the hospital

in Munich, Germany.

It means,

"Don’t forget to bring my ear \h\h\h\hin the plastic bag!"

♪ ♪

\h\h\h- Mick was like, "Okay, it’s horrible I lost my ear,

"but, you know, me and Vader, \hwe could have this rivalry

"that goes for years \hand years and years

based on this."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd, you know, Eric Bischoff didn’t see that.

\h\h\h- Bang, bang! Bang, bang! - Stay with us. We’ll be back.

I’m Eric Bischoff for WCW This Week.

His style was a real issue \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin WCW,

because Mick really wanted \h\h\h\h\h\h\hto do things

that were just too dangerous.

Thinking of flying \hoff the balcony

\hout onto a table next to the ring.

Eh, it’s not worth it.

He was a liability.

- I’d worked too hard \h\hto leave my future

in someone else’s hands.

\h\hAnd so without consulting my wife,

and with two small children \h\h\h\h\h\hand a mortgage,

I left a six-figure job \h\h\h\hto find a place

\h\hwhere my talents would be a little bit more appreciated.

- When I left WCW,

\hI knew there was wild organizations in Japan.

Some people call them \hgarbage wrestling,

\hbut I didn’t think that was appropriate.

But blood and guts?

\h\h\h\hYeah, that was an appropriate moniker.

♪ ♪

Oh, man, there were some \h\h\h\h\hsmall crowds.

\h\hWhile those ropes are being taken down,

barbwire is being put up \h\h\h\h\hin its place.

And for anybody wondering, \h\h\hlike, real barbwire?

Like, this was Japan.

They’re sticklers for details.

- Cactus Jack, I think I saw-- \h\h\h\h\hI guess it was Japan.

Like a death match.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- The IWA King of the Death Match

is the one tape I had to have.

I wanted to see this tournament.

\h\h\h\h\hAnd I sought it out, and I got it, and I watched it.

And it was very crazy.

[chain saw whirring]

- I remember seeing tapes \h\hof those matches too,

and I just couldn’t believe \h\h\h\h\hwhat I was seeing.

\h[chuckling] They were...

They were different.

\h\h- No. [laughs]

- You do toughen up to that.

But I was always comfortable \h\h\h\h\h\hin his judgment.

[crowd shouting]

- It was just like, \hthis guy is a...

a psychopath, you know?

What is the human body \h\h\h\h\hcapable of?

♪ ♪

\h- I didn’t really care for all this crazy crap.

[crowd shouting]

- Look, there’s an audience \h\h\h\hfor slasher movies.

There’s an audience for horror movies.

\h\h\h\hA lot of people really love that genre.

[crowd shouting]

- It’s the performance \h\h\hI’m proudest of,

\hbecause it’s where I suffered the most.

I mean, it was almost \h\h\h\h\hspiritual.

\h\h\hAnd the final is with Terry Funk.

\hThe ring is laced with real barbwire,

\h\hand then among there they got C-4 explosives.

♪ ♪

[crowd gasping]

\h\h\hWhen I landed on those explosives,

oh, it felt like a shotgun.

I felt like I’d been shot.

Like, we were both \hin the hospital

after that match.

[crowd shouting]

I kind of convinced myself \h\h\h\h\h\hthat I did it

\h\h\h\hbecause I had a family and because I had a mortgage.

But I took a look at my eye \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand I said,

\h"You can’t fake that type of joy."

Like, there was part of me \h\h\h\hthat did not mind

being in that environment,

\h\hbecause I knew I was good at it.

[ambulance siren wailing]

\h\hI was bleeding in so many places

that I don’t even remember \h\hthat I’ve been burned.

It doesn’t even occur to me

until I’m on the plane \h\h\h\h\hthe next day.

- He walks into the house, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hsits down.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI said, "Mick, I think there’s a fire.

\h\h\h\h\h\h[sniffs] Something’s burning."

- I took off my jacket, \h\hI said, "It’s me."

[laughs]

And I wrestled two days later.

crowd: ECW! ECW! ECW!

- This is ECW!

- Oh, my God!

\h\h\h\h\h- ECW was my vision to completely disrupt the industry.

\h\h- ECW was like a different world

\h\hfrom nationally televised wrestling.

\h\h\h\hIt’s a cult thing. If you were a certain age

and you were a guy \h\h\hmad at life,

\h\h\hyou’re drunk on Saturday night,

and then you watched TV \hat 2:00 in the morning

\hand ECW was on, it was the greatest thing in the world.

crowd: ECW! ECW!

- They developed a very loyal \h\h\h\h\hand niche following

who could not get enough \h\h\h\hblood and guts.

He fit like a glove there.

He liked that stuff.

- And the ECW audience

loved him for it.

- You bet he’s hardcore!

- One night, I asked the fans in Philadelphia for a chair.

[crowd yelling]

- Oh, my God!

- Please do not throw chairs \h\h\h\h\h\h\hinto the ring!

Stop the chairs!

\h\h- That audience, they’d run over you,

spit on you and just jump back in the car.

- Paul Heyman grabs me \h\h\h\h\hand he goes,

"Will you turn heel?"

Yeah, sure I will.

\h\hAll I knew is, I needed a reason.

- Mick Foley,

\hwho sacrifices more of his body

than any other performer \h\h\h\hat that level...

♪ ♪

What if we went the other way?

- I just thought back to a fan

who had a sign that said, \h\h\h\h\h\h"Cane Dewey."

Cane is a verb.

To hit someone with a cane.

\h\h\h\hThat someone being my son Dewey,

because I had been talking \h\h\h\h\h\h\habout Dewey

in some of my promos.

\h\h\h\h\h\hOne of the superfans makes a sign with my permission.

He shows it to me, "Oh, I don’t care."

It wasn’t until I told my wife \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\habout the sign

and saw her visceral \h\h\hreaction to it.

\h\h\hLike, she literally got sick to her stomach.

And so I used real-life anger

to fuel the best promos \h\h\h\h\h\hof my life.

- Yeah.

[gasping]

\hI’m gonna take you back to a very deciding point in my life.

\hWhen I looked out into that audience,

my adoring crowd,

and I saw two simple words \h\h\hthat changed my life.

[dark music]

"Cane Dewey."

Somebody had taken the time

and the effort

and the thought

to make a sign

that said "Cane Dewey."

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h\h\hDewey Foley is a three-year-old boy.

You sick, sons of bitches!

You ripped out my heart!

You took everything \h\hI believed in,

\hand you flushed it down the damn toilet!

I cannot listen to my little boy every day of my life say,

"Daddy, I miss Atlanta."

I say, "It’s too bad, son,

"because your dad traded in \h\h\h\hthe Victorian house

\hfor a sweatbox in Long Island!"

Your dad traded in a hundred...

♪ ♪

Thousand-dollar contract.

Guaranteed money.

Insurance.

Respect.

To work for a scumbag \h\h\h\hwho operates

\h\hout of a little pissant pawn shop in Philadelphia.

♪ ♪

- [laughs]

Yeah.

- Mick got into the psyche \h\h\hof that ECW audience.

They knew this guy could come in and deliver the violence

\h\hand the gore that they wanted.

\hBut he wouldn’t give it to them.

- Tonight, we’re not going \h\h\hto break any tables.

We’re not going to use \h\h\h\h\h\hany chairs.

And we’re going to have

one hell of an Olympic rules \h\h\h\h\h\hwrestling match.

- The rules of the NCAA \h\h\h\hare as follow.

There will be two points awarded

for each takedown.

- This is a joke, right?

- There will be one point awarded for each escape.

- I started pandering to them, \h\hwhich they hate even more.

I’m hardcore! I’m hardcore!

Look, I can’t even wear glasses \h\h\hbecause my ear’s missing.

I’m hardcore!

That sounds good, let me just \hput this pen behind my e...

Oops.

That’s when I shaved. \hLike, how dare you?

[laughs]

[chuckles]

Happy hardcore holidays, \h\h\h\h\h\h\heverybody.

\h\h\h\hThis is Cactus Jack and the rest of the Foleys

here to wish you a happy holiday hardcore season.

\h\h\h\hHo, ho! - Mommy! Mommy!

Mommy! Mom! - [laughs]

\h\h- He did promos on merry-go-rounds

with his daughter.

- This is extreme.

I did get a beautiful wife \h\h\h\hby being hardcore.

Isn’t that right? \h\h- Yes, Mick.

- What am I? \h- Hardcore.

- His promo skills came out.

His storytelling ability \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hcame out.

And that’s what made us go, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h"Hmm."

Now, you can make money \h\h\h\h\h\h\hwith that.

[soft dramatic music]

- It was always clear to me

that WWE would never want me.

I would call one time \h\h\h\h\h\hevery year

to see if there was \h\h\hany interest,

and I would be dismissed \h\h\hwithin 30 seconds.

Vince McMahon was not a fan.

- I thought it was...

I thought it was kind of degrading to our product.

Um, it didn’t have any talent.

And just déclassé.

\h\h- I’d heard a rumor that the adjective he used to describe me

was "sleazy."

- Yeah, Vince was not \h\hhot on the look.

But I told Vince, I said,

\h\h\h\h\h"You’ve never been in the locker room with him.

\h\h\h\hYou don’t know what you’re missing."

- Jim Ross and myself \h\h\hconvinced Vince

to just meet him.

\h\h\h\hIf you don’t like him, we don’t have to move forward.

\h\h- When I finally got him to relent about hiring Mick,

he said to me,

"I want you to know what it feels like

"to get your heart broken \h\h\h\h\h\h\hby a talent

"that you truly believe in,

because I’m just telling you, \h\h\hthis ain’t gonna work."

♪ ♪

\h- I’m at the WWE offices to meet with Mr. McMahon.

And they’ve got this sketch, \h\h\h\han artist rendering,

of a guy who looks to be wearing an iron mask.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd I said, "But that’s taking away, like,

\h\hmy facial expressions, which are a strong point."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe’s like, "No, we’re not going to hide them.

\h\h\h\h\hWe’re going to accentuate them."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe said, "What do you think, pal?"

And I think it’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard.

I talk it over with my wife \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor hours.

\h\h\h\hWe both knew my body had only so many years left,

\h\h\h\h\hand we agreed: get in, make some money,

save some money,

\hand try to retire by the time I’m 35.

♪ ♪

Oh, it’s an original.

♪ ♪

Oh, yeah.

This mask is the best thing \hthat ever happened to me.

Merry Christmas, Noelle. \h\h\h- Merry Christmas.

- Merry Christmas, Dewey. \h\h\h\h- Merry Christmas.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Micky, look what Dewey has for you.

- Oh!

- You have it on upside down, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hbut...

- I do? - Yeah.

- We can get you two. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Ah!

- Mick had this "Mankind" idea,

that this is representation \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof mankind.

\h\hAnd you get these philosophical thoughts

of this crazy man \h\h\h\hin a cell

whose only friend’s a pet rat.

\h\h\h\hAnd it was kind of a horror story presentation

in the beginning.

Um, but in a fun way,

and not as violent as I think \h\h\hwhat Mick was used to.

- You understand me, \hdon’t you, George?

[sobbing softly]

You understand that Mankind \h\h\h\h\h\h\his in agony!

[rat squeaks]

Mommy!

[eerie music]

Leave the light on.

- I never heard of Cactus Jack \hwhen I was a kid growing up.

I mean, I loved Mankind.

\h\h- It was sort of like a lost soul, in a sense.

- As an 11-year-old I was like, man, this guy’s freaking crazy.

- You know, to see this guy \h\h\h\h\hin this crazy mask

\hactually pulling his own hair out.

\hI mean, and he’d really pull his hair out, right?

- To me, it always reminded me \h\h\h\h\h\hof Hannibal Lecter.

\h\h\h- He gave you, like, some Freddy Krueger vibes.

I’m like, man, this is scary.

- [yelling maniacally]

- That is a...

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h\hOh, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Look at that.

[Mankind shrieking]

[bell rings]

- He’s got his fingers \h\hjammed down his...

\h\hDown his throat, down his esophagus.

- Here is your winner: \h\h\h\h\h\h\hMankind!

[crowd boos] \h\h\h\h- Ugh.

♪ ♪

- People visiting backstage, \h\h\h\h\h\hlike, you know,

poor Make-A-Wish children \h\h\hand their families.

\h\h\h\h\hI’d go to say hello and these children would run.

["Undertaker" theme playing]

[crowd cheering]

- I was always high on Mick.

And I always thought,

\hokay, that’s a perfect type character for the Undertaker,

someone that’s kind of can be \h\h\hon the same wavelength.

- I don’t hate you, Undertaker.

I love you. \h[sobbing]

Like a child loves a pet.

Roll over, Undertaker!

Heel, boy.

Best of all...

play dead!

- No one had ever really pushed \hthe Undertaker to the limits

in the way that Mankind did.

\h\h\h\h\h- Look at that! He’s got a head of steam!

Oh, no!

- Such an interesting dynamic \h\hand such cool chemistry.

Undertaker was able to show \h\h\h\hsome vulnerability,

which he’d never shown before.

\h\h\h\h- I mean, we had "buried alive" matches.

Boardroom brawls, \h\h\h\hyou know.

While you’re in the middle \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof it,

\h\hyou’re just thinking, this is really good stuff

that no one else is doing.

Obviously such a huge part of my career and my history

is tied to Mankind.

- We shot vignettes \hon this one night

in the middle of the cemetery.

And a lightning storm starts.

- And you will never...

rest in peace.

[thunder crashes]

\h- And Mick says, "God, it’s raining.

This is great!"

- Look at my...

- He was covered head to toe \h\h\h\h\h\hin mud and muck.

Mick could adapt to anything.

Not everybody could have \h\h\h\hpulled that off.

- Once Mick got in the fold,

and he had to kind of interact \hwith a lot of the producers,

the TV people,

\hwe started realizing we got a diamond in the rough here.

- A lot of people were surprised of the fact of, again,

how articulate he was, \h\h\h\hand thoughtful,

and how well-spoken he was,

because just from the sheer \hstuff that they had seen,

you thought that this guy \h\h\h\hwas masochistic.

I mean, he was, but, you know,

there was a whole nother side \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof him.

- Mick is charming.

And, um...

and gregarious.

He’s just a different cat.

\h\h- He’s always up-spirited and in a good mood, you know?

I don’t know how he’s done all \hthese years without drinking.

He doesn’t drink, you know.

That’s really upsetting.

[laughs]

- Everybody in the locker room

knew that he wasn’t \h\h\h\ha party guy.

He was not a go-out guy.

He was a family guy.

- I think it was accepted

that I was the guy \h\hthat stayed in,

\h\h\h\h\hdid a lot of reading, visited museums, battlefields.

- The guys would be going out \h\h\h\h\h\h\hto strip bars,

\h\h\h\h\hand he would be running trying to catch the last flight,

and be home for the kids.

\h\h\h- I felt pretty good about having my priorities

in the right order.

I was trying to be the best \h\hdad I could possibly be.

\h\h\h- And the Undertaker, look at this, look at this.

[cheers and applause]

- Tombstone! \hKnock out!

That should do it right there!

One, two, yes!

[crowd cheers] \h[bell dings]

[soft dramatic music]

- I knew that Mick could come in and hit the top of the lineup

against the Undertaker.

\hBut what’s going to happen to Mick

\h\h\h\h\h\hafter that Undertaker feud ends?

I thought at that time,

Mick would be still \h\h\hcontributing,

still earning a good living,

but I never envisioned \h\h\hthe Hall of Fame

and all this other success.

- Mick was always offended \hby people’s expectations,

’cause they were always \h\h\h\h\h\h\htoo low.

Inside, as humble as Mick could be,

Mick knew how great he was.

So if you tell Mick Foley,

\h\h\h\h\hwe have 15 seconds of television time for you,

and his performance is so great,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe next week you’re giving him a minute.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd the next week, you’re giving him three minutes.

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd then next week, you’re going to him and saying,

"How much time would you like?"

- I think it was understood \h\h\h\h\h\hand appreciated

that I could work with almost \h\h\h\hanybody on that card.

♪ ♪

One of my favorite opponents \h\h\h\hwas Shawn Michaels.

We’d never had a match until we main-evented

a Pay-Per-View in 1996.

- I’d never worked with Mick,

and you’re wondering how it’s going to go,

because now I’m sort of known \has the real finesse worker,

and that wasn’t Mick’s style.

\hWhat I remember more than anything

was the different kind \h\h\h\hof creativity

that Mick brought \h\hto the table.

There were things that we did \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin this match

that a WWE crowd had not seen, \h\h\hhad not been exposed to.

[crowd cheers]

- The end of the night,

and Shawn’s in the locker room, \h\hMick’s in the locker room,

and they’re talking.

- Shawn says, "Is this always \hhow you pictured yourself?

This dark character?" \h\h\h\h\hI laughed.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI said, "No. Actually, I wanted to be you."

And he looks at me \h\h\hquizzically.

And I said, "No, no, no, \h\hnot Shawn Michaels,

"but I wanted to be the guy \h\h\h\h\h\hwho fans adored,

"who women flocked around,

who felt that degree of love."

- I can remember him, you know, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfinishing with,

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h"But of course, it didn’t work out that way,

\h\h\h’cause, you know, I ended up like this."

\h\h\h\h\h- And then I told him I actually had this character,

\h\h\hDude Love, that I’d created.

\hAnd it turns out that Bruce Prichard

\h\h\hwas listening to the conversation.

- And as he’s doing that, \h\h\h\h\h\hI’m laughing.

I’m going, "Look at this. Oh, my God, that’s great.

\hI’d love to see that." He goes, "I’ve got tape."

♪ ♪

Bring me this tape.

[laughs]

- We’re here for only \h\h\h\h\hone reason.

One reason only.

Fame. Honor. Fortune.

- Mr. McMahon came to me \h\h\h\h\hwith the idea

\h\h\hof doing these in-depth interviews.

- You see, when I was a kid, I played Cowboys and Indians.

Now, who were the good guys?

The cowboys coming over \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe hill

\h\h\h\h\h\hto rape, pillage innocent women and children?

I was always the Indian, Jimmy.

\hI always stood for the underdog.

- It was all there.

Mick jumping off the roof.

\h\h\h\hHitchhiking to see Jimmy Snuka.

The dream of becoming \h\h\h\h\hDude Love...

Mankind was the character \h\h\h\h\h\hin the chair,

but suddenly it wasn’t \h\h\h\h\hjust Mankind.

It was now Mick Foley.

\h- I never wanted to be Cactus Jack.

I figured, here is a horrible name for a horrible wrestler.

By golly, as soon as I get \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe ability,

\hthat I’ll get that heart-shaped tattoo

on my chest.

I’ll put those earrings in.

And I’m going to get the girls.

♪ ♪

And it never really worked out \h\h\hthat way, did it, Jimmy?

- Not quite.

\h\h- I was like, man, this guy is incredible,

and I want to learn more.

\h\h\h- Do you know what you tell the people week in and week out?

You say, "Look at Mankind.

"I don’t even know \hif he feels pain,

\h\h\h\h\hor maybe-- maybe he likes pain."

But, you see, I feel just like \h\h\h\h\h\hevery other person!

You see that?

It hurts!

Is it when I can’t get up when my little boy says,

"Daddy, I want to play ball,"

and I can’t do it?

\hIs that where the fun starts?

Is it where a doctor injects \h\h\h\h\h\ha 12-inch needle

into the discs in my spine

so I can wrestle \h\hone more day?

Whoopee!

- Vince thought it was great,

because it was real.

- I’d been told when I came in

that you could never really \h\h\hget to the top of WWE

till Mr. McMahon personally \h\h\h\h\h\h\hbecame a fan.

And in my opinion,

\h\h\h\h\hhe had not personally become a fan until that night.

\h\h\h- Mick always had that connection with the audience,

and I really never saw it \h\hbefore he came here.

I thought, "We’re never going \h\h\hto bring that guy in."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hBut he does, he has a genuine connection.

And not many people have that.

- Oh, this appears to be one of the original Dude Love shirts.

Yes!

\h\h\h\h\hOh, that would fetch about $500 on eBay these days.

I’m not kidding.

♪ ♪

This was when Vince saw

\h\hthe potential to grant this wish

\h\h\h\h\hand allow me to live out my dream.

[howls]

Steve-o, looks like you could \huse a little help, my man.

Like, maybe a tag team partner.

\h\hWhat’s the matter? Don’t you recognize me?

Now, I don’t blame you \h\hfor not teaming up

with that mutilated freak \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hMankind,

but you never said nothing \h\h\h\h\habout teaming up

with the hippest cat \h\h\h\hin the land.

Steve-o, baby, it’s me, \h\h\h\h\h\hDude Love.

And I am coming to save the day.

[howls]

Have mercy!

♪ ♪

- [laughs]

I remember him practicing it \h\h\h\h\h\hbackstage, and...

I was just, like, \hshaking my head

as he was in his tie-dyed stuff.

And I was like, this is the guy \h\h\hthat I went to war with?

[funky music]

\h\h\h- Dude Love was my personal favorite,

just because it showed \h\h\h\h\hMick’s range.

- He’s a heartthrob! \h\hHe’s a sex idol!

He’s Dude Love!

- Yeah, and now I just \h\h\h\h\h\hgot to try

to explain this stuff \h\h\h\h\hto my wife.

Oh, nah. [laughs]

Hey, no, it was just-- felt so good in there.

I didn’t, you know--

\h\hwould have been nicer if they were your kisses.

- Yeah, Dude got Steve \h\hto break character

on a couple of occasions.

- I don’t think Mick ever broke me on on-air stuff.

I think the one time \hwhen him and Vince

were dancing on the stage,

I kind of let a little bit \h\h\h\h\h\h\hof smile out.

- It made people feel good.

That’s what Mr. McMahon \hreally liked about it.

\h\hHe said, "Dude Love makes people feel good."

- Now Mick Foley is appearing \hsometimes on the same show

as Mankind and as Dude Love.

- You know, remember the movie \h"Sybil," way back in the day?

\h\hIt’s almost like split personalities.

- Now, Dude Love, \hyou are not me.

You’re not even you, \h\h\h\h\hyou idiot!

- You thought you had seen \hthe three faces of Foley.

\h\hBut there was that one guy left.

- As much as I’ve dreamed

\h\h\h\h\habout destroying Hunter Hearst Helmsley...

\h\h\h\h- I know you have. - As many horrible things

as I’d like to do to him...

- I know you can. \h- I know someone

who dreams about it even more.

Cactus Jack is back!

And Mrs. Foley’s little boy.

- Bye-bye! Bye-bye! \h\h\h- Bang, bang!

\h- And the Garden just came unglued.

[crowd cheering]

♪ ♪

- In my mind, I’m thinking \h\h\h\habout Mr. McMahon.

And I’m thinking, "I told you so."

Bang, bang!

- See how smart Mick is.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hThat means he had three different action figures.

♪ ♪

Mrs. Foley’s baby boy \h\h\hain’t no dummy.

[crowd cheering]

[dramatic music]

- Undertaker vs. Mankind \h\h\h\h\hout in a cell.

It’s one of the most surreal,

and real professional wrestling matches that you’ve ever seen.

- Mick would have his Pay-Per-Views.

\hMy mother would say, "Hey, just give me the videotape."

\h\h\h\hWell, after that Hell in a Cell was over,

I called her up and I was like,

"Trust me when I tell you,

you don’t want to see \h\h\h\hthis match."

♪ ♪

\h- I’ve been involved in so many Hell in a Cell matches.

But I think most people,

\h\hwhen they think of Hell in a Cell,

they think of Mick Foley,

\h\h\h\h\h\hand the bumps that he took that night.

- I think kids come up to me \h\h\h\h\hand talk about it

that weren’t even born \h\h\h\h\h\h\hin 1998.

♪ ♪

It’s taken on a life \h\h\h\h\hof its own.

[crowd shouting]

♪ ♪

- Mick had kind of,

I don’t want to say \h\h\hhit the wall.

That might be a little strong.

But he wasn’t setting \hthe world on fire.

\h\h\hand the WWE wasn’t going out of its way to feature him.

\h\h- Honestly, I felt like my character had plateaued.

♪ ♪

We had asked an awful lot \h\h\h\hfrom the audience

to accept that I could go \h\h\hfrom being Mankind,

to Dude Love, to Cactus Jack,

to all three simultaneously,

to heel Cactus Jack,

to corporate Dude Love,

and now he’s back to being \h\h\h\hcorporate Mankind.

- Talent can get inside \htheir own head a lot.

You’re not hearing the same...

same volume of reaction,

\hand it’s not exactly what you think it should be every night.

That will mess with your head.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- You know, Mick was very concerned,

because Shawn Michaels and I

had had the first \hHell in a Cell.

It was a really good match.

- And Mick’s like, well,

you got to do something \h\h\hbigger than that?

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- He says, "What do you think about

\h\h\hthrowing me off the top of the cell?"

I was like, "No, you’re crazy."

Didn’t want any part of it.

- For two weeks, \h\hI asked him.

Every night for two weeks, \hhe would shoot that down.

- And he was adamant.

Like, "No, I think \h\hit’ll be great.

I think I can do it without--"

You know, "I think."

- And he just looked at me \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand said,

"I’ll think about it."

- It’s really weird,

’cause I don’t remember \hmy childhood at all.

Like, I remember little pieces \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hhere and there.

Like, hanging out with my dad.

But I don’t remember anything wrestling.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hPart of me thinks I blocked that out of my life.

- I remember the day \h\h\h\hpretty well.

It’s kind of crazy.

\h\h\h\h\hI’m six years old and Noelle’s four years old.

And we get a call from my dad, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hsaying,

"Just so you know, tonight, \hit’s gonna be pretty bad."

♪ ♪

- Look out!

[crowd cheering]

[announcers shouting \h\h\hindistinctly]

- They’ve killed him!

- Oh, my God. \h- Let’s go.

\h\hHe’s not with us. He is broken in half.

- I’m just standing there \hat the top of the cell.

In my head, it’s just-- \h\h\hit’s an eternity.

Like, Mick, move.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- It’s over. That cage is 16 feet high.

Somebody get down here, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hreally.

I mean it.

He needs some help.

[indistinct chatter]

- Everyone was freaked out. \h\h\h\h\h\h\hIncluding me.

This was too far.

It was like, wait a minute,

\hyou’ve set yourself on fire in Japan, or whatever he did.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hBut, you know, this was more over on my watch.

- Lookit, they’re raising \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe cage,

and the Undertaker’s \h\h\hstill on top!

- Well, I think they’ve raised \h\h\h\h\h\hthe cage somewhat

so that we can get the EMTs \h\hthere with a stretcher.

- We kind of thought, like, \h\hall right, that’s good.

The worst part is over.

- As quickly and as unusually \h\h\h\has this match started,

it has ended.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- I remember being in the back going,

\h\h\h\h\h"Oh, my God, I’m going down there."

You know, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I’m fine. \h\h\hI’m good."

\h\h\h\h"You don’t look good. That was a pretty ugly bump."

"No, no, no, no, I’m fine. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI got it."

Continued on in the match.

[crowd cheering]

\h\h- And look at-- - You’re kidding me!

- How in the hell \his he standing?

Oh, my God.

For God’s sakes.

Are you kidding me?

He wants to go back up!

- I was walking around \h\h\h\h\h\hbackstage

and trying to get ready \h\h\h\h\hfor my match,

and I’m hearing this crowd \h\h\hgo absolutely crazy.

\h\hAnd I wander by the monitors,

see what everybody’s watching, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand I’m thinking,

"I don’t think we’re going \h\h\h\h\hto follow this."

- The cage is attached

just like a chain-link fence \h\h\h\h\h\h\hin your yard.

They had, like, metal twist-its

that secured the actual mesh \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto the pole.

♪ ♪

If you took a step

or you pushed off to throw a punch,

\h\h\hyou could hear these twists flying.

You know, they went, \h\h\h\h\hchi-ching!

[cage rattling]

♪ ♪

- If he throws him off \hon the other side...

Oh!

[crowd cheering]

- Good God! Good God!

- That’s it. He’s dead.

- And I really believed that.

\h\hI mean, that was not the commentator in me coming out.

That was just Jerry Lawler \h\h\htalking to Jim Ross,

you know, saying, "He’s dead."

- Will somebody stop \h\hthe damn match?

Enough’s enough!

- I thought he had planned \h\h\h\hthis whole thing.

\h\h\hI was cursing and yelling at him.

- I remember her screaming \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand just--

\h\h\h\hI don’t think she knew that part was going to happen.

- The idea was that Undertaker \h\h\h\hwould chokeslam Mick,

\h\h\h\hand the cage would start to give.

And it would start to sag.

\h\hBut Mick went through that damn cage like it was nothing.

♪ ♪

That wasn’t the worst part \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof it.

The worst part of it was, \hon the cage was a chair

that came down after Mick

\h\h\hand hit Mick right in the face.

♪ ♪

- Oh, my. \h\h- Oh!

- He looks up.

And all of sudden, I realize,

his tooth is coming out \h\h\h\h\hof his nose.

- It looks like a booger’s \h\h\h\h\h\h\hin his nose.

But it’s his tooth

that is stuck out of his nose.

And he’s laughing.

- Falling through the cage \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hbackwards,

knocking his teeth \hthrough his lip.

I mean, knowing our history \hand what I’ve said to him,

\h\h\h\h\h\hI thought, he loves the business.

\hAnd that was my resolve. He just loves the business.

- You know, Mick, man.

\hI mean, he’s [bleep] the king of punishment.

It seemed like he’s okay to me.

I mean, he was [bleep] up, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyou know?

But Mick’s Mick.

I mean, the guy’s \htough as nails.

- You know, he’s obviously \h\h\h\h\h\hnot all there,

’cause I’m hitting him \h\h\h\hand I’m saying,

"Mick, just stay down."

\h\hBut he had to get to those thumbtacks.

- A sack.

- Some sort of bag \h\hor something.

- What’s he got in that?

♪ ♪

Oh, God, it’s...

- What is that? \h- Thumbtacks.

Uh-uh.

Thumbtacks.

[crowd shouting]

My God.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hIt’s funny now, but I’m thinking at the time,

I’m like...

\h\hI’ve thrown you off the top of this thing.

I’ve thrown you through \h\h\h\h\h\hthis thing.

And, I mean,

\h\h\h\hthere’s nothing else that you need to give, Mick.

- No! Oh, God!

- [screams]

- What a sadistic thing!

A chokeslam on the tacks!

And there’s a tombstone!

Tombstone!

On his back!

\h\h\h\h\hcrowd: One, two, three!

\h\h\h\h\h[bell dings] - I went into the match.

I had a broken ankle.

And I remember him asking me \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hhow I was.

And I was just like, "Are you kidding me?"

\h\h\h\h\h[laughs] I mean, seriously.

Yeah, I got a broken ankle. It’s not a big deal, dude.

\hYou’ve just about broke your neck and your back,

and you’ve got about 150 tacks \h\hstuck in you at the moment.

♪ ♪

- I wasn’t done for the night

when I finished with the match.

\h\h\hI came hobbling out to interfere in the main event.

And almost the entire crowd, \hinstead of being mad at me,

\h\h\hwere just like collectively saying,

"Son, don’t you think \hyou’ve had enough?"

I was banged up for sure.

My shoulder was dislocated.

My jaw was dislocated.

I had 14 stitches underneath my lip.

Vince walked in and he said,

"Mick, you have no idea \hhow much I appreciate

"what you’ve just done \h\hfor this company,

\hbut I never want to see anything like that again."

- Hi!

You two nutjobs. \h\h\h\h[laughs]

\h\h- Favorite memory is when he was getting hurt the least.

\h\h\h\h\hWe’re two little kids watching our dad getting his...

just get beat up.

♪ ♪

All I could think about was,

I hope he’s gonna \h\hbe all right.

I hope it’s not too bad \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthis time.

I hope he makes it back home \h\h\h\h\h\h\hin one piece.

♪ ♪

And he would tell us \hthis was his job,

to help do what the person \h\h\hbefore you just did,

\h\h\h\hand to make sure that when people go home,

they talk about what you did, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hyour match.

♪ ♪

But he’s paying for it now.

[pensive music]

- I found myself struggling

\hin the aftermath of Hell in a Cell.

\h\hThe connection wasn’t there yet.

But if you’d said,

"This Mankind character \his missing something,

what is it?"

Not one person in a million \h\h\h\h\h\hwould have said,

"sock puppet."

\hMr. Socko actually comes from very humble origins.

♪ ♪

I was heading out the door

to visit Mr. McMahon \h\hat the hospital,

\hHe was hooked up to a heart monitor

\h\hand a respirator for a bruised ankle,

because that’s the way \h\h\h\hwe roll in WWE.

\h\h\h\hAnd all I knew is, I had a selection of gifts

that had to get me thrown \h\h\h\h\hout of his room.

Vince, it’s me!

I saw what happened.

\h\h\h\h\h\hI felt really bad, so I brought you some presents.

Take a hold of these.

Aren’t they colorful?

I had a box of chocolates \hthat was largely eaten.

I had a birthday party clown \h\h\h\h\h\h\hnamed Yurple.

- They were filming the stuff \h\h\h\h\h\h\hwith the nurse,

and me and Mick were crammed \hin a little bitty bathroom.

And he pulls out this sock

and he puts his hand \h\h\h\hthrough it.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd I said, "You got to be kidding me."

\h\hWe’re two grown men laughing our asses off.

- What the hell are you doing?

- Mr. Socko!

[laughs]

Say hello to Mr. Socko.

Mr. Socko knows you’ve been \h\h\h\hfeeling mighty bad,

\h\hso he’s going to give your boo-boo a big kiss!

\h\h\h- Hey, nurse? He’s going to what?

Hey, hey! Ah!

No, Mick, please.

Please just leave.

- Mr. Socko!

- I wasn’t a huge fan \h\huntil Mr. Socko.

Like, when Mr. Socko came, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hit was like,

oh, I’m totally into this guy. \h\h\h\h\h\h\hThis guy’s great.

- I love me some Mr. Socko.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h[laughs] I don’t know why, it’s just...

\h\h\h\h\h- Just because, like, the way it was drawn on there.

Like... [laughs]

Mr. Socko just felt like just...

just innocence.

- Vince Russo, the writer, \h\h\h\h\h\hcomes up to me.

\h\h"Bro, you got the sock?" I said, "I don’t know. Why?"

He goes, "They’re chanting \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor him."

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h[laughs] They’ve got signs out there.

- What’s he doing here?

- Mankind taking \hthat shoe off.

\h\h\h- And, luckily, I had a finishing move

\h\h\h\h\hthat was tailor-made for the use of a sock puppet.

\h\h\h- Maybe. - Yes, it is!

The Mandible Claw! The Mandible Claw!

- Aah!

- He would, like, pull it from \hdifferent areas in his body.

- And there it is! \h\h\h\hMr. Socko!

[cheers and applause]

- Mick is not the most \h\h\hcoordinated guy.

\h\h\hSo when he comes and puts that thing in,

\hman, it would hit you in the side of the face

this way and this way,

and up your nose, it’s disgusting.

- What, you didn’t like a sock \h\h\h\h\h\hstuck in your mouth

\h\h\hthat had been sitting in someone’s sweaty groin?

\h- [laughs] It was, uh...

You know, it was, um...

It’s not the best thing that’s \h\hever been put in my mouth.

- The thing that Mr. Socko did \h\h\h\h\hwas allow Mick Foley

to sort of cross over into the mainstream.

\h- There’s Socko. - I have Mr. Socko.

- Chef Boyardee, take two.

- It’s the perfect ravioli \h\h\h\h\hfor all mankind.

- It also just exposed \h\h\hthat Mick Foley

was just an immensely likeable, \h\h\h\h\h\h\hentertaining guy.

\h\h- Hello, Mr. Socko. - How are you, Carson?

\h\h- You know what I don’t understand?

There’s about 800 teenage girls \h\h\h\h\h\hchanting your name,

and I’ve got about three sweaty \hfat guys with Mankind signs.

- That sock puppet opened up \h\h\hso many doors for me.

- He started transcending \h\h\h\h\h\hthe business.

Now he’s getting more and more \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hout there.

He’s now a author.

\h- I got the chance to write my memoir.

I just started writing in a yellow legal pad.

I didn’t know how to use a computer.

I went into the dressing room \h\h\h\hand I asked the guys,

\h"Hey, anyone want to hear this story I’m working on?"

And all of a sudden, \hI had an audience.

And they were responding.

[crowd cheering and shouting]

- What do you like \h\habout Mankind?

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Uh... - He’s very sweet.

- Yeah, he’s real sweet.

- Hit number one.

And that was wild.

Like, wow, the "New York Times" \h\h\hhas a pro wrestling book

at the top of its charts.

- I think that the book forced those outside of the business

who read it and gave it \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\ha chance

to admit, oh, hey, man,

\h\hthese just aren’t a bunch of dumb oafs.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hall: Foley! Foley! Foley! Foley!

\h\h\h- People like me don’t reach the peak.

We don’t reach the summit.

Scale the pinnacle.

♪ ♪

Until we do.

- He had ascended so much,

\h\h\hand he had so much of the audience rooting for him

that it was the right timing

\h\hwhere Mick Foley became the champion.

["Stone Cold" Steve Austin \h\h\htheme music playing]

[crowd cheering] \h\h\h\h\h- What?

The rattlesnake is here!

He pulled Mankind on The Rock!

- No! No!

all: One, two, three! \h\h\h\h- Don’t do it!

\h\h[bell dings] [crowd cheering]

- [inaudible speech]

- Here is your winner,

and the new World Wrestling \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hchampion,

Mankind!

♪ ♪

- We’re talking about \h\ha deafening roar

\hunlike anything I’ve experienced.

\h\h\h\h\hIt’s so loud you can barely think.

- Like, back at home in Chicago,

it felt like the Bulls won \h\h\hthe NBA Championship.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- You know, people identified with him

\h\h\h\h\hand felt like he was the everyday guy.

\h\h\hAnd he was. He was that guy.

He was the sweetest guy \h\h\h\h\hin the world.

He’ll help anybody.

- I’d like to dedicate \h\h\h\h\h\hthis match

to my two little people at home \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hand say,

big daddy-o did it!

- Scripted doesn’t resonate

\h\hwith the sports entertainment crowd

\hbecause the sports entertainment crowd

\his always aching for something real.

- There were moments \hwhen I absolutely,

100% became so invested \h\h\h\hin the character

that I was that character.

\h\hAnd for The Rock, it was the same way.

But in one particular case,

becoming those characters

\hdidn’t work out particularly well.

There was a documentary crew \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthere,

filming for a movie called \h\h\h\h"Beyond the Mat."

- Buddy, you know The Rock \his daddy’s friend, right?

He’s not going to do anything to really hurt daddy, right?

You’re not going to be scared, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hright?

I wanted my family to see Dad \h\has the champion, you know?

I wanted them to be \h\hso proud of me.

And I wanted to go \h\hto Disneyland.

Really wanted to go \h\h\hto Disneyland.

- Mick Foley is barely moving.

And now The Rock \hhas handcuffs.

\h\h\h\hWhat the hell is he going to do now?

- Handcuffs?

[crowd chattering]

[metallic blow landing] \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Oh!

[body thuds]

[metallic blow landing] \h\h\h\h\h[crowd groans]

[Mankind groaning]

[Mankind shouting \h\hindistinctly]

[loud crash]

[crowd shouting]

\h\h\h\h\h- You know, I’m an old-school guy.

That night,

even I was uncomfortable

with the amount of chair shots \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat Mick took.

♪ ♪

- Well, I think I shoulder \h\h\h\hmost of the blame,

because it was my idea.

♪ ♪

The idea was the WWE camera \h\hwould show the children,

which they did not \h\hend up doing.

But "Beyond the Mat" \hdid show my family,

and that was really \hchilling footage.

\h- [sobbing] I want Daddy!

- Excuse me.

[indistinct chatter]

- Just tell them I’m okay, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hokay?

[soft indistinct chatter] \h\h- Where are we going?

- My mom and dad kind of, \h\h\hwithout saying it,

their body language was like,

"We’re going to have \h\hto discuss this,

and not in front of the kids."

- It was horrible.

\h\hAnd they were stitching him up.

\h\hAnd Mick is talking like nothing happened.

- I was taking a large risk \h\h\h\h\h\h\hwith my body,

\h\h\hjust hoping and betting that it would set my family up

for a good future.

\h\h\h\hI knew from day one that I was on borrowed time.

But I wouldn’t admit it \h\h\h\h\h\hto anybody.

[crowd cheering]

[soft dramatic music]

- I could not have scripted \ha better retirement match

with Triple H.

I was going out on my own terms.

[woman shouts]

- Kick out! Kick out, Cactus!

[bell dings]

- When it was over,

I felt an immediate sense \h\h\h\h\hof fulfillment.

- You are the man! \hYou are the man!

- I had set out to save my money

and retire by the time \h\h\h\h\h\hI was 35.

And I did it.

[crowd cheering]

- Goodbye, my friend.

You’re going to be missed, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hCactus.

Godspeed, Mick Foley.

♪ ♪

- My dad and my brother \h\h\hwere in the crowd,

\hand they came back to congratulate me.

And then I went to my hotel room and cried my eyes out,

because it was a...

\h\h\h\h\hit was the end of a fascinating journey.

- Ooh!

- What’re you doing, Dewey?

- I had been preparing my kids

for the day that I’d be \h\h\hleaving wrestling.

And my daughter said,

\h\h\h\h"Well, Daddy, if you don’t wrestle,

\h\h\h\h\h\hwe can’t eat and we’re going to die."

So I had a little talk \h\habout the effects

of compounding interest, and that the Foleys were

probably going to be okay \h\h\hfor a little while.

♪ ♪

We wanted to have \hchildren again,

and I wanted to be home.

Our son Mickey was born \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin 2001.

Whoa! Mickey!

\hAnd in 2003, we had Hughie.

- Here comes Hughie.

- Hi.

- That was when I portrayed

the most complicated character \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hof them all,

which was Superdad.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHi, Hughie, can you look at mama and wave?

- Hi, Hughie!

\h\h\h\h\h- Now turn it off and we’ll go inside, okay?

Ooh!

I think I did a pretty good job \h\h\h\h\h\has a father, yeah.

- It’s so funny.

My dad played all these \h\h\hcrazy characters.

Like ripping his hair out,

and rocking back and forth

and talking to rats \hin a boiler room.

\hYet he is just like this big teddy bear.

- Oh, look how beautiful \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthat is.

No! Oh!

What have you--no!

I had time on my hands,

\h\hand I wanted to really do my best to make a difference,

and to be part of something that was bigger than myself.

\h\h\h\h- I said, "Mick, you are on this platform

"that you can do anything.

Whatever you want to do, \h\h\h\h\hyou can do it."

- The fight against \h\h\hsexual assault

has an unlikely new ally:

former WWE superstar \h\h\h\hMick Foley.

\h\h- I felt like, as odd as it seemed

\h\hthat it was exactly where I could make the most difference,

\h\hthat it was an area that needed attention,

especially from men.

\h\h\h\h\hAt that point, I had been volunteering

as a crisis counselor.

I’d log on and someone \h\h\h\h\h\hwould say,

"Tell me why I should live."

My wife would wake up \h\height hours later,

and I’d still be with that \h\h\h\h\h\h\hsame person,

trying to get them \h\h\hto hold on.

And that was a big part \h\h\h\h\hof who I was.

[seagulls calling]

I’ve had a lot of time \h\h\h\hto think about

why I went back \hto wrestling.

♪ ♪

At the end of the day,

it was a simple reason:

I just missed it.

\h\h\h\h\h- It’s almost like a religious experience for him.

He’s at home.

♪ ♪

The ring is,

uh, Mick Foley’s sanctuary.

It’s a safe place,

emotionally.

Maybe not so much physically.

♪ ♪

- I had four big matches

when I came back from retirement.

Teaming up with The Rock \h\h\h\hat WrestleMania.

Randy Orton in Edmonton.

Edge at WrestleMania 2006.

And the feud with Ric Flair.

And that should have been it \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor me.

I should have realized that I can’t wrestle ever again.

Everything after that

\h\h\hwas at least partly a cash grab.

♪ ♪

I was the guy who was used to \hbeing able to take anything.

And I got to a point where almost every single thing

was hurting me.

I no longer looked forward \h\h\h\h\h\h\hto matches.

I just wanted them \hto be over with.

[crowd cheering]

- [screams]

I returned to WWE,

\h\hand I was given the WWE ImPACT test.

I had an independent \h\h\h\hneurologist

\h\hand WWE’s neurologist both confirming the same diagnosis,

\h\hwhich is I should never wrestle again.

[somber music]

Well, it’s one thing for you \h\h\hto make that decision.

It’s another thing for a neurologist

to make that decision for you.

I was struggling physically.

I was struggling \h\hemotionally.

♪ ♪

[sighs]

I generally would wake up, \h\hand I would just know,

\h\hthis doesn’t even have the potential of being a good day.

My eyes were so sensitive \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto light.

I didn’t think I could write \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hever again.

I really took pride \h\hin the job I did

as a crisis counselor.

And then that was taken away.

The road trips with the kids \h\hand the roller coasters

seemed like they’d be coming \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hto an end.

I had so many things I loved \h\h\h\htaken away from me.

- He was just kind of, you know, sleeping late.

\hVery lethargic. Really out of it.

- He was low energy, he wasn’t playing with the kids too much.

He was just a guy who kind of \h\hneeded to be by himself.

- I just was thinking to myself, wow, I’m--

you know, now I’m 45

and I’m in the basement \hof my house all alone.

\h\hThis somehow wasn’t how I pictured things.

♪ ♪

I felt like nothing I had done \h\h\h\h\hmade any difference.

Nothing I have done \hhas meant a thing.

- You want to play HORSE?

\h\h\h\h\h- All right. One leg gets paid away.

- Whoa!

\h\h\h\h\h- Yeah. - That was nice.

\h\hI don’t think I could do that.

[laughs]

How much height am I getting \h\h\h\h\h\hon my jump shot?

- None.

- Oh, yes!

\h\hYes. [laughs]

[funky guitar tune playing]

♪ ♪

You want to try a regular \h\h\h\hversion of, um...

"Happy Birthday"? \h\h- I guess so.

\h\h\h\h- I’ll let you know when I’m ready to go, okay?

\h\h\h\h- Okay, wait, for "Happy Birthday"?

- Yeah.

[laughs] \h\h\hOh!

Dude Love with a song \h\h\hlike no other.

\hFor you, my brother, and it goes like this.

[playing "Happy Birthday"]

♪ Birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday, dear Tyler ♪

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hall: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

- Stop! Stop! - [laughing]

all: ♪ Happy birthday, dear... ♪

- Stop it! Stop it!

all: ♪ Happy birthday to you ♪ \h\h\h\h\h- Stop it! Too loud!

♪ ♪

\h- In retrospect, my wife and I should have realized

so much sooner...

♪ ♪

Mickey was slow to talk.

\h\hI mean, even going back to when he was a little boy

at Hershey Park.

And there’s this great \h\h\hexpansive, huge,

world-class rides.

And he was just so content \h\hto splash in a puddle.

So we realized that something \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hwas different.

And so when he had the autism \h\h\hdiagnosis, it felt like,

"This explains it."

♪ ♪

It really was a shock \h\h\h\hto my system.

And I knew I had to be there \h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor my family.

\h\h\h\h\h\hAnd to do that, I had to get my mind right.

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\hI decided to do whatever I could to...

\h\h\h\h\h\hkind of keep the mental fires burning.

♪ ♪

I was trying to do traditional \h\h\h\h\h\h\hstand-up comedy,

but I found that I was running \h\h\haway from my strengths,

which was my day job,

that that was what people \h\hwanted to hear about.

Going out there on the stage

\h\h\h\h\his the best form of exercise for your mind.

You’re memorizing routines.

You are creating \h\hnew content.

And you are playing \hoff the audience.

\h\h\hThis is like mental gymnastics.

No matter what I did,

no matter how many matches \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hI had,

I could not figure out

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthe secret of the Terry Funk punch.

\hAnd then Terry Funk punched me as hard as he could in the head.

[laughter]

- I was like, "That’s it? \h\h\hThat’s all you do?"

- I think it’s very cathartic \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hfor him

to do these one-man shows.

He gets relief and therapy.

[cheers and applause]

- I found out I was no longer \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hirrelevant.

I was part of people’s lives.

Come on up here.

- I just wanted to tell you we named our dog after you.

\h- What’d you name him? - His name’s Mick Foley.

- Oh, that’s awesome!

- He had his ears taken off \h\h\h\h\hby dog fighters.

- Both of them. - And we went,

his name is Mick.

- It’s a big commitment, when you name an animal.

- I wanted to... \h\h\h[laughter]

\h\h\h\h\hI wanted to ask a second question of you.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Go ahead. - You are an ordained minister.

\h\h\h- I guess so. I took the course.

\h\h- Would you marry us? - Oh, would I marry you?

Are you going to get married \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hin Florida?

\h- Yeah. - We are.

- Would you marry us? \h- I will marry you.

\h\hYou expect me to say no with the A&E cameras on me?

[laughter]

- On Clearwater Beach!

- Yeah, I can do that.

- Oh...

Mick is a Santa Claus \h\h\hall year round.

\h\h\hAnyone with that kind of mentality wants to give.

You know, wants to make \h\h\h\h\hpeople happy.

\h\h\h\h\hThat’s Mick Foley. That’s what Mick’s all about.

♪ ♪

- It feels like I’m bleaching, \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hlike, a goat.

[both laugh]

♪ ♪

\h\h- Anything worth doing is worth doing well, right?

♪ ♪

Oh, wow, that looks good.

\hWhen I was portraying characters in wrestling,

\h\h\h\h\hI had to be tougher and braver and more resilient.

\hIn trying to portray Santa, to the best of my abilities,

I had to be kinder and gentler \h\h\h\h\h\h\hand more patient

than I was in real life.

And I love the idea of trying to live up to that standard.

\h\h[bells jingling] [exhales] This is...

\h\h\h\h\h\h\hAll right, this is the big one here.

♪ ♪

- [laughs]

- What?

- He will write letters

as Santa Claus to my kids \h\h\h\h\h\h\hevery year,

and in a fountain pen.

Will come over as Santa

\h\h\hjust to be "caught" sneaking out of the house

so that my kids still believe \h\h\h\h\h\h\hthere’s Santa.

\h\h- I was a huge fan of the band The Kinks

when I was in high school.

At that time, The Kinks were touring huge arenas

all over the world.

The lead singer was asked \h\h\hwhat that was like.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hHe said, "It doesn’t really matter,

as long as I can see faces."

And his answer at the time \h\h\h\h\hdisappointed me.

And then I realized how true that was.

\h\h\h\h\h\h- Santa! - Well, hello there!

\h\h- Santa! - Ho, ho, ho!

\hYes, my friends. How are you today?

\h\h\hLook at that. Do you mind if Santa pulls up a chair here?

[bells jingling]

Okay...

Santa and Mrs. Claus \h\h\h\hand the elves

went through this entire book, \h\h\hpage by page, like this.

Reach in there, my friend.

Oh, I think that’s it.

\h\h\h\h\hHave any idea? I believe that’s a ball.

\h\h\h\h\h\h\h- Oh, I know. - It’s a pair of sneakers.

- I know what that is.

♪ ♪

- I can honestly say,

I feel better now than I did \h\h\h\h\h\h\h15 years ago.

\h\h\hThat’s really amazing, that people have allowed me

\h\h\hto become part of their traditions.

\h\h\h\h\hYeah, there’s always something to look forward to.

♪ ♪

- I think Mick Foley’s \h\h\h\h\hself-worth...

♪ ♪

Is predicated on his ability \h\hto be great at something.

♪ ♪

And Mick found something at which he can be great.

♪ ♪

\h\h\h\h- I can never drop an elbow again.

I’ve got a ball of steel where my hip used to be.

But that’s a relatively \h\hsmall price to pay

for having had the chance \hto live out my dreams.

[gentle music]

♪ ♪

I know how unusual it is \h\hfor someone like me

to feel optimism about tomorrow,

after what I’ve put myself \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\hthrough

in countless yesterdays.

But when I’m asked \h\habout my life,

I can look people in the eye and answer them truthfully.

Yes, it hurt.

No, I’m not a psychopath, \h\h\h\h\h\hI don’t think.

♪ ♪

And yes, I do have \h\hsome regrets.

\h\h\hThere were times I’d put my family through the ringer,

\h\h\h\h\hand they responded with the gift of acceptance.

\h\hIt’s a gift I’ll spend the rest of my life appreciating.

♪ ♪

I know that people are always

going to keep asking \h\hthose questions.

And I know there are still \h\h\h\h\hgoing to be days

when I ask myself,

was it worth it?

♪ ♪