Can Foley truly convince the fans he's sick

[Guest FrigidSoul]

I just got through watching the rest of the Mick Foley DVD and after watching some of his promos you have to realise he's the king of manipulating the fan's mind...or at least he was. I bring this up because I see the angle they have going between Foley and Orton being that of "Ok, Orton has done alot of things and knocked him back into his deranged Cactus Jack mode" but could it really work? Could the man who after writing children's books, openly working with the Make a Wish Foundation and Operation Smile truly make the fans think he could get so over whelmed with rage, that he would leave that man behind and once again truly become Cactus Jack? Quite frankly I have my doubts.

 

All I know is I don't want to see Dude Love, early Mankind would not work today and happy go lucky Mankind isn't what would work for this angle...yet there's always room for Cactus Jack. I just hope that somehow he's able to go back to even his late 99/early 2000 mode and make me believe in this storyline, because right now I don't.

[Downhome 0]

Well, that promo he did in the ring with Orton where he basicly went insane was pretty damn intense to me. Foley is the guy who can turn it on and off, and you believe it. It's part of what makes him so crazy to me. One second he's cool, and the next he's beating the hell out of himself.

 

I wish that he would totally ditch the "Mick Foley" persona though, and totally dive back into Cactus Jack and the ORIGINAL Mankind. Two of the best characters of all time in my opinion.

[Guest]

Will he convince the marks? Yes.

 

Will he truly come back to that Cactus Jack stage? Only if they just unleash him on one 10 minute promo backstage on RAW.

[OldSchoolWrestling 0]

I think he's doing a good job. I hated him the last few years coming back to shill books and even as the good guy commish I didn't care for his act. But coming back and getting his ass kicked around has been a good thing. I just wish he'd leave the sock in his pants.

[Eclipse 0]

He needs to do something...like physically....to Randy Orton, something sick, like brutally attacking Orton or something...

[Downhome 0]

I think he's doing a good job. I hated him the last few years coming back to shill books and even as the good guy commish I didn't care for his act. But coming back and getting his ass kicked around has been a good thing. I just wish he'd leave the sock in his pants.

I can't put into words how much I hate the Mick Foley character. The cheap pops getting, book shilling, sock on hand wearing, flat out moron.

 

I hate that, I hate it, I HATE it. I'd rather him never be on TV if he's going to do all of that crap. Just like how I feel about Austin, I hate him in his current character/role.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

Sure. It's just a matter of referencing history and living up to it in the present. Foley bloodying himself was particularly effective as it reestablished his self destructive more psychotic side - which also marked the change from the well-spoken, mild-mannered, Foley. Now they have to build on that, have Foley regress more into Cactus and perhaps relive some of his more infamous incidences.

[Downhome 0]

Could WWE play any of his Japanese footage, if they wanted to?

[Guest FrigidSoul]

Sure. It's just a matter of referencing history and living up to it in the present. Foley bloodying himself was particularly effective as it reestablished his self destructive more psychotic side - which also marked the change from the well-spoken, mild-mannered, Foley. Now they have to build on that, have Foley regress more into Cactus and perhaps relive some of his more infamous incidences.

I just don't think they will allow him to do that.

 

Deep down inside I fear they will keep tennis shoes, sweat pants, and Mr. Sock-O Foley rather than allow him to come out in the old black pants and leopard spot vest. I also believe he wouldn't want to do that now because he's really a family man. While that isn't a bad thing for him since he's happy it has made him soft in some of the ways he approaches things because he doesn't want to frighten his kids(like with RR 99's I Quit Match)

[Guest]

Could WWE play any of his Japanese footage, if they wanted to?

I don't think they could without paying the promotion they would take the footage from.

[Downhome 0]

I also believe he wouldn't want to do that now because he's really a family man.

Nothing against Foely, I don't even know if he'd refuse to do it, but I can't stand when wrestlers say something stupid like that. The industry is a form of entertainment, the guys on screen are characters, just as you see in film and on TV.

 

When someone like Foley refuses to do something mean and something insane it really pisses me off. When Ted Dibiase decided that he's a Christian so he better be good on screen, when Sting got religious and decided and flat out REFUSED to be a heel any more, when HBK basicly changed his character, and on and on and on.

 

I don't understand all of that.

[RavishingRickRudo 0]

I just don't think they will allow him to do that.

 

It's nothing big. A piledriver through a table, a barbed wire bat, jumping off the ring apron, etc. I'm not talking about HIAC-level stuff. I think foley hitting himself until he bled and allowing Orton to spit in his face shows his commitment to this storyline.

[Guest Ghettoman]

Well personally he already did.

 

By the end of his loogie promo I had forgotten about family mick and cheap pop Mick, I was fully reminded of what he was. The way of going through promo's, the tone of it all, the build to contact, it was classic Mick.

[razazteca 0]

The ultimate Cactus Jack insane match would have to be a Hell in the Cell match with Japanese Deathmatch elements in it:

 

*Running to the ring to grab the barbwire bat in the center of the ring*

 

*Barbwire nets or sheets of glass surrounding the ring*

 

*The ring ropes wrapped with flaming barbwire*

 

*A ladder with barbwire wrapped around it*

 

* "C4" explosions be it on a time limit or being thrown into the ropes/corners*

 

I would prefer Mick Foley to wear black jeans and the Cactus Jack T-Shirt (Wanted Dead or Alive) instead of the sweatpants and flannel. A simple costume change can and will make the fans think that Mick Foley is another personality. Mankind had the mask, face Mankind had silly white ref shirt and sweatpants, Dudelove was a hippi in tyedye, cheap pop Mick Foley had the flannel.

[DCMaximo 0]

Could WWE play any of his Japanese footage, if they wanted to?

On Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops, they show some footage from the IWA King of the Deathmatch tournament, which is captioned "courtesy IWA Japan", so they've made some agreement in the past. I'm sure it could easily be done again.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

The industry is a form of entertainment, the guys on screen are characters, just as you see in film and on TV.

 

When someone like Foley refuses to do something mean and something insane it really pisses me off.

But TV and film actors aren't literally being physically hit full-on in the head with metal chairs. They're not thrown 20 feet off a cage with a table breaking their fall. They don't sacrifice body parts to their jobs. And they certainly aren't performing their roles with concussions, broken ribs, and teeth in their noses.

[Downhome 0]

But TV and film actors aren't literally being physically hit full-on in the head with metal chairs. They're not thrown 20 feet off a cage with a table breaking their fall. They don't sacrifice body parts to their jobs. And they certainly aren't performing their roles with concussions, broken ribs, and teeth in their noses.

What does that have to do with what I said? I meant that I don't understnad why some refuse to be "the bad guy", just because they are a family man or just became religious.

[Spicy McHaggis 0]

Sorry, the "insane" comment had me thinking physical. I agree with you other than that.

[Downhome 0]

Sorry, the "insane" comment had me thinking physical. I agree with you other than that.

Yeah, like when Sting refused to turn heel because he became a Christian, I hate stuff like that. If they don't want to wrestle anymore because they are a family man and fear for their safety, then that's fine, but for moral beliefs and the such, it is just stupid.

[Guest Trivia247]

well the cactus persona could be very deeply imbedded in Mick's character. it was his first truly successful gimmick as both a mainstream wrestler and hardcore wrestler.... I think he can bring it up and really go nuts again like always...

 

Terry Funk proves to us that there is always the Crazy Old Man gimmick..and Mick isn't even old.

[Guest ManKinnd]

The thing with Foley is he can make anything work. Anything.

So yes, he can make this feud with Orton interesting and intense. Hell, he already has.

[Guest TheHulkster]

Could WWE play any of his Japanese footage, if they wanted to?

On Hard Knocks and Cheap Pops, they show some footage from the IWA King of the Deathmatch tournament, which is captioned "courtesy IWA Japan", so they've made some agreement in the past. I'm sure it could easily be done again.

When JR had that 3 part interview with Mankind in mid-97, they show a good amount of IWA footage. Besides, they own the rights to his ECW footage, so it wouldn't be too hard to put together a convincing piece.

[Guest BDC]

I'm buying if it's Cactus Jack they're selling.

 

Other than that? Bleh, I'm not overly interested. Jack would make the whole thing seriously intriguing to me.

[Richard 0]

They should use born to be wild as his theme.

[nl5xsk1 0]

While I don't hate the way that this angle has played out, in the back of my mind the ending that I was predicting (without actually, you know, predicting it) was Mick Foley walking away, with Orton telling everyone that Mick Foley wouldn't be willing to fight him, Mick Foley was chickenshit, Mick Foley was retired ... and have Foley agree with him. But just b/c Mick Foley was retired, it didn't mean that Cactus Jack was. And that's the way the feud would continue. (I'm pretty sure they pulled a similar stunt in like 97 or 98 when Foley was feuding with HHH)

[Guest Goodear]

When someone like Foley refuses to do something mean and something insane it really pisses me off. When Ted Dibiase decided that he's a Christian so he better be good on screen, when Sting got religious and decided and flat out REFUSED to be a heel any more, when HBK basicly changed his character, and on and on and on.

 

I don't understand all of that.

The only thing that really makes sense from that perspective is if the men behind the characters no longer feel as though they can perform well under those characters. For instance, its pretty much on record that Rick Steamboat would be an awful heel because he's such a good guy and his entire being screams face. If you don't have that ugly part of you to pull out of your soul to be the bad guy anymore and you know it, its not a bad thing to take roles you can do better at.

 

PS: The whole Jesus = Shawn thing is totally overblown by the Smark comunity. The guy wears T-shirts about it and does a kneeling thing before getting into the ring, but I have yet to hear him say a thing about being all 'Jesus hates you Hunter!' It's all out of proportion.

[notJames 0]

Is it me, or has Foley lost an appreciable amount of weight? He looked pretty fit (well, for him) last night. That, I think, is a definite indicator of his commitment to this angle.

 

I hope he splits Orton's head open with a barbed-wire bat to the head. Kayfabed, of course. (Or not... whatever. )

[Austin3164life 0]

About Foley's weight, I started laughing when Orton called him a "fatass" backstage.

 

To answer the question posed by the topic, yes. Foley's promo skills could easily turn him into the wily and crazy Cactus Jack any day.