From the Bowery: For All Mankind: The Life and Career of Mick Foley (Blu-Ray Disc Two)

From the Bowery: For all Mankind: The Life and Career of Mick Foley (Blu-Ray Disc Two)

Dude Love vs. Rocky Maivia
RAW: Nov. 17, 1997

-The Rock is with the Nation and has the IC Title with him as he stole it from Austin earlier in the night. The Rock cuts a promo before the match and declares this won’t be for “his” IC Title. The Dude struts early to frustrate the Rock and then lands a right hand. A thumb to the eye follows from Dude and he goes to work on the Rock’s arm. They take turns reversing into arm bars, and the Rock gets sent to the floor. Back inside the ring the Rock gains control after sticking Dude with a DDT. Cornette puts over the toughness of Dude no matter what name he goes by, but JR is more concerned with Austin still being in the building as we go to a commercial break. The Rock charges into an elbow and gets sent head first into the turnbuckle. JR spends some time burning through the developments from earlier in the show (Jarrett’s return next week, Vince giving his famous post Montreal speech). Dude hits Sweet Shin Music and that brings in the Nation for the DQ at 4:58. Austin makes the save and D-Lo eats a Stunner as the Rock escapes with the IC strap.

Winner: Dude Love via DQ at 4:58
-Nothing match that was just a curiosity I guess for those who wondered if the Rock ever met this face of Foley. *

Hell in a Cell: Mankind vs. The Undertaker
King of the Ring: June 28, 1998

-This is the last match to feature alternate commentary with Joey and Mick, and like the others it is awesome. This is a little more serious as Joey mentions that he has a hard time watching this match knowing what his good friend went through. It’s probably a sin to watch this match without the amazing commentary of JR and Lawler, but curious to see what these two can add. Mick mentions that he let his kids watch the match recently and he admits it is a tough ride to get through. They bring up the fact that the clips don’t do the emotion of the match justice and until he watched it again he forgot how tough and emotional the match was. I could probably spend this whole review going over what Foley and Joey are covering, but I would be skipping most of the match. So I will just say to do yourself a favor and look for their commentary on this match and the others on this set. They are a perfect pair together and I hope the idea of alternate commentaries continue on future releases. Actually here is the review of this match I did for the Top 50 Incidents in WWE History DVD:

-I still regret to this day that I wasn’t able to get a ticket to this show. Foley brings a chair with him to the ring and starts inspecting the cell. He steps inside for a brief second before heading back out. He tosses the chair on the roof of the cell and then struggles to climb, but eventually gets makes it to the top. Taker’s entrance here is just totally bad ass and you now that shit is about to get nasty in this one. Mankind dares Taker to come up after him, and that’s a big fucking mistake on Foley’s part. Mankind gets in a few shots to back Mankind up so he can finish his climb to the top. They brawl on top and Taker gets cracked with a chair shot to his back. They walk across the top of the cell and as they do so it starts bowing beneath them. Then in one of most famous moments in history Mankind gets launched off the 16 foot high roof and crashes below through the Spanish Announce Table. I watched this live at home, and when Foley went flying, I threw my girlfriend off the bed, jumped to my feet, and screamed “holy shit, he might be dead.” The crowd is still buzzing as Terry Funk and a host of officials check to see if Mankind is still breathing. We get several thousand replays while they piece Foley back together and it’s the shot from above the cell that I always love as you can see the look of horror on the faces of the crowd, Howard Finkel, and Lawler. The Cell rises with Taker on the roof as they try to create some room to get help for Mankind. Vince McMahon even breaks kayfabe as he heads down to check to make sure Foley is still among the living. The crowd amuses themselves with an Undertaker chant as we get a great visual of him soaking it in on top of the cell. Credit to Taker for staying in character as he probably wondered if he just paralyzed or killed a co-worker. Taker makes his way down the cage, but Mankind isn’t going out like a pussy. He gets to his feet to a massive pop and makes his way back down to the ring. They each head back up the cell and once again this shit is on. Taker meets him with a head butt and then chokeslams him THROUGH the roof of the cell and it’s still the most sickening sound I think I have ever heard in a wrestling ring. Foley admitted in his book that is was the worst chokeslam he’s ever taken as he didn’t even get off the ground, but if he had it probably would have killed him. Just to make matters worse the chair followed Mankind down and rearranged some teeth as it landed on his face. Funk takes a chokeslam to give Foley a chance to figure out where the fuck he is. The crowd continues to chant for Taker as he is proving to be a sick bastard, but really everyone should be chanting for Foley. The match now starts proper inside the cell and JR seems legit pissed they are locking them in the cell to let the match continue. Mankind crotches Taker as he tries for the rope walk, and we get the classic shot of Foley smiling in the corner. He said he was trying to put his tongue through a hole under his bottom lip. Mankind tries to grab the ring steps, but his shoulder is out of place so that’s not working. Taker is basically spoon feeding Foley through this match as he does all he can to buy time. He tries a suicide dive, but Mankind gets out of the way and Take is split open after meeting the steel. Ah, blood in pro-wrestling. How I have missed you! They head back in the ring and Mankind hits a sweet ass pulling piledriver on a chair for two. The crowd seems burnt out after those two falls, but Foley gets them going ok as he brings out a bag of thumbtacks. Now the buzz is back as Take takes some shots and teases falling on the tacks. Taker gets in a big boot, but gets caught with the Mandible Claw. Taker starts to fade, but he gets back to his feet and in the process Mankind ends up on his back. He just drops back and Mankind ends up rolling through the thumbtacks. He gets back to his feet and walks into a choke slam that once again puts him back in the pile of tacks. The Tombstone finishes the massacre at 16:00.

Winner: The Undertaker via pin at 16:00
-This is a very polarizing match as a lot of people bitch that without the 2 falls from the cell this match isn’t very good. To me that is a horrible argument because you can’t take things out of match. That would be like saying if you took Heath Ledger out of the Dark Knight it would be a bad movie. For me a match doesn’t have to a ***** classic with 60000 moves featuring a variant on a moonsault to be a great match or Match of the Year. I also am not one to say this is the greatest match ever, because I have seen a lot that have gotten me more invested and had me hanging on each and every move. For me this is a fantastic match that couldn’t really top how it started, but who really cares. Do yourself a favor and see this match as it started the crazy ass notion that everyone had to try to do all they could to top Mick Foley. ****

WWF Tag Titles: The New Age Outlaws © (w/ Chyna) vs. Mankind and Kane (w/ Paul Bearer)
RAW: July 13, 1998

-It’s so nice to hear “WWF” in Dogg’s opening spiel and not a bleep. For shits and giggles, The Undertaker comes out as well and that should offset anything from Chyna and/or Paul Bearer. What’s crazy is that this match is only 15 days after the Hell in a Cell Match and Foley is in the ring wrestling. Even Shawn, who is on commentary, points out how insane and crazy that truly is. Mankind starts the match with the Dogg and he gets his ass handed to him before the tag is made to Gunn. He goes to work on the damaged shoulder and tells Mankind to suck it. Chyna uses one of the belts to blast Mankind in the shoulder. The tag is made to Dogg and he stays on the shoulder by sending Mankind into the post. Quick tags from the champs, but Mankind is able to catch Gunn with the mandible claw and make the tag to Kane. Now the Outlaws are screwed as they beg off. On the floor Gunn and Mankind brawl as Billy takes an unrealistic bump into the steps, but it looked cool. Gunn gets tossed back into the ring and now The Rock and Owen Hart from the Nation head down to the ring. Anyone else want to join in on the fun here? JR brings up that Mankind and Kane are scheduled to face Austin and Taker in 15 days at Fully Loaded and reminds me that 15 years ago that kind of tipped of what was going to happen here. The rest of DX head down and start brawling with the Nation, and while the ref worries about that D-Lo comes from the crowd and hits the chest protector assisted Frog Splash on Dogg and a tombstone from Kane gives us new tag champions at 5:29.

Winners and New WWF Tag Team Champions: Mankind and Kane via Kane pin Road Dogg at 5:29
-Again, just another short RAW match, but I can see the reason for the inclusion as Foley walks away with a tag title. Matches were titles change hands are always appreciated because I am kind of old school and would buy into when Monsoon would say “history has been made here” anytime a title would change hands in the 80s. So in that way I guess it is still real to me..damn it! *1/2

WWF Championship: The Rock © (w/Vince and Shane McMahon) vs. Mankind
In Your House: Rock Bottom: Dec 13, 1998

-A lot of love for the Rock on this set as this is the third match involving him for some reason. I know they were great together, but the man did feud with others or maybe give me the Halloween Havoc match with Vader that I have been waiting to have released for years. This would be the Rock’s first PPV as the WWF Champion and the 2nd of 4 straight PPV matches between these two. Even after turning the previous month and aligning with the McMahons, The Rock still gets a pretty strong pop from the Vancouver crowd. Cool moment to look back on as Lawler tells Cole he should kiss up to Vince and Cole says when the time is right he will do so. Hmm, guess he was telling the truth. Before the match Vince and Mankind haggle over something in the contract for the match that I am having trouble remembering, but seems Mankind wants Vince to admit that he didn’t say “I Quit” at Survivor Series. Vince won’t admit to anything so Mankind tears up the contract and the Rock jumps him from behind. Mankind turns the tide rather quickly and pounds away in the corner. Now the crowd goes with the “Rocky Sucks” chant as things head to the floor. The Rock gets sent into the rings steps and Mankind uses them to blast the Rock in the ribs. They fight in the aisle and the Rock starts firing back, but eats a clothesline that sends him back to the floor. Lawler finally clears up the contract as The Rock is coming into this match injured and wanted the match postponed until he was healed. Vince gets on the mic and orders the ref to disqualify Mankind if he does anything remotely close to being illegal. I see that they are going for a different spin on the Over the Edge 98 vibe then. The Rock sends Mankind to the floor and Cole goes nuts wondering why the Rock isn’t getting disqualified as the Great One hits a suplex. Mankind fights back once they return to the ring and then it goes right back to the floor as the Rock goes flying over the top rope. Mankind puts the Rock on the announce table and preps to come off the middle rope, but Shane stops that and poor Mankind gets tossed to the floor. The Rock brings the awesome as he does some commentary while ramming Mankind’s head in the announce table. In a hilarious moment Lawler asks The Rock for a high five and Rock threatens to slap him in the teeth. Awesome! The Rock spits some water and that only pisses Mankind off and we have a brawl on the announce table. Mankind grabs a chair, but the ref stops that noise and Rock hits a clothesline. They go back in the ring and the Rock gets a near fall. The crowd pops when the Rock hits a slam as they know the Corporate (formerly People’s) Elbow is next, and it draws a great response when it connects, but Mankind is out at two. The Rock sets too early on a backdrop and Mankind is able to counter with a swinging neckbreaker. That leaves both men out as the ref starts his mandatory count of ten. Mankind is the first to his feet, but Rock soon meets him and they trade blows in the middle of the ring. Mankind hits a clothesline for two and follows up with a legdrop for another two count. Vince orders the ref to disqualify Mankind for hitting the Rock in the balls, but before that can happen, Mankind hits the ref with a piledriver and then takes out the timekeeper to be safe. Mankind heads after Vince, but the Rock saves with a steel chair shot. The Rock hits the Rock Bottom, but there’s no ref to count. Shane tries to blast Mankind with the belt, but Rock gets the worst of that and Tim White heads down to make the count, but Rock is out after a great near fall. The Rock avoids a clothesline by floating over and hitting a DDT, but that only nets him a two count. Mankind gets his own DDT and again we get a near fall. Mr. Socko makes his appearance and the Mandible Claw gets locked in and the Rock is out at 13:35 to crown a new WWF Champion. The celebration is short lived however as Vince grabs a mic and tells the crowd the only way to win a WWF Title is by pin fall or submission and Rock was knocked out, so he is still the champion. That is one way to screw over the crowd I guess! Mankind locks the Claw on Vince, but Shane saves with a chair before getting his ass handed to him. Patterson and Briscoe head down, but they are no match. The Boss Man and Shamrock hit the ring next and they beat down Mankind and the Rock gets in some shots as well before celebrating with his title to massive boos from the crowd.

Winner: Mankind via KO at 13:35
-This was building into a damn fine match until the screwy ending and you could see the chemistry between the two was growing. The ending was kind of a downer, but I guess it was an effective way to build sympathy for Mankind. What’s funny is this angle and feud has a lot in common with the current HHH/Orton vs. Daniel Bryan feud and in both cases the fans were screwed over in the 2nd match. **3/4

WWE Tag Team Championship: Mankind © and The Rock © vs. Shane McMahon and Triple H (w/ Chyna)
SmackDown: Sept 2, 1999

-I miss hearing “My Time” on a regular basis and every time I hear it I think of Donkey Kong 64 as for some reason I played that tape (yeah, I am old) when I would be playing the game. Ok, now to the match as Mankind charges into the ring like an idiot before Rock is introduced and he gets his ass kicked. The Rock’s music finally hits and even with his partner getting the piss kicked out of him he strolls to the ring. Shane gets sent to the floor and Mankind follows, but HHH uses a chair to save as the ref doesn’t see it. HHH gets the tag and he stomps away in the corner and Shane comes back to hit a leaping elbow for a two count. I should point out that HHH is the reigning WWF Champion as he had yet to lose it to Vince. Shane gets in a little trouble and wisely makes the tag to HHH. He hits a suplex and drops a knee for two. HHH hits the knee for two and it looks pretty sloppy as Foley looks in rough shape here wrestling in sweat pants and looking a bit pudgy. I believe he was planning on retiring in a few weeks, but the Austin injury kept him around longer and rejuvenated his career for “one” final run at the top of the card. Chyna makes sure to get a low blow, but Mankind does end up making the hot tag. The Rock plants HHH with a DDT, but Shane makes the save. He tosses Shane to the floor and HHH catches him with a clothesline as he turns around. Mankind takes Shane into the announce table and back in the ring, Billy Gunn hits the ring and hits HHH with the fame-asser. A Rock Bottom and People’s Elbow follow and that’s enough to retain the titles at 6:55.

Winners and Still WWF Tag Team Champions: The Rock and Mankind via Rock pin on HHH at 6:55
-I guess we needed a Rock and Sock Connection match on here, but these matches are quickly becoming about HHH and Rock as much as they are about Foley. The match was short, but it was mentioned that Mankind and Rock wrestled each other earlier in the show, so makes sense on that end. Just your normal formula tag match (though shortened). **

Falls Count Anywhere: Mankind vs. Al Snow
SmackDown: Dec 16, 1999

-Now this is more like it as how often do you ever get an Al Snow match on someone’s DVD set? This was an interesting time as Snow got a little rub by kind of feuding with Mankind and even the Rock at this time. I actually have decent hopes that this should at least be a fun match. Snow brings a bat to the match and the shit is on as they say. Mankind gets an elbow, but Snow smartly goes for the bat and sends Mankind to the floor. He swings for Mankind’s head, but the bat misses and cracks in half off the ring post. They brawl on the announce table and Snow gets hit in the side of the head with a chair and then whacked across the back. Mankind actually tries a pin on the chairs, but Snow is out at two. Snow goes under the ring and brings out a cookie sheet that gets put to good use. Next up he grabs a trash can lid and Mankind loses some brain cells. They head back in the ring and Snow misses a shot with a street sign and ends up getting caught with a double arm DDT on the sign. Socko gets a pop from the crowd, but Snow smartly hits the floor to escape the sock. Snow hits a suplex on the ramp and we go right back to the ring which is kind of a downer actually. I want chaos and a brawl outside the arena. Well, things do pick as Snow puts on a bowling shirt and looks to bowl a strike into Mankind’s balls, but a set of tongs get used on Snow’s balls and then he ends up getting his nuts crushed with the bowling ball. They brawl up the ramp and to the backstage area as this match finally makes good use of the stipulation. They have a pretty intense brawl in the halls of the arena and end up in front of DX’s dressing room door. They brawl in there and one would assume Mankind got his ass kicked, but Snow comes out the worst for ware and Mankind gets the pin at 7:48. The Rock comes through the door with a chair and pulls off the DX logo to show that it was really his dressing room. Nice!

Winner: Mankind via pin at 7:48
-Goofy fun here between two friends and again for what it was I can enjoy this match. **1/2

Hell in a Cell: WWF Title: HHH © (w/ Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley) vs. Cactus Jack
No Way Out: Feb 27, 2000

-The previous month these two had an all time classic street fight at the Rumble with HHH winning and this is the rematch with Jack’s career on the line. In the weeks building to the match, Cactus promised to come off the top and destroy HHH, so when he gets to the ring he finds that door is heavily padlocked shut. Jack immediately hits the floor and tries to get out of the cage, but the extra locks and chains stop that noise. The brawl is on and they are off to a fast start as they tee off on each other with right hands. HHH gets pummeled to the mat and then pummeled back to his feet. Jack rolls to the floor and goes back to the door as he attempts to kick it down to get outside the cell. HHH hits a low blow on the floor and they head back into the ring. Now HHH gets to beat Jack down in the corner as Steph cheers from the floor. A knee sends Jack reeling, but he counters a charging HHH with a backdrop to the floor. A chair gets introduced and HHH gets the better of that exchange. He fires Jack into the steps and he takes his usual sick ass bump into them. HHH just casually waits for Jack to stand and then tosses the steps into his head. Nasty! The stairs get placed on Jack and HHH swings away with a chair to great effectiveness. Jack is a rather crazy bastard and gets back inside the ring where he gets murdered with the chair for the first near fall of the match. A DDT leaves Jack out, but again he is out at two. HHH grows frustrated as he keeps going for the pin, but each time Jack is out at two. Jack uses the chair to squash HHH’s little games and hits a Russian leg sweep on the chair as well. He sets the chair in the corner and pounds HHH into a seated position before charging and getting caught with a drop toehold into the chair. They head back to the floor and Jack gets the back of his head rattled off the cell. Back to the stairs as HHH preps for a Pedigree on them, but Cactus counters and catapults HHH into the cell. Damn! Steph looks on concerned as the blood starts to pour from her husband’s head. A bloody Hell in a Cell is like coming home after years away at college: it just feels right. HHH gets tossed into the cell and just generally gets his ass kicked on a tour around the cell. Jack grabs a chair and comes off the 2nd rope to the floor with a chair assisted elbow. Sweet! Now Cactus gets his turn with the steps as he tosses them at HHH, but he gets out of the way and the steps crash through the cell wall. The crowd comes alive as they realize that Jack now has an opening. He runs through the cage to make an opening and then tosses HHH out of the cell for good measure. They fight on the announce table and HHH takes a sick piledriver on the American Announce Table. Jack starts to make a climb up the cell, but Steph grabs a leg and pulls him back to the floor. HHH saves his wife, but ends up getting tossed into the cell. Jack grabs a 2X4 covered in barbed wire and beats HHH with that as the blood continues to flow. Now HHH starts to make the climb in a desperate attempt to escape Cactus. He makes his way up, but he is kind of screwed as HHH is waiting on him and uses the barbed wire to rip at Jack’s head as he hangs from the side of the cell and then he falls back through the Spanish Announce Table. JR begs for someone to come help Mick, but after what he survived during his last cell match he would be a pussy to get stretchered out after that fall. Jack gets to his feet from the wreckage as he is now pouring blood from his head. He seems rather pissed and starts trying to toss a chair onto the top of the cell, and it’s kind of funny seeing him struggle to do so. HHH looks confused with each one that doesn’t make it to the roof of the cell. Jack heads back up again and this time he makes it to the roof and the war continues. HHH uses the barbed wire 2X4 to his advantage, but a well time kick to the balls turns the tide once more. HHH teases falling through a corner of the cell, but he survives before getting suplexed on the roof of the cell. Jack hits a double-arm DDT and then lights the barbed wire 2X4 on fire. Awesome! He kind of weakly hits HHH with the burning 2×4, but realistically he didn’t want to burn the guy. Jack tries for a piledriver onto the flames, but HHH backdrops out and poor Jack crashes through the roof and into the ring below. Thankfully this time the ring is gimmicked to collapse to keep Foley from nearly killing himself like last time. Even with it being a thousand times safer it’s still one hell of a bump and draws a great reaction from the crowd. HHH climbs down the hanging piece of cell and has the ref check on Jack to make sure he’s dead and gone, but the crowd starts a Foley chant and Jack rises from the wreckage like a movie monster. HHH hits a Pedigree, and that is easily enough to finish at 23:59 to break the hearts of JR and the fans in the crowd. This was a downer at the time, but now we all know Foley came back only weeks later, was in the Main Event of Mania and would end up being a World Champion again over a decade later in a promotion made from the ashes of a yet to be killed off WCW. So the emotion isn’t there and that kind of sucks a little bit from the match. Foley gets a great send off from the crowd and JR does a great job putting over the man as you know JR means every word he is saying.

Winner and Still WWF Champion: HHH via pin at 23:59
-This was a hell of a match to end a career on, but that didn’t happen and I don’t blame Mick for that. The idea of Jack wanting to get out of the cell was a nice touch as usually the heel tries to get out to escape so HHH’s best bet was to be locked in the cell. That is a nice play on Hell in a Cell I where Shawn knew he was fucked and wanted to do all he could to get out of the cell. This match isn’t as good as the 1st Cell match, but it’s still a hell of a deal. ****

Blu-Ray Exclusive Promos

-Mick pops up before each promo to give his thoughts and provide a little background in a nice touch.

-WCW 1991: Cactus sings Happy Birthday to Sting while eating a cake with Abdullah the Butcher. Sure it’s not Sting’s birthday, but the point is they want to celebrate his last birthday because it is his last birthday! Fun stuff! Heyman does the interview and as you expect he is awesome as well.

-WCW 1994: On WCW Saturday Night, Cactus starts out a promo speaking German (“don’t forget my ear in a plastic bag”) and goes on to talk about how he put off the surgery for his ear to help Sullivan against the Nasty Boys. Solid promo to build towards the blow-off match with Sullivan at Fall Brawl!

-WWE RAW 2004: The awesome promo during his feud with Orton where Mick rocks in a chair and discusses how you never forget your first. He had hundreds and probably several a week while on the road, and of course he is talking about flannel shirts. Only Mick! He goes on to talk about what hardcore means to him and how he all the death matches in Japan were for love (the love of providing for his children). He watched those tapes of his work in Japan to get back his edge, and he realized maybe he actually loved what he was doing. They were honorable men who never spit in his face, yet he tore them apart with barbed-wire. So if he did that to them, then what would do Orton at Backlash. He introduces us to “Barbie” and delivers some of the more descriptive lines you will ever hear in a wrestling promo. Mick uses the bat to destroy the backstage area and somewhere Orton was pissing himself in fear.

-WWE SmackDown 2008: Mick’s interviews Edge on SmackDown as he was heading towards a Hell in a Cell match with Undertaker. This was a way for Mick to get out of the WWE following his run as a commentator. Another great one here as Edge has Mick as his guest on the Cutting Edge as he asks Mick for his help in getting him prepared for Taker and the Cell. Mick cuts a hell of a promo telling Edge what he needs to do to find himself and it causes Edge to snap and blast Foley in the head with a mic. Mick fights back and looks for a chair but Edge kicks it in his face and the spears him into the ring steps. The crowd chants for Taker, but no dice as Edge puts Mick on a table in the ring and jumps off a ladder to drop an elbow assisted chair. Edge was starting to channel a Heath Ledger Joker vibe to his character, but it kind of went away. Great job by Mick as even as an announcer he goes above and beyond to put someone over on his way out of the company.

-WWE RAW 2012: Interesting insight from Mick as he calls the next interview what changed his own perception of himself. He had felt he turned into a nostalgia act and thought he couldn’t hang with someone like CM Punk in a promo war. Foley cuts a promo on Punk questioning his alliance with Heyman and what he has turned into since that alliance. Punk interrupts and the two have a great back and forth before they get to the main point: Foley wants Punk to face Cena for the WWE Title inside Hell in a Cell. Punk goes off about people telling him he needs to cement his legacy. He doesn’t need to prove his worth in a car crash match, instead he does it by holding the WWE Title for 309 days and tomorrow will be 310. Foley cuts him off and mentions that he held the WWE Title for a combined 29 days during his 3 reigns and that nobody cares about dates. They only care about moments and Punk is lacking a moment that he can only get by facing Cena in the Cell. Before leaving he asks Punk if he wants to be a statistic or a legend.

Blu-Ray Exclusive Stories

-The Legend of Frank Foley: Mick struck out a lot with women and thought he could start over when he got to college. On the night Tony Atlas and Rocky Johnson won the Tag Titles from the Samoans, he was able to walk a young lady home and Mick got a kiss. The girl mistakenly calls him Frank, and Mick deals with his pain by making an amateur film (which we get to see here) and it shows him abusing a stuffed animal with wrestling holds, doing a posing routine, and debuting Dude Love. Mick tears the video apart and mentions that it is memorable because it was so bad. The sequel is what Mr. McMahon saw and that is why we got Dude Love in 1997. This whole story is in his book and he went through it during his speaking gig at my local college.

-Shane Douglas tells of the first time he met Mick and it was at Denucci’s wrestling school. He was told by Denucci to look for “Mikey” the next day and during a snow storm, Shane noticed a car parked outside and underneath a blanket was a hairy, mass of humanity. That proved to be Mike and he and Troy started their friendship.

-Foley introduces the next piece which is a video Mick produced for a college project that was done on Denucci’s school. He received an A+ for the project and the video is pretty kick ass actually as it gives you a great look into the school and is something fun to look back on considering Shane and Mick went on to various levels of fame.

-Back to Shane as he tells story of a tour in Italy and they decided to work the marks by staging a fake fight in a gym. The people in the gym applaud as they are hip to the game though Mick took off before that and Shane plays on that by telling him that 20 cops showed up and they are looking to arrest him. He lets that play out for a few days before telling Mick the truth. Mick gets him back later in another funny story.

-The origins of the name Cactus Jack are covered as it is way to honor his dad. They had a wrestling game and each person got to pick their own wrestling name and Mick’s father used “Cactus Jack.” He wanted to use the name only until he was good enough to use Dude Love.

-Mick tells the story of the first time he went to West Africa (Burkina Faso) as it was an attempt by their President to bring entertainment to his country. They didn’t have much clue what wrestling was , but just being out of college Mick thought it was a life experience. Two weeks later his dad hands him a paper that mentions the government of Burkina Faso was overthrown and the President had been killed. Mick immediately realizes he probably wasn’t going to get paid by the new leaders of the country.

-Next the origins of Bang Bang: He gave Nasty Ned the elbow to the concrete and for some reason the lyrics to “Love Shack” came to his head and that’s where the “Bang Bang” came from. He just dropped the “on the door, baby.” Well there you go!

-Mick tells story of being in a car accident while on the way to a bachelor party and it knocked out his two front teeth. This was just after being on WCW TV for a few weeks. He had some fake teeth, and he kept them in until his wife told him he looked better without them. The teeth came back when he became the corporate Dude Love and Austin stomped them and tossed them into the crowd. Months later the fans that caught the teeth mailed them back to Foley. Nice!

-Heyman tells of Mick singing Sweet Home Alabama during a local TV spot and they way he turned it on the crowd made those in WCW at the time realize there was more to him than they thought.

-The story of the Wanted Dead T-shirt as he was told he could make a lot of money in Japan with t-shirt sells. Mick mentions that Independent wrestler t-shirts were horrible, and he wanted something good looking. Heyman mentions that without the sales of the shirt there would have been no way he could have survived on what he was making in ECW for as long as he did. The shirt is still being sold on wwe.com, though now it is “Wanted: Dead or Alive” to make it more family friendly. In a great moment his son Hugh pops up sporting the shirt and mentions he didn’t want to wear it, but his dad made him. He wanted to wear a Rey Mysterio shirt. Awesome!

-August 1995 Mick has a death match in front of 30,000 fans with Terry Funk and that’s when he was took the mantle as the King of the Death Matches. After the match he sat back and realized how messed up he was and when he got to the hospital, Terry was there as well. The next day his burned arm was turning brown and his hair was caked with blood. His dad picked him up from the airport and Mick tried to hide the wounds, but the smell gave him away. He told his dad no matter how bad his injuries were he wouldn’t take back what he and Funk did to each other.

-Joey brings up the “Cane Dewey” sign from ECW and Mick mentions that the fan did check with him before the show. Mick said whatever, but his wife nearly vomited when hearing about it. That led to Mick turning against the ECW fans, by being anti-hardcore and doing amateur wrestling. The anti-ECW promos were ground breaking and you would be hard pressed to find any promos with as much realism and emotion.

-Mick has his farewell match in ECW and he was worried the fans would bury him, but he was caught off guard by the positive reception they gave him. I still chuckle at the “Keep Uncle Vince from Dewey” sign. Foley struts out of the ECW arena with Stevie Richards and the Blue Meanie.

-Regal brings up watching behind the curtain as Jack and Mr. Wonderful beat the piss out of each other at WCW SuperBrawl. The spot that Regal remembers is Cactus taking a suplex on the guardrail and falling off with such force that he drove his face into the concrete. It is a pretty sick spot that Regal admits caused him to wretch when he watched it live.

-Mick discusses Kevin Sullivan being one of his mentors and Sullivan pops up to put over the relationship they had. Mick thinks Kevin was looking for someone that could pull off his crazy ideas and in Mick he found the perfect guy. They talk about their first run in WCW when Jack was a student under Sullivan and then 3 years later they become partners and win the WCW Tag Titles. The match they had at Slamboree 94 in Philadelphia is one of my favorite matches of all time. Sullivan and Jack both mention that they Nasty Boys were brutal to work with, but if you could hang with them you could get a great street fight out of them.

-Mick tells a touching story of how he gave the Rock N Sock Connection jacket to a young kid with a brain tumor. The story of the young man is rather touching and sadly he does pass away and he was buried in the jacket. He also tells us that a young man in New York is buried with Mr. Rocko. Great stuff there!

-WrestleMania 2000: Hell yeah! HHH tells this story and it is by far the most hilarious story on this set. Mick had told HHH that all he wanted to do was get through the match so he could make it to Disneyland the next day with his family. Before the show starts the Rock, HHH, and Mick are near the ring discussing things and Mick wants to do a spot where he comes off the middle rope and puts the Rock through the Spanish Table. As they are out there HHH notices how far it seems and asks Mick if he can make it and he tells him no problem. Now during the match, Mick gets up to the middle rope and HHH notes that he can see Mick’s expression change as he knows he is quite screwed. With all his might Mick leaps and HHH remembers thinking “nope” as he soon as he took off. Mick hits the edge of the table and HHH can still hear all the air being sucked out of Mick’s lungs. Back inside the ring, HHH pins Mick and during the cover he says “there goes Disney.” HHH’s delivery of the story is great as he can’t help but crack up thinking about it even if it was 13 years ago.

-Orton brings up how his feud with Mick started at the end of 2003 and it was the first major feud of his career. They were set to fight on RAW and Mick just opts to back away from the match and then Orton spits in his face. Mick caught some grief from the boys in the back for letting a young guy spit in his face like that, but he knew the story they were going to tell and where it was going. “Listen here you little bastard, I was spilling blood on six continents while you were still latched to your mother’s breast.” Tremendous! This feud is forgotten about but it made Orton a star and is one of the great, shorter feuds that you will ever see with a fantastic blow-off to boot.

-Mick talks about being approached by Vince to become part of the announce team. Mick had some reservations as he had heard stories about Vince getting on his announcer’s during the shows through the headsets. He took the job seriously and threw himself headfirst into the job. He thought he had come onto something he could do for the next 10 years, and that’s when he got chewed out by Vince for the first time. Cole mentions that you can’t take what Vince says personally as by the end of the show he has moved onto 45 other things and Mick could never quit taking things personally.

-Foley sent an e-mail to the WWE and it read “no one man can ruin the Royal Rumble.” That leads to Foley being in the Rumble with Santino and led to the battle between Socko and The Cobra. I still haven’t seen that Rumble yet oddly enough.

-Talk of Foley’s gig as a comedian and he is getting better is what I can gather. More power to the man for always finding something else to occupy his post wrestling career.

-Three Faces of Foley: The various talking heads discuss the three different personas and which where their favorites. Hayes, JR, Cole, and Regal are with Cactus. Sheamus, Miz, Show, Vader seem to side with Mankind. Mick’s childhood friends, his daughter, and Kofi like Dude Love.

-Sheamus mentions that he had a try-out for the WWE in London and Foley was there and talked to the guys (included in the group: Wade Barrett and Drew McIntyre). Here they were nobodies and he took the time to talk to them.

-Christmas is talked about as it is by far Mick’s favorite time of year. That leads to talk about Mick writing a children’s Christmas book.

-The talking heads talk about Mick’s wardrobe and his son, Hugh, burns him by mentioning the he looks homeless. I love this kid! He continues to bury his dad by mentioning he had 10 pair of sweatpants that look the same and they have holes in them.

-Now they talk about the fact that Mick is cheap. They all tell stories of him sleeping on the floor of other wrestler’s hotel room if needed. HHH and Show mention that he would sleep on a bench in an airport terminal instead of getting a hotel for the night. Other times he would sleep in the smallest rent a car imaginable. He would also bank airline tickets and drive 600 miles with a garbage bag full of popcorn to keep from eating. Heyman mentions that Foley should have 20 million dollars stashed away somewhere and if not then there is something wrong with his scenario. In the end he did it all to save money for his family.

-Road Dogg mentions that with all the stresses of the road and business he would always see Mick bringing his kids on the road and what they would be doing. He mentions that he has told Mick that he is the best dad he’s ever been around and calls him a great guy.

The 411: The matches on this set were kind of weak, but the documentary, and blu-ray extras were pretty strong. I'm also not sure why they ended with his Cell match in 2000 against HHH when he had several good to great matches after that one. Sure, that was probably the perfect way to end his career, but could have added the blow-off with Orton, or the One Night Stand brawl, or even the SummerSlam massacre with Flair. Again, minor problems with the match selection aside, this was a very good set

Final Score:  8.5   [ Very Good ]