Source: Brian Fritz of Fanhouse
Mick Foley has done just about everything in wrestling. He’s worked in the small, dirty buildings in front of tens of people and has headlined WrestleMania in front of thousands.
Some people refer to him as ‘The Hardcore Legend’, a nickname he has earned for his bloody wars in the squared circle over his nearly 24-year career. But many people also know him as the lovable Mick Foley with his knack for getting a cheap pop out of the crowd and his sock puppet Mr. Socko. There’s even another side to him as he is a multiple-time New York Times best-selling author and has kept active with various charity work.
Most of the wrestling career has been spent with the WWE where he was a three-time world champion. In 2000, Foley retired but that typically doesn’t stick in wrestling with him returning to the squared circle four years later. At one point, he even tried his hand as the color commentator for WWE Smackdown but he grew tired of Vince McMahon’s barking in the headset and decided that job wasn’t for him. In fact, he decided to leave the WWE altogether.
But Foley wasn’t done with wrestling. Instead, he decided to start a new chapter in his career and in September 2008 he jumped to Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Once there, Foley got the itch to get back in the ring which he now does but on a much more limited basis.
While he moves a bit slower and has a little gray in his shaggy beard, Foley is once again having fun with what he calls his first true love – wrestling. This Sunday, Feb. 14, Foley will be a part of the TNA Against All Odds pay-per-view. (You can find out more information about TNA Wrestling at their website at TNAWrestling.com)
Recently, FanHouse caught up with Foley to talk with him still wrestling at the age of 44, the recent changes in the company with Hulk Hogan, (former President of World Championship Wrestling) Eric Bischoff and Ric Flair joining the promotion and much more. Here is part one of that conversation.
Brian Fritz: First of all, at this stage in your career from moving to WWE to TNA, are you surprised you’re still an active wrestler?
Mick Foley: (laughs) Well, I was surprised that I wrestled as actively as I did last year. I knew going in that I’d do a few matches a year. I think last year was something like 16 or 17. Granted, some of the television matches weren’t that lengthy. But I’m hoping to get back to a lesser wrestling schedule this year. There were some unique circumstances that kind of put me in the ring more often than I had planned on being there.
Brian Fritz: Did you like being in the ring that much?
Mick Foley: You know, I stopped being comfortable in the ring a long time ago. And as odd as it sounds, it was actually wrestling with Kurt Angle three times over a four day period that kind of restored my confidence. So know when I go out there, I’m pretty sure I’m not going to stink up the building.
Brian Fritz: I know at the time you were really concerned about the match with Kurt last year on pay-per-view. You were really worried about making sure that it was up to a certain standard. Do you feel like you met that standard and everything went fine?
Mick Foley: You know, I really liked the match. I know it’s probably not going to make a best of Kurt Angle DVD unless it’s a really comprehensive one. But I think it did things and accomplished goals that other matches, that other supposedly better matches, haven’t. Does that make sense?
Brian Fritz: I think so.
Mick Foley: I think some fans have certain things they want to see in a match in order to declare it a good one and for those fans it will not…my match with Kurt was not going to live up to that standard. But I think it was different. I tried things I hadn’t done in 15 years or so and I think given that Kurt was injured and I have a litany of limitations, we did a pretty good job.
Brian Fritz: Considering what you call a litany of limitations, is your standard for what in your mind being a good match – is that different from what it used to be?
Mick Foley: Yes. Yeah, it’s a lot different. And a lot of that had to do with a really bad back injury I suffered two years ago and I had to accept that I can’t live up to my old expectations. It’s unrealistic and ultimately really unhealthy. I used to put a lot of pressure on myself to be every bit as good as used to be and I have come to understand that’s not physically possible any more.
Brian Fritz: So what was your initial thought when you heard that Hulk Hogan and Eric Bischoff were coming to TNA?
Mick Foley: You know, I was actually pretty excited about it. It’s funny, I wrote this story on my TNA web blog (The Foley Files) that I had dropped off a book for Hulk Hogan to sign for a friend and had just picked up the book – it was at a local bookstore – I just picked up the book and had been in my house for no more then ten seconds when I received a call from Dixie Carter telling me that Hulk Hogan had just signed. So I don’t know if that’s fate or just a large coincidence but I certainly saw the upside of a guy of Hogan’s magnitude coming in and a guy with Bischoff’s background. I honestly didn’t know what it held in store for me personally but I did think that overall it would be, it was a good move for the company.
Read the full interview (there is a lot more to this one) here:
http://www.fanhouse.com/2010/02/11/mick-foley-still-motivated-in-next-life-with-tna-wrestling/
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