LogFAQs > #903758166

#43 - Mick Foley Nominated by: Inviso

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I don't think anything that doesn't involve criminal charges has ever tainted my opinion of a legend like Holy Foley and its ruination of the Hardcore Legend. I walked away from that show with an opinion of Foley as this broken, corporate shill, utterly in opposition to the character I loved as a child. It really hurt. He was just another Miz-like WWE-positive entity. His love for the WWE Women's Division went beyond comfortable and become creepy, and his family demonstrated that wrestling may have more than one royal family... but theirs wasn't one.

I remember the character who rebelled against the system of wrestling which was destroying his body in ECW and I become kind of depressed as a result. Foley was once something truly, truly special to me in wrestling. My first wrestling match ever was the 1998 Royal Rumble. Foley's return under different guises immediately stole the show for me. He was a little goofy, but immensely entertaining. From that point on, he steadfastly remained a Top 10 worker for me. The brutality of his matches was always painful to watch, but at the same time cathartic. The extremity was always deflected as a result of callous fans. He had to put bread on the table for a family that loved him, and the barbaric crowds demanded a sacrifice in order for that steady trickle of cash to contain flowing. Or it came from the evil villainy of the McMahon-Helmsley Dynasty. Either way, it was the stalwart family man who was broken in half (as God is my witness) by those around him. And yet, his perseverance was impressive.

I still have extremely fond memories of the Foley that disappeared around 2004. I have no fond memories of the man who forced a Best of 7 between a Ninja Turtle Villain and Toothless.
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