The Three Faces of Foley

[The Crock]

Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind.​

Over the duration of his career, Mick Foley has had large amounts of success with his different characters. From the "Hardcore Legend" Cactus Jack, to the cool, calm, and relaxed Dude Love, or the sick, demented freak Mankind, they all had their great moments. Hardcore Championships, Tag Team Championships, WWF Championships, Mick Foley did it all. Throughout his run in the WWF, he used these three characters to perfection, as he peppered them in throughout and had some of the most memorable moments and feuds in recent wrestling history.

Simply put; which of the "Three Faces of Foley" was the most successful?

To me, it has to be Mankind. The Mankind persona is the persona that allowed Foley to be a three time WWF Champion, Mankind is what put Foley on the map as a legitimate main eventer and a legitimate legend. Sure, Cactus Jack came out at key times, such as the Triple H feud, to get things done, but he never won the WWF Championship. Foley, as Mankind, feuded with The Rock, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker, and many more. The list goes on and on. Mankind is THE face of Foley. He is the one that many wrestling fans will never be able to forget. He's the face that people will instantly recognize, whether it is because of the insane bumps he takes, the crazy promos, the awesome matches, or The Rock 'n' Sock Connection, it's irrelevant. The only thing that matters is that they'll remember Mankind not Dude Love or Cactus Jack.

 

[Marky-Marc]

Definitely Mankind.

He is easily the most recognizeable of the three and even though all three of these "faces" are characters, it almost seems like he is Mankind, and the other 2 are somewhat of a novelty act. That's how it seemed to me anyway.

Mankind was the one who had the big fueds with Taker, Rock and Kane and he would bust out Cactus Jack for the really heated rivalry with HHH in 2000. Mankind is the one who won the titles and finally accomplished his dream.

All 3 are highly enjoyable and Mick Foley will always be a legend for being able to pull off this gimmick (who didn't love when all 3 faces entered in the 98 Rumble?) but Mankind is easily the most successful.

 

[lonewolfhc]

I would say yes in wwe mankind is what put mick foley on the map. What really started makeing him serious is wean he would be cactus jack. Go back to wean he faced hhh as cactus the first time on raw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkC6k9HVR7I and that wean people started see him as a bad ass. Personly cactus jack was the best. He made you belive that he would knock out the teeth of his opnent. All togahter mick foley is the man

 

[ugotpwned999]

Without a doubt, Mankind. Mankind won the WWF title, not Dude Love or CJ.
Mankind was made a legend when he was thrown off the cell, not Dude Love or CJ.
Mankind was far more popular, end of story. He was a lot more successful than the Dude love gimmick and more successful than Cactus Jack who was mainly for 'hardcore' matches every once in a while.

So my answer is the one That Mick Foley stuck with for the majority of the attitude era, Mankind.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I liked Foley as an outlaw and a hippie, but his demented identity was the best of all.

The Dude Love thing was an amusing joke which I could take or leave, but I'm glad he would retreat to the Cactus Jack character every so often. It just seemed like a special event when he returned to his original persona; it was how he made his name in hardcore wrestling.

But Mankind was the guy who fought Undertaker, The Rock and Steve Austin in some of the most memorable matches ever. He was the maniac who did his training in boiler rooms and closets.....and proved that a character who didn't display a lick of technical wrestling ability could become world champion.

I wish Foley could have found a way to live with Vince McMahon screaming in his ear during his announcing gig. He belongs in WWE......in whatever role they can create for him.

 

[Defekt]

There's no question about it, Mankind was the most successful.

Mick Foley is a talented guy, and given the right chance, could have made any gimmick work. He just happened to be performing as Mankind when his big break came.

Mick did alot of good work as Cactus Jack, unfortunately it was in promotions no one was watching at the time (early ECW and early 90's WCW). Dude Love was more a goof gimmick.

 

[The Purse]

Very tough choice. Cactus Jack is the only face of Foley to not win the WWF title not at the same time he revolutionized hardcore wrestling. Here are my thoughts on the 3 persona's.

Cactus Jack: Didn`t win a WWF title but he was one of the ones who made hardcore wrestling what it was.

Dude Love: 80/90s Hipstar gimmick that won Foley a WWF Title in 1998 after screwing Steve Austin and could play a heel or face.

Mankind: Perhaps most famous for his Hell In a Cell match with the Undertaker but was also a 2 time WWF Champion. Had some good classic hardcore matches and also a Heel/Face gimmick.

I think its Mankind as he got popular in the company around about the time the WWF was winning the Monday Night Wars against WCW. However, all 3 persona`s are extremely popular and made Mick Foley all that he is.

Just the thoughts of a 12 year old.

 

[Constipated Badger Bottom]

Dude Love: 80/90s Hipstar gimmick that won Foley a WWF Title in 1998 after screwing Steve Austin and could play a heel or face.

Try Again


The most successful persona for me it's definitely Mankind, 3 Time WWF Champion and probably was involved in the one of the most famous WWF matches of all time with his Hell In A Cell vs The Undertaker

Although my favourite persona was Cactus Jack and I've always preferred the Street Fight vs Triple H than I did the HIAC match as I believe it told a better story and seemed to be planned out a whole lot better than the HIAC match

 

[itbewilly]

From a WWE stand point maybe Mankind would be the top pick but its absolutely crazy to think Mankind was a bigger name then Cactus Jack.Cactus Jack was known globally long before Mick ended up in the WWE. Cactus was a well known name and selling out venues in Japan and Germany with feuds with Funk and other's.

From a U.S stand point maybe Mankind was the better known of all his persona's but from a world wide stand point Mankind was nothing compared to Cactus Jack or at least in my opinion.Watch some of those best of Cactus Jack in Japan matches.. Those fans feared and respected Cactus Jack years before he ever won a WWE Title of any kind.

 

[Hulk Hogan's Brother]

Mankind was obviosuly the most popular and the most effective face of Foley. It was something that made people take notice of Foley even before he had wrestled a single match. It was a well structured and a genuinely scary character and something that helped him win three WWF Championships during his regime in the WWF.

Cactus Jack was a fairly entertaining character but it was also something that was based on the kind of matches that Foley participated in. What I mean to say is that if Foley would not have participated in such sick matches over the years, the Cactus Jack character would not have been as successful. Mankind was not like that. It was successful first as a character alone and would have stood that way even if Foley had not participated in outrageous matches. The promos that Foley cut as Mankind were more impactful than the promos he cut as Cactus Jack, at least in the WWF. I think that it is the Mankind character that people talk about when they say that Foley is one of the best promo cutters of all time.

As for Dude Love, I alway felt that it was somewhat of a parody of Shawn Michaels. It was hilarious but so is the thought of Foley as a ladies man. Both Cactus Jack and Mankind are better characters however with Mankind being better than Jack mostly because of the promos that Foley cut as Mankind.

 

[Hollywood Naitch]

I would say its close between Cactus Jack and Mankind.

Cactus was the character that helped Foley make his name and GET him to the WWE, eventually after years of tearing his body apart in Japan, ECW and WCW. He also had a great short-term return to the gimmick to feud with HHH, giving us some of the best matches in his career.

However, Mankind was the gimmick that made him a superstar in the US, allowing him 3 short WWE title reigns, and helping him to become adored by the WWE fans like few performers ever have been. It was interesting to see how the Mankind character evolved over the years from a demented psycho to a loveable goofy sock-wearing fan favourite. He also had his most famous match as Mankind against 'Taker in the Cell in 1998. That is what he will be remembered for.

I personally have loved all of Foleys Faces, and probably liked him best as himself when he was the Commissioner. That was one of my favourite periods in wrestling history.

 

[wrestling89]

Mankind of course was the most successfull, he was the only gimmick that VInce and the WWF created.

As far as best gimmick, that has to go to Cactus Jack. I was a huge fan of Cactus Jack Manson in WCCW/USWA and later the early years of WCW. He had that lost look and did crazy stuff. That is the guy that got me interested in Mick Foley.

 

[byrnside]

[YOUTUBE]LaaxWZWOFZc[/YOUTUBE]

Those guitar licks trigger something deep within me that symbolizes electricity and pain. Being one of the rarer personas of Foley when Cactus Jack returned it was something special. His feud with Triple H was awesome. His battles with Terry Funk, legendary. Specifically I remember the 1998 Royal Rumble match where they entered as numbers 1 and 2 respectively, dragging chairs and trash cans into the Rumble match. They battered eachother through the first 10 superstars or so. Of course what Foley would do throughout that entire match was something even more special, but for my money I preferred Cactus Jack simply because it was a rarity and when he made an appearance you knew you were in for a bloodbath.

[YOUTUBE]HR0H30BK9i4&feature=related[/YOUTUBE]

 

[Dagger Dias]

The most successful was Mankind because that was the character he became world champion as, main evented, had more high profile feuds, and is easily more recognizeable. Cactus Jack had a good run but Mankind's was better. Then there's Dude Love, who I try to not remember existed.