Details You Never Knew About Mick Foley

April 2024 · 2 minute read

For every up-and-coming wrestler, getting exposure in a major promotion like WWE is an achievement in and of itself. However, there's a difference between being a contracted WWE Superstar and being one of those "local talents" who lose to the big names in mere minutes. Like many others who came before and after him, Mick Foley was part of that latter category as a relative newcomer to the wrestling business.

On the September 13, 1986, episode of "Superstars," Foley, then only 21, made his first appearance on WWE television, but he wasn't booked as Mankind, Cactus Jack, Dude Love, or even his real name — instead, he went by his father's name, Jack Foley. As recalled by WrestleTalk, Foley and fellow jobber Les Thornton were dominated by the British Bulldogs, with the future WWE Champion suffering a dislocated jaw after getting hit with a stiff clothesline. 

That wasn't the only time the young Mick Foley showed up on WWE television as a nondescript jobber. He lost to the kayfabe Ugandan giant Kamala on the January 26, 1987, episode of "Wrestling Challenge" (via YouTube), but that time, he was identified on-screen as "Nick" Foley. Stranger yet was how the ring announcer referred to him as "Nick Faley," though if you come to think of it, no one's expected to remember your name when your job description involves lying flat on your back and counting the arena lights.

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