Michael Francis Foley, also known as Mick, was born on June 7th, 1965, in Long Island, New York. His father, a lifelong fan of the Yankees and Mickey Mantle, nicknamed him Mick. Foley attended college in upstate New York before hitchhiking to New York City to watch a wrestling match between Jimmy Snuka and Don Muraco, which inspired him to pursue a career in professional wrestling.
He trained under the guidance of Dominic DeNucci, alongside wrestlers such as Shane Douglas, and made his debut in the late 1980s. Foley wrestled extensively throughout the United States, Europe, Japan, and Africa before joining World Championship Wrestling (WCW) as Cactus Jack.
During his time in WCW, Foley engaged in notable feuds with wrestlers like Sting, Rick Steiner, Scott Steiner, and Vader, against whom he lost an ear in a match in Germany in 1992. It was around this time that he met his future wife, Collette Foley.
Foley's tenure with WCW came to an end, and he joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) under the guidance of Paul Heyman. He also wrestled in Japan, where he participated in and won the legendary IWA King of the Death Match in 1995.
The attention he received from this match caught the eye of Vince McMahon, who brought Foley to the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the name Mankind. Foley's first feud was with The Undertaker, against whom he engaged in several classic matches, including the infamous King of the Ring match in 1998, where The Undertaker threw Foley off the top of a 20-foot cage and through a table.
Foley's lifelong dream came true on December 28th, 1998, when he defeated The Rock to win the WWF World Title. He would go on to hold the belt three times before retiring at WrestleMania 2000 in 2000.
Now retired, Foley has transitioned to a successful writing career, publishing two autobiographies, both of which topped the New York Times bestseller charts, a series of children's books, and a novel.
