Each year, one of the highlights of MAC Wrestling is the legend invited to share stories from a life in the ring. Decades removed from their prime, and with plenty of hard-earned war stories to tell, these wrestling icons give members a chance to revisit the larger-than-life characters they grew up watching. 

This October, that tradition continues with a guest who may require more than one introduction... Officially, there is one: WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley. 

Unofficially, members may also encounter Cactus Jack, the unpredictable outlaw; Mankind, the masked misfit who lurked in boiler rooms; Dude Love, the tie-dyed ladies’ man; and perhaps even Mr. Socko, the remarkably famous tube sock. 

Yet the most interesting personality may be Foley himself: a three-time WWE Champion whose life outside the ring has included bestselling books, comedy tours, charitable work, and an unexpected devotion to Christmas. It may take several characters to contain him. 
 

THE BOY BEHIND DUDE LOVE 

Long before arenas chanted his name, Foley was a wrestling-obsessed teenager on Long Island with a video camera and a big imagination. 

He created Dude Love, a sunglasses-wearing romantic who bore little resemblance to the shy teenager portraying him. With friends serving as opponents and his family’s yard standing in for an arena, Foley filmed homemade matches - including one in which he leaped from the roof of his house onto mattresses below. 

Then came the moment that set his career in motion. In 1983, Foley traveled more than 200 miles to Madison Square Garden to watch “Superfly” Jimmy Snuka face Don Muraco in a steel cage. When Snuka launched himself from the top, Foley was transfixed. He later described it as the moment that made him want to become a professional wrestler. 

Foley began training and made his professional debut in 1986. Dude Love, however, would have to wait. Enter Cactus Jack. 

BANG! BANG! 

Wild and unpredictable, Cactus Jack carried Foley through wrestling promotions in the United States, Japan, and beyond. Along the way, Foley became known for matches that tested what audiences - and his own body - could withstand. 

During a 1994 match with Vader in Germany, Foley became entangled in the ring ropes and lost much of his right ear. A year later, he defeated his mentor, Terry Funk, in Japan’s King of the Deathmatch tournament, surviving a brutal series of matches involving barbed wire, explosives, and fire. 

Foley did not win over audiences by appearing untouchable; he did so by managing to get back up. He was never the most polished or imposing figure in the ring, and he never pretended to be. Instead, he allowed audiences to see the effort, fear, and determination behind every fight. There was something deeply human about Foley: He took the punishment, absorbed the setbacks and kept moving forward, often with humor and heart still intact. 

HAVE A NICE DAY 

When Foley joined the WWE in 1996, he appeared as Mankind, a tortured figure wearing a leather mask and ragged brown clothing. He inhabited boiler rooms, pulled his hair and spoke in an unsettling voice. Naturally, his catchphrase was “Have a nice day.” 

Mankind could have been merely frightening. Foley made him oddly sympathetic - a lonely outsider who seemed to want human connection but had no idea how to ask for it. 

Then, in 1998, Mankind entered Hell in a Cell with The Undertaker. The match produced one of the most replayed moments in wrestling history. From the top of the approximately 20-foot steel structure, The Undertaker sent Foley crashing through an announcers’ table. Foley later climbed back onto the cage, only to fall through its roof and into the ring below. 

He continued the match. That night secured Foley’s place as wrestling’s “Hardcore Legend.” But as audiences began to see more of the man beneath Mankind’s mask, something unexpected happened: They loved him. 

Mankind traded a barbed-wire-wrapped weapon for Mr. Socko, a white sock puppet that assisted with his signature Mandible Claw. It should not have worked. But somehow it did, and the sock became a star. 

Dude Love finally made his long-awaited debut, and Cactus Jack eventually returned. Together, the “Three Faces of Foley” turned one wrestler into an entire cast. 

In 1999, Mankind defeated The Rock to capture the WWE Championship. The former rivals later formed the wonderfully mismatched Rock ’n’ Sock Connection, producing some of Monday Night Raw’s most memorable, and highly rated, television. 

THE MAN BEHIND THE MASKS 

While traveling with WWE, Foley wrote his first memoir in longhand, without a ghostwriter. Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks reached No. 1 on The New York Times nonfiction bestseller list. He went on to publish additional books and bring his storytelling and self-deprecating humor to live audiences. 

Then there is Santa Claus. A longtime Christmas enthusiast, Foley has written holiday books, volunteered as Santa, and appeared in the documentary I Am Santa Claus. His charitable work has also included hundreds of hours supporting survivors as a trained hotline volunteer for RAINN, the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network. 

It is perhaps the most telling contrast in a life full of them - the performer celebrated for how much pain he could withstand became equally committed to helping others through theirs. 

Cactus Jack supplied the danger. Mankind brought vulnerability. Dude Love delivered the swagger. Mr. Socko supplied one of wrestling’s least likely success stories. Mick Foley gave each of them a heart. 

This October, Foley joins the distinguished lineup of wrestling legends who have visited the MAC to share the stories behind their celebrated careers. For longtime fans, it is an opportunity to relive the days when Foley’s unforgettable characters were in their prime- and hear firsthand what life was really like behind the mask. 

Come for the legend. Stay for the stories. Have a nice day. 

Presented by STL Tax Lawyer 

Thursday, Oct. 1 | Downtown Clubhouse 

6 p.m. Cocktails | 7 p.m. Dinner | 8 p.m. Wrestling 

Register on the MAC app.