Mick Foley On His Volunteer Work As Santa, Recalls Appearing With Norah Jones As Santa At 2013 Event

In addition to his wrestling, Mick Foley is known for his love of making appearances as Santa Claus and he recently talked about volunteering in the role. Foley volunteers as Santa every holiday season, and he talked about his love for the work and more in a new interview with Brandi Rhodes on 2 Lies and 1 Truth. You can check out the highlights below:

On when he started volunteering as Santa: “This was 2013, and part of the reason the Santa volunteering was so valuable to me is, I was really having fallout from head injuries,” Foley said) “And it was like, in rapid fashion, a lot of things I enjoyed doing, felt like they had been taken away from me. So, there was wrestling. I retired in a neurologist’s office where he said, ‘I’m telling you, you should never wrestle.’ Roller coasters, couldn’t do those anymore. Bright lights kept me off of — not that I loved being on the computer, but at the time I was a a weekly volunteer for a group called RAINN, which is the largest anti-sexual assault organization in the United States, and I was on at least twice a week assisting people in need and all of a sudden I can’t do that because I’m getting such bad headaches anytime I’m exposed exposed to bright lights.

“So this Santa thing comes around, and it really helps me. It gives me something now — and I don’t mean to say like, doing the podcast — well, I do mean to say doing the podcast. And even sending out Cameo videos, it kind of touches on that creative aspect that a lot of us like in wrestling. And it’s one of those things, it’s hard. I tell my son Mickey, who’s a heck of a guitar player, I said, ‘You can play guitar for the rest of your life. I can’t show up at a party and start wrestling, you know? Like, those days are over.’ So you have to find something that makes you feel the way you felt in the ring. So now, doing the shows where I tell my stories on stage. The Cameo, the podcast, that all really helps. But I did not have that in 2012.”

On appearing at an event as Santa in 2013: “2013 rolls around, I’m late for the show anyway, their holiday show. Because my my wife is with the kids at their winter concert, and I’m driving my car, I know I’m late. I’m gonna get there maybe 15 minutes before the show ends, and I start getting lost because my GPS is telling me I’m on the Queens Brooklyn Expressway. And I’m yelling — I’m known in the business a guy who rarely curses right? But that’s not including inside the car while I’m by myself and I’m lost. Because I think we’re all let the bad words fly. And I’m in the Santa outfit, I’m like, ‘It’s right there!,’ and I’m sprinkling in a couple f-bombs. And I go to call my friend, text her, and I keep forgetting the numbers because of the head thing. And I’m at the point where I’m just about to drive home, and then I look in the rearview mirror. I’ve got beard all bleached, it’s my first appearance of the year. And I’ve got a beautiful Santa suit. Triple H saw it one day and correctly surmised I had more money tied up in that one outfit than every ring gear I had ever had. And I just had a little talk with myself. I said, ‘If you don’t get out of this car and do be the best Santa you could be, you don’t deserve to wear that red suit.”

“When I stepped out, I saw the smiles come up on people’s faces. One guy told me, ‘F you!’ I said, ‘Well what what seems to be wrong, my friend?’ And he goes, ‘I don’t like you, Santa!’ I said, ‘I think what you’re telling me is, you don’t like yourself.’ And three minutes later after a nice short and not in depth, but nice pleasant conversation, he said, ‘Merry Christmas Santa.’ And when I walked into the the Bell House in Brooklyn. I saw my friend Catherine smiling, and she said, ‘Come on up.’ Because there was only a few minutes left. And I came up, I said a few words, and then they break into their final song which is ‘Silent Night.’ I’m standing about 10 feet behind Norah Jones. And Norah, for those who don’t know, she sold 37 million albums in her life, right? She’s a huge star, and I just started thinking to myself, ‘If you don’t get up there and start singing ‘Silent Night’ with Norah, you will never forgive yourself.’ And when I got up there I quickly realized there are far more verses than almost anyone knows. So for like seven months, I thought I ruined the song.”

On Jones praising his appearance: “I was surprised when uh friend Catherine says, ‘Hey, you got a shout out from Norah.’ I said ‘I did?’ And she sends me a link. And I’m like, I didn’t think she had any opinion of me, or if she did it would be a negative opinion. And instead she’s doing an interview in the green room at The Tonight Show, getting ready to play on Jimmy Fallon. And she was asked if I was at the album release party, was Mick Foley there. And she said, ‘No, Mick wasn’t there but he was at a show a couple weeks ago, and there was no room for him so we sat him right on –‘ And she proceeds to talk about me for five minutes. And out of nowhere, without any prompting she goes, ‘He’s probably the best Santa I’ve ever seen.’ Now I hear the story from her point, which is, ‘We didn’t know Mick was going to be able to make it, but all of a sudden he walked in it was like the real Kris Kringle had entered the room.’ And there’s my favorite part, I even put a quote up in my old Christmas room. She said, ‘I don’t know how to describe it because it was so surreal. He looked so real, he is Santa.’ And that’s when I realized that being Santa is not about performing in front of thousands of people live or on TV. Because I was on Tribute to the Troops, so a few million people saw. It’s about making that special connection.”

On volunteering as Santa each year: “Since that year, we began a tradition … I send the video on Christmas Eve and, starting in 2017 when I really worked on my handwriting, I have about 40 to 50 people that I do handwritten Santa letters for and it is an honor to me to feel like I am part of somebody’s Christmas tradition.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit 2 Lies and 1 Truth with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.