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Mick Foley Recalls His Transition To Dude Love, Why Vince McMahon Held Out On Cactus Jack
Image Credit: WWE
Mick Foley is famous for playing the “Three Faces of Foley” in WWE, and Foley recalled his transition into Dude Love as well as why Vince McMahon held out regarding Cactus Jack on Foley Is Pod. Foley started off in WWE as Mankind before being introduced as Dude Love in July of 1997. Cactus Jack wouldn’t come until Foley’s feud with Triple H, and on the latest episode of Foley is Pod the WWE Hall of Famer talked about that point in time. You can check out some highlights below:
Mick Foley on criticism of his match as Dude Love against Steve Austin: “Man, I think — I think ‘Hacksaw’ Jim Duggan still has big lines at conventions that four-star wrestlers don’t because he was a heck of a character. It was a different era 25 years ago. Dude Love was a largely character-driven performer. And he wasn’t supposed to — [I was] still trying to feel the character out.”
On Vince McMahon pushing for the character transition: “At one point Vince wanted the transition to be complete. You know, ‘This is the evolution, you’re Dude Love from now on.’ But I think by the time SummerSlam rolls around, we realize that — we don’t know that Cactus is in the works, because I think Vince was still holding out. That was like, that was a caveat he was not willing to complete. Because Dude Love in a way was his baby. He heard about it through Bruce when I was having conversations with Bruce. Cactus Jack was a WCW deal.”
“I had a little issue when they did a special on me as Dude Love, and Vince himself said, ‘After experiencing a modicum of success as Cactus Jack.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Cactus was as successful as he was allowed to be, you know? It was a really good run, and it was a character that helped to elevate other characters. So I would say ‘a modicum of success” is a little, unfair. But I understand that Cactus is not his baby.”
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Foley Is Pod with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.
