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Hey JR we’re back with “Part 2” of Mankind this time covering 1997. Mick is about to celebrate his 56th birthday in the next couple of days and let’s pick right up where we left off!

Mini Mankind shows up with other minis like Vader, Histeria & Masacrita Sagrada. Foley have an issue with Mini Mankind?

Mankind is in his first Royal Rumble in 1997 in San Antonio, TX. He eliminates Rocky Maivia & Terry Funk before Undertaker eliminates him. It was a thrill for Mick to work Terry Funk in Texas on a WWF Pay-Per-View is it not?

Is this around the time the crowd started cheering for Mankind and it was time to turn him babyface? Was there any resistance from Vince or Mick for a turn?

Mankind is phased down and transitioned to a tag team with Vader to face Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith for the Tag Team Titles at his first WrestleMania, WrestleMania 13. After being on top for most of last year...do you think it was a disappointment for Mick to be in that match on that stage...especially for the first time?

From the Observer…

“4. Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith retained the WWF tag titles going to a double count out with Vader & Mankind in 16:08. Hart & Smith got a face pop and worked the matches as the faces. This was a good match with a lame non-finish which served to ask the question what the purpose of the match was, since neither team even teased a turn. Mankind got the mandible claw on Smith. As Vader kept Hart from making the save, he knocked Hart into Mankind and both Mankind and Smith tumbled to the floor for the double count out. **½”

Dave is right here as it’s not really clear what the purpose of the match was since right after this match it’s announced that Mankind is the new #1 Contender for the WWF Title that the Undertaker won later that night. What did you think?

In Your House: Revenge of the Taker isn’t main evented by Taker vs. Mankind but by Steve Austin & Bret Hart. Any particular reason why?

From the Observer…

“4. Undertaker pinned Mankind in 17:26 to retain the WWF title. Really good, largely due to the performance of Mankind, who took some hard bumps and took his key bump at the perfect time. Mankind got the water pitcher from Vince McMahon's desk and broke it over Undertaker's head and followed with a hard chair shot. It was pretty clear they were going for hardway juice but either Undertaker didn't end up being cut or if he did, it wasn't noticeable on television although the announcers did say there was a cut. Mankind dropped the elbow off the middle rope to the floor and Undertaker's bandage can off his face revealing an ugly scab from the fire angle. Mankind took the bump where he wound up hung in the ropes, which is the spot where he lost his ear in the first place. Undertaker pulled off his mask, revealing, well, we all know who he is. Undertaker then hit Mankind with the ring steps and he took this incredible header bump through the spanish announcers table. As he got back in the ring, Undertaker got a near fall with a choke slam before putting him away with the tombstone. After the match, Undertaker chased Bearer into the ring. I think Undertaker actually had to run backwards to avoid catching the speedster Bearer in an attempted full sprint. It appeared the idea was for Mankind to throw fire at Undertaker, who would pull Bearer in the way and he'd get burned. They set the spot up twice, but both times Mankind's lighter didn't work and they blew the spot. At this point it was all impromptu time as Undertaker made a comeback and got the lighter and the flash paper and wound up throwing the fire at Bearer's face. ***¾”

Lot to unpack here. Do you think they were going for blood in the hard way? Mick doing the Hangman gimmick in the ropes...did it ever worry you about what happened with his ear? The Nestea Plunge through the table just showed how crazy Mick was. Did you ever trust Mankind to use a lighter in the ring again?

Afterwards Mankind is scheduled to be programmed against Sid but Sid is dealing with an injury and leaves the WWF. We can do a whole episode on Sid but around this time what do you remember being his issue at this point?

It’s written in the Observer on May 5, 1997 that Mick’s contract was due to expire and he hasn’t signed a renewal. His deal isn’t due until the fall Meltzer would report. Was Mick’s first deal with the WWF a “short-term” 18 month deal to see how he would get over and what was the next contract negotiation like?

At Cold Day in Hell Mankind takes on the Rock. From the Observer…

“2. Mankind beat Rocky Maivia in 8:46. Match with no heat. After a shoulderbreaker, Maivia signalled to the crowd for his finisher and there was little reaction and some booing. He went up for the flying body press, but Mankind reversed the move, rolling with it, and winding up with the mandible claw for the submission. Good finish. During the match they almost played down Maivia's unsuccessful reign as IC champion with Jim Ross saying that the night Maivia beat Helmsley that the better man didn't want on that night. *¼”

Was the directive from the company at this point to de-push Rocky hence the line in the commentary or was it to set up the eventual heel run of “The Rock” we’d come to know later on that year?

Foley wrote in his book at the time of the match he commented to someone that maybe the company should cut their losses and move on from Maivia. Was that sentiment similar or shared throughout the office or locker room?

Goldust has these vignettes at this time with “out of character” interviews talking about Dusty Rhodes and his actual daughter and him and Marlena (Terri’s) real life relationship. Did Foley bring them up as an avenue for himself or was it something someone else recommended for his story?

You wrote in your book, My Life in Wrestling, regarding the vignettes: “Going in, all we knew was two things. The first was the overarching question we wanted to cover: How do you go from being a Long Island educator's son to a scarred, sadistic lunatic who rips out his own hair before mauling people? The second was the ending. Everything else was on the fly.”

How important was this to prove to Vince that this was a guy you could build around?

From the Observer about the 5/19 Raw:

“They did an absolutely fantastic interview segment with Mankind, revealing him as Mick Foley, showing high school pictures of him, saying he used to be Cactus Jack and totally turning him babyface. They are going to show clips of his winning the King of the death matches tournament in Japan next week.”

Was the plan to turn him babyface and this be the vehicle for it or was it a by product of it? Did you know you had something special when you filmed it?

On the second part “Dude Love” is introduced...did you ever dream in your wildest of dreams that he would become that character?

The crowd is starting to react to Mankind as a babyface and he gets pushed away from Paul Bearer and we get to King of the Ring 97 and the second biggest feud for Mankind begins...against Hunter Hearst Helmsley. He defeats Jerry Lawler earlier in the night to get to the final against Triple H. Triple H defeats Mankind to win the King of the Ring...a year later than he was supposed to because of the Curtain Call...when Chyna hits Mankind in the head with the scepter and Triple H plants him with a pedigree through a table for the crowning of Triple H after the curtain call. Is Foley put with Hunter here to get him going again and restart the push of Hunter?

The end of the interview is aired where Foley flips off your hat and gives you the Mandible Claw. Did you like the finish of this or do you think it was ruined by the ending?

Coming off this interview Meltzer reports that Mankind verbally agrees to a 5-year extension that’s going to keep him until November 2002. Did you he tell you at the time he expected that this would be his last contract for being an in-ring competitor?

In wrestling it’s always amazing how one thing can happen and it effects so many other people. Point example for Mick Foley here when Shawn Michaels & Bret Hart get into a fight in the back and Michaels walks out. Michaels is a WWF Tag Team Champion with Steve Austin and now Austin is left without a partner. When is the pivot to Mankind decided upon to put him with Austin and is Dude Love coming in to replace HBK a kind of a shot at Michaels?

Canadian Stampede is the next big show and it’s the return from King of the Ring. From the Observer…

“1. Mankind went to a double count out with Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 13:14. A very good match marred only by so much outside interference by Chyna that it become overdone and a lame finish. Jim Ross had an unintentionally funny line when he said that Mankind weighed "287 pounds to be exact, and that's an estimate." They wound up outside the ring with the bell ringing for one of those lame WWF style double count out finishes. The two brawled after the match including Helmsley being thrown into the hockey penalty box and brawled into the crowd. ***”

Great opener with an eh finish as Meltzer says but it really sets the tone for one of the WWF’s all time best PPVs don’t you think?

Out of this pay-per-view the storyline is that Austin does not want a partner and keeps stunning people (mainly Mankind) who are trying to vie for this spot. The ground swell for Mankind at this point as a babyface is building. Is this just right time and right place for Mick?

Dude Love debuts on July 14th Raw from San Antonio, Texas to be Steve Austin’s partner in his WWF World Tag Team Title match against Owen Hart & Davey Boy Smith and they get the victory for Mick Foley’s first taste of gold in the WWF. How much prep went into Dude Love? Was it looked at as a long term character and did you know right off you’d have the ability to work with two characters instead of just one?

How into the gimmick was Vince? We’ve all seen the backstage footage of Vince attempting to teach Mick how to strut so it seems like he was more into Dude than Mankind at the beginning of the gimmick’s runs?

Was Mick excited to bring Dude Love to life?

Was the plan to keep Mick as Dude Love when it fit the Austin storyline and Mankind in all other aspects?

We get to SummerSlam 1997 where Mick’s trajectory changes in many different ways. First we start with Mankind and Triple H’s Cage match to open the show. Meltzer would write…

“1. Mankind beat Hunter Hearst Helmsley in 16:25 of a cage match. Helmsley tried to run away and escape immediately, thus pointing out the flaws of the WWF cage match rules. Then, in the first spectacular spot of the match, Helmsley gave Mankind a superplex off the very top of the eight foot cage. Helmsley then had the opportunity to win, but "changed his mind" and stayed in the cage to constantly slam Mankind's head into the cage. Mankind tried to leave but Chyna slammed the door on his head (Terry Gordy built an entire lucrative territory around this spot in 1982, now it's a traditional false finish of every cage match). Chyna then attacked the ref and smashed his head into the steps and threw a chair over the cage. Helmsley went for the Pedigree on the chair, but Mankind reversed it and turned it into a slingshot sending Helmsley into Chyna who was on the other side of the cage and got nailed and took a bump to the floor. Mankind used the double arm DDT on the chair and the place began chanting "Superfly." The rumor had gotten out that Mankind was going to do the Jimmy Snuka splash off the top of the cage from the famous Don Muraco match circa 1983. Mankind climbed over the cage to a slight groan to those who expected that finish, then paused before hitting the bottom and climbed back up and threw his mask off. Chyna at this point ran in the ring to attempt to pull Helmsley out but Helmsley had to tell her she was early and she left. Mankind opened his shirt, climbed to the next to the highest rung of the cage so he didn't technically come off the top, and dropped an elbow. He then climbed out, Chyna ran back in, and as Chyna frantically tried to drag Helmsley out, Mankind climbed over winning the photo finish and collapsed on the floor. Mankind laid on the floor until they played the Dude Love music, which revived him and he got up and started doing the strut to the back. The match had its high spots and memorable spots and in hindsight was very well laid out, but something was missing from the body of the match, and it wasn't just the crowd heat. **½”

I personally think it was a great match and not sure where the hate from Meltzer comes from. Chyna being super early was just a sign of her being green. How important was it for Mick to get the win here as he continues his babyface ascent?

Later on that night Steve Austin gets dropped on his head by Owen Hart and the tag team of Austin & Dude Love really comes to an end. What were the plans for Dude Love if the Austin injury doesn’t occur?

Dude main events the Raw after SummerSlam against Owen Hart coming off the botched piledriver. Meltzer was critical regarding the work: “Since Dude does none of the Cactus mannerisms and crazy bumps, he wrestles like a second match guy. It was bad.” Do you think Mick was trying to figure out how to wrestle like Dude and it was a tough adjustment?

Raw on August 11th is one of the all-time major main events in the history of Raw. Rick Rude debuts as the “insurance policy” and hits Mankind with a chair to help Shawn Michaels defeat him and what would be known later on as D-Generation X is born. Mick seems to be at a lot of these major moments in Raw history does he not JR?

The next week is once again a milestone main event where long time enemies Undertaker & Mankind team up against HBK & HHH that leads to Michaels killing Taker with a chair and Taker bleeds big time. Did you think at this time you really had something building creatively?

Dude Love & Steve Austin vacate the WWF Tag Team Titles at Ground Zero and Austin cuts one of his best promos ever on you and then stuns you. Supposedly you were supposed to be stretchered out but because Scott Putski had gotten legitimately hurt earlier the stretcher wasn’t ready. Do you remember that being the case?

Austin’s pop is huge at this show. What’s it like to be in the ring or ringside when a pop of that magnitude happens?

Mankind goes down to Amarillo, Texas to work Terry Funk’s Wrestlefest against Sabu. How important was it for Mick to work this show for Terry, his mentor? He wins by DQ over Sabu...was that an office directive that he couldn’t lose?

Monday Night Raw from Madison Square Garden on September 22, 1997 is one of the biggest in WWF lore. It’s the first time the WWF has run MSG for a Monday Night Raw. It’s the show where Vince tells Bret before hand that he’s going to break his contract. It’s the show where Austin stuns Vince for the first time. It’s also the show where Cactus Jack debuts! From the Observer…

“They did a video where Dude Love said it wasn't his kind of match, but it was Mankind's style. Mankind then came out doing that gimmick and said there was someone who was an expert in this match and even better than him, and they both introduced Cactus Jack. The two had an excellent brawl. There were very loud ECW chants when Cactus first came out. Jack took all the hellacious bumps, and Helmsley took great bumps himself. They brought out a gimmicked table and Helmsley went for the pedigree, but Jack gave him a low blow and a piledriver through the table for the pin in 12:29.”

We’ve all known that Vince never had an interest in Cactus Jack. Why here? Who pitched it? Were you as surprised as everyone else was with the size of the pop Cactus got?

Was it hard for Mick to switch between the Three Faces of Foley?

Bad Blood 97 is scheduled to have Dude Love face off with Brian Pillman and as we all know Brian passed away before the match could take place. Did Mick take Pillman’s death hard as he knew him from his stint in WCW?

Bad Blood also has the debut of the Hell in a Cell. Do you think Mick got ideas from watching Shawn Michaels & the Undertaker and that he knew one day he would be in that match?

Kane attacks Dude Love on a Monday Night Raw when he was going through his beat up everybody phase as the Undertaker disappeared and choke slams him twice on the ramp. Was this a way to make Dude disappear and bring back Mankind to feed him to Kane? Were there any plans to make one of the characters the main focus?

At Survivor Series 1997 Mankind’s job is to get Kane over as a legit monster in Kane’s first pay-per-view match. From the Observer…

“4. Kane pinned Mankind in 9:29. They turned the house lights off for this match so Kane's gimmick is that he's wrestling in the dark, trying to get across the idea it is in the bowels of hell. Mankind did an excellent job of carrying him by taking big bumps on the steps. Kane worked as a monster most of the way until the finish when he took one big bump. Mankind then piledrove him, and put the claw on Paul Bearer. Kane got up and threw Mankind off the apron taking the Nestea plunge through a table. This table breaking was great the first time they did it on PPV, but it's becoming a monthly thing now. Mankind came back using a double arm DDT on the floor and did the hip shattering elbow drop off the apron. He went to the top rope, but Kane got up and slammed him off the top rope onto the floor. Mankind "got up" and crawled into the ring, and was given the tombstone piledriver for the pin. ***”

There’s no one that can make a monster like Mankind don’t you agree? What did you think of keeping the lights red during his matches and did it affect you as an announcer?

Of course what everyone remembers Survivor Series 1997 for was the “Montreal Screwjob” and famously Mick decides not to come to work for the next two nights in protest over it. You talked to Mick regarding his decision to walk out of the company over what Vince did to Bret. What did you talk about and how did you convince him to come back?

Did Mick fear he would have heat when he returned and be buried and did you talk to Vince about that?

Mick does return to the house shows as Dude Love and on TV the New Age Outlaws destroy him after he pins Billy Gunn in a one-on-one match. Was this a punishment of sorts or just the beginning of the angle with the New Age Outlaws?

Mick gets hurt fracturing a rib at a TV taping and isn’t seen again for a few weeks and he returns on December 29th where he did the transform interview again where Dude Love goes to Mankind and then back to Cactus Jack to a huge pop at the Nassau Coliseum and beats the hell out of the New Age Outlaws which leads to Chainsaw Charlie debuting by cutting his way out of a wooden box. Why is it that Terry Funk is decided upon to be Chainsaw Charlie and was he more over cutting his way out of the box? What did Mick think of teaming up with his mentor & idol?

What a couple years for a guy who never expected to end up in the WWF let alone be working 3 different gimmicks mainly at the top of the card...is signing Mick one of your most satisfying parts of being in this business and seeing the success he gained during his career?

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