Whether he’s taking an elbow to the face in the ring or telling stories about his professional wrestling career on stage at a local comedy club, Mick Foley always wants to give his fans what they want.
There are thousands of anecdotes Foley could share about playing pro wrestlers like Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love during his 40-year career, but he wants to make sure he mentions at least one core memory that fans are eager to hear. If he didn’t, it would be like going to a Rolling Stones concert and not hearing “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction.”
For Foley fans, that memory is his brutal 1998 World Wrestling Entertainment Hell in a Cell match against The Undertaker at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh. During the match, Foley, who was portraying the tortured antihero Mankind at the time, was tossed off and choke-slammed through a 16-foot-high steel cage.
“I’ll sometimes tell people up front that, yes, I will talk about the Hell in a Cell match,” Foley, 60, told the Orlando Weekly during a recent interview. “I don’t want to be the man who refuses to play his biggest hit. I don’t want to deprive them of that.”
On Tuesday, Jan. 6, Foley — who moved to the Orlando area about a year ago to be closer to his family (three of his four kids also live in Orlando) — will bring his 40 Years of Foley show to the Funny Bone Comedy Club. The performance is a one-man storytelling show featuring Foley sharing humorous and insightful behind-the-scenes moments from his wrestling career.
Foley has been touring across the world as a storyteller since 2009. Over time, he’s grown more comfortable on stage and refined how he connects with audiences.
“I think with anything, you get better with practice,” Foley said. “The more reps you get in, the more natural it feels. And the more natural it feels, the better the show is. The stories are always evolving and changing. I can honestly say I never get bored of doing these shows. I really enjoy them, and I enjoy seeing the smiles and hearing the laughs.”
Many of the connections Foley has made since his days in the WWE and other wrestling organizations center on nostalgia. Along with shows like 40 Years of Foley, the former world champion keeps up with supporters on social media while also making personalized videos for fans on Cameo.
“I think nostalgia is a huge factor for fans,” Foley said. “Somewhere around 2010, I went from being washed up to being part of people’s childhoods. I’m the same guy. I’ve only gotten older, but I’m no longer old and irrelevant. I’m part of people’s collective memories.”
Adults who grew up watching Foley wrestle, however, aren’t the only fans who find him online. He’s been amazed at how many youngsters enjoy his content too. Some of the recent videos Foley has posted on Instagram include footage of him playing basketball dressed as Santa Claus and riding a tricycle across the floor of a comic convention.
“One of the things that’s surprised me most is that so many of my fans are children — kids who weren’t even born until 15 years after the Hell in a Cell match,” he said. “When I [officially] retired from wrestling [in 2000], the internet was kind of in its infancy. I just assumed that my fan base was going to continue to get older.”
Besides keeping his fans entertained on social media, Foley uses his platform to share his progressive-leaning political viewpoints and to criticize the current presidential administration.
In October, Foley posted a pragmatic video message on YouTube addressed to Donald Trump urging him to “stop the madness that is going on in our country.” Foley went on to give Trump credit for helping to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and to criticize him for “inciting tension [and] terror” with his ICE raids across the U.S.
Last month on Instagram, Foley wrote a message explaining why he had chosen to part ways with the WWE because of its ongoing support of Trump through his “administration’s ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants.” He also said reading Trump’s “incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death” was the final straw.
“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy,” Foley wrote.
While Foley chose not to answer questions about the reasons behind his recent breakup with the WWE, he did acknowledge that the nation is “at a divided time” and that speaking out against Trump has lost him some fans.
“People know that I’m not on board with a lot of things the current administration is doing,” he said. “I have fans who feel different, and still like and support me. And I have [fans] who dropped out of the fandom, which is obviously their right.”
He also said that 40 Years of Foley is not a political show. His goal onstage isn’t to divide audiences, but to bring them together.
“People know I’m outspoken,” he said. “But the closest I get to making a political statement in the show is saying that kindness is cool.”
7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 6, Funny Bone Comedy Club, 9101 International Drive, orlando.funnybone.com, $50-$160.
