Countdown to Lockdown: The REAL MICK FOLEY

AN ANSWER FOR AMBROSE

 I have only spoken to FCW prospect Dean Ambrose on three different occasions. Following his match on a WWE house show on Long Island, I went out of my way to tell him I had enjoyed his match. The skills and unique qualities qualities he posseses might very well make him a force to be reckoned with somewhere down the line. He has supporters in lofty places who feel he might be a huge asset to WWE for a decade or more in the future. I'm also told that his interviews ( "promos" as we call them) are compelling, intelligent and emotional; every bit as good as the top guys in WWE.

My second conversation with Mr Ambrose got quite a bit of attention. I know there has been alot of speculation as to the nature of this conversation. To me, it was whatever anyone wanted it to be; a shoot, a work, or somewhare in the middle - as almost all compelling pieces in sports-entertainment ultimately are.

I'm far more concerned with my third conversation with the guy. Look, Ive been accused from time to time of taking some things in the business a little too seriously. Maybe I do. But like that sailor-man of old, "I am what I am, and that's all that I am." After all these years, there are some things that just bother me. Remember that "Cane Dewey" promo from 1995 that so many are still fond of? It actually came from a very heavy place in my heart, when my wife impressed on me just how sick it was for any fan to be making a sign advocating the beating (even in jest) of my 3 year-old child.

That's the immediate feeling I got when I actually read the Dean Ambrose tweet that mentioned his dream to seeing me no longer able to make a dime in the wrestling business - with a particularly nasty mention of how he wanted to see my home repossesed and my children starved. Maybe the 1995 Cactus Jack would have cut a promo on the guy. The 2102 Mick Foley just wonders what would make something say something so stupid, heartless and ignorant. I felt Dean Ambrose had crossed a line that shouldn't be crossed, so took the opportunity before the Hampton, Virginia Smackdown to ask/tell him to please stop crossing a line that I wasn't comfortable with. Ric Flair had once asked a similar consideration of me before a memorable promo we shared in New Jersey in 2006. Of course I honored his request. Ours is a business built on trust and respect. I thought Dean Ambrose understood this. But less than a day after making my request, I saw that my children were once again the subject of his tweets - a reference to how I might feel differently about something if my children were in wheel-chairs. Maybe I would have cut a heck of a promo about it in 1995. Seventeen years later, I just wanted to get the fuck away from the whole scenario. It's not fun, it's not cutting edge. It just sucks.

Sports-entertainment has to involve a certain ammount of respect and trust. It's pretty obvious Dean Ambrose doesn't have any respect for me, my requests, or what I have done in the wrestling business. Therefore I can't place the slightest ammount of trust in him. Has anyone wondered if I'm feeling better following the concussion I spoke of in that December 2010 TNA Impact promo with Flair?  I'm not feeling too much better. I tend to have two types of days when it comes to that muted, under-water feeling I spoke of in that promo - bad and worse. I'm just not the same guy who took 11 chair shots from the Rock in 1999. I haven't been that guy in a long time.  Given my history of concussions, I would have to be a fool to place my future in the hands of someone I don't trust.  Perhaps I do have another decent match left in me. If so, it will be with a guy like Dolph Ziggler, who might well be the best worker in the business, and just needs that ONE little something to allow the WWE Universe to see  how talented he really is. Or a guy like the Miz - one of the best heels of this generation. Say what you want to about Miz, but the guy is damn good at what he does.

But Dean Ambrose? No. I may not have the power I once did in the business, but I still have the power to say no to things that just flat-out seem wrong. Like trying to put Dean Ambrose on the WWE map. A few weeks ago, it seemed like an interesting challenge. Now, it seems like an insult. A few weeks ago, it seemed like cutting-edge stuff. Now it just seems like bullshit. He is a very good talent. He has those supporters in high places. Let them wrestle him. Maybe they can put him on the WWE map. Good luck.

It's tough to get over in WWE. I certainly wouldn't want to be one of the young guys facing someone like Skip Sheffield, knowing that the priority placed on getting over will be somewhat higher than looking out for the well-being of an opponent. I'm not picking on Skip, either; I like him, think he has a wold of potential, and he has personally shown me nothing but respect. But that clothesline on that kid in Hampton, Virginia? To quote one of my idols, Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka - "Not tonight, bruddah!" I went through that with The Dynamite Kid in 1986, when I was 21 years old. I willingly did it then. I did it at 25. I did it at 30. I did it at 34. I came back and did it at 38, and 40, and so on and so forth. I refuse do it at 46...almost 47. Especially not for Dean Ambrose.

FAVORITE LADIES

A week ago,I congratulated Gail Kim on winning the #TNA #Knockouts Championship, and wrote that her body of work deserves to be recongnized as being among the best of all time. I believe that she slowly, but surely - almost quietly, has earned a spot amonthe the elite of women's wrestling. I remember seeing the amazing series of matches she had with #AwesomeKong in TNA, long before I joined the company, and finding them revolutionary. The ladies just had not been given the time and attention to have the opportunity to steal the show very often - and when Gail and Kong were given the chance, they made the most of it.

I'm glad so many of you enjoyed my post "A New Dawn Fot The Divas" a few weeks back, inspired by the incredible match #Natalya and #MsCharlotte had on #NXT. Let me hear about your all-time favorite women's matches, and who your favorite ladies wrestler of the modern era (post Wendy Richter, GLOW, POW, etc) is. I'm not sure Manami Toyota or Chigusa Nagoya are going to get many mentions, but feel free to dig down deep when naming your favorites. Let's hear it from you Trish Stratus fans, you Lita fans, you fans of Luna, Sable, Melina, Victoria, Ivory, Mickie james, Candice Michelle, Beth Phoenix, Santina and Chyna and any of the other lovely ladies who have impressed you inside the squared circle.

CENA!

CENA!

About two years ago, before my return to WWE, I saw John Cena deliver a very good, emotional promo, and thought I'd mention that fact on my fledgeling Twitter account - I think I was closing in on 70K followers at the time. So I tweeted something along the lines of, "Great promo by @John Cena - I think it's about time more people recognized his legacy of great matches in @WWE" Two minutes later, i turned to my daughter and said, "I just got over a thousand messages."

"But Dad", she said. "You only sent that out two minutes ago."

"I know", I said. "Let me try it again." So I sent another tweet, aimed at the 50% or so who thought a Cena compliment of any kind was nothing short of sacrilege. The other 50% - members of the Cenation - absolutely loved my comment, and now felt like they had a newest and bestest buddy in The Hardcore Legend.

So, realizing that I had touched on some hot-button issue, I sent out a follow-up tweet, "oh yeah, then try to find a bad John Cena match on PPV", then sat back with my daughter and watched the interactions come flooding in - like i was racking up some kind of huge score on an old fashioned pinball game. Ding, ding, ding, ding! Over 800 more messages - split almost down the middle, with 99% of the negative ones pointing to the match with R-Truth as the proof that Cena had bad matches on PPV.

"But that's the exception that proves the rule", I wrote back, and so on and so forth, until, by thew end of the night, for better or worse, I had become a high-profile John Cena fan - making me a hero to many, a heretic to others.

I know that many of you are probably thinking, "that's all fine..but where's the bad stuff about Cena?" Don't worry; I'm getting to that. I first had to establish a historical bond between me as a Cena supporter, and his avid fan-base - The Cenation.

Ready for that old-fashioned Foley anger? Think of this in ECW "Cane Dewey" mode now, because I am really fed-up, and having listened to "Stay Hungry" by Twisted Sister in the past few days, I have a little of that "We're not gonna take it" vibe going on. Look, I had a nice exchange with a twitter follower this morning, where I explained to him that the best way to ensure you don't get a follow from someone is to send out constant requests for a follow. Because, once you do follow that person, you find that his twitter feed consists largely of constantly asking other people for follows. I guess it's the same way that people feel when they follow me and find out all I do is put out plugs for shows that are not in their part of the country or world. Plus, I get the thrill of the whole "follow" thing. I put a nice tweet out about actress Jennifer Blanc-Biehn ( @JenniferBlancB ) helping me out when I was lost and confused (actually physically lost - I couln't find my way to The Artie Lange Show) and was THRILLED to see that she'd just followed me. Every few months, I click on @ZooeyDeschanel's profile, just to see if she MIGHT be following me. So, I get that. But if I want to get a follow from Zoeey, I have to believe that constantly asking her for a follow would be the WORST way to accomplish that goal. Because as much as not being followed by Zooey might not feel as good as being follwed by her, it's a heck of a lot better than finding out I've been blocked by Zooey Deschanel for constant follow requests.

I'm getting off track. You want some Cena dirt, right? Well here it is - even if it has very little to actually do with Cena, and everything to do with The Cenation. It's just become increasingly hard for me to believe that many of these follow requests, coming from people claiming to be my "biggest fan" can actually be coming from my biggest fan, when their Twitter handle has the words "CENA" or "CENATION" in it! Come on guys, a simple click of a button showing me a caption that reads, "John Cena is my hero, my idol and my God. I live and breath for him" is a likely indicator that the person repeatedly asking for a request is, in fact, not likely to be my biggest fan. In fact, I often get repetitive requests for follows from people claiming to be my biggest fan, check out their profile, and find  that I'm NOT EVEN ON THEIR list of favorite wrestlers.

You know what would make me feel better? Hearing from John Cena himself that he is being inundated by requests for follows from his "biggest fans" - coming from members of The Folenation, or The Association of Little Micksters.

There it is: my Cena rant. I still like the guy, respect him, think he's a great representative of WWE, and think more people should take note of his legacy of great matches in WWE. But his fans are driving me crazy.

In conclusion: follow me Zooey! Follow me, follow me, follow me!

THREE WEEKS OF FOLEY IN UK

It's after 4am here in New York, and I should probably be getting some sleep. I'm a notoriously bad plane-sleeper; it's not unusual for me to take a walk through the aisle a few hours into a trans-Atlantic flight, and find I'm the ONLY person not fast aleeep. But, before I go, I wanted to give you the latest update on my UK "Tales From Wrestling Past" tour. As the name might imply, it IS a wrestler, telling wrestling stories for wrestling fans, but I do my very best to create a welcoming atmosphere for everyone - from the die-hardest of wrestling fans to the loyal wife or girlfriend, tagging along in an amazing show of love and devotion. Believe it or not, the non-fans almost always enjoy themselves, and seek me out to let me know how surprised they were.

With my further involvement in WWE, it's just not going to be possible for me to do a tour of this length again. In the future. I'll probably do 4 days in Ireland in November, but when I hit the UK again in a couple years, it will most likely be for a week or so - in the larger cities. SO, not that I'm threatening anyone in Middlesbrough, Derby and Telford, but...I'm not likely to pass through your towns again.

Here's how sales are shaping up. Belfast, Manchester and 2 of 3 London shows are SOLD-OUT. Leeds and Bath have less than 50 tickets remaining, and Edinburgh, Glasgow, Sheffield, Southend and Cardiff all have about 100 tickets left. Tickets are plentiful in some of the larger venues, like Middlesbrough, Newcastle, York, Birmingham, Telford, Derby and Reading. Warwick is not a very large venue, but, nonetheless, there are a few hundred tickets left.

I've got some great support along the way. Billy Kirkwood will be joining me in Edinburgh and Glasgow. Jim Smallman will be helping me out in Middlesbrough and Newcastle. Carl Hutchinson will offer support in Sheffield and York, and Chris Brooker will be lending a hand in Manchester, Sheffield, York, Leeds, Reading, London and Southend. Eddy award winning comic Brendon Burns will be offering up his G-rated observations (ok, he's about the furthest thing from G as you can get) on 10 shows: Leeds, Birmingham, Telford, Derby, Warwick, Cardiff, Bath, Reading, and at least two of the London shows. Magician extraordinaire Mat Ricardo will make a surprise appearance on at least one show, and in a great new aquisition, Craig Campbell of "Canadian Lumberjacks" fame will be hosting the sows in Telford and Derby.

If you're in the area, and it's in your budget, I hope you will consider coming out to a show.

http://uk.realmickfoley.com

 

THIS IS WHAT I DO!

THIS IS WHAT I DO!

Can I be honest with you? My spoken word shows are good. Call them stand-up, call them one-man shows; I wish I knew what the heck to call them. But I do know they're good. Usually, they're really good. Almost always, people show up having no idea what to expect, and walk away feeling like they've been part of something much better than they were expecting.

But to be equally honest, I have done a very poor job promoting what I do. Yes, I do get my plugs in - probably way too many of them. But very few people even know what the heck it is that I'm plugging. Over the past year, I kept waiting for WWE to embrace what I did, and take me under their wing. The way I saw it, World Wrestling Entertainment could almost instantly dip a giant foot into the waters of a whole new brand of entertainment with a single USA special, DVD release or promotion of a multi-media one-man-show. In retrospect, I wish I'd just showed up in Stamford, CT, thrown a copy of the "Life" section of USA today with Mike Tyson's story on the cover and said "if we can't do a better one-man show than Mike Tyson, we're all in trouble."

I still think WWE is eventually going to get it. Maybe my Hall of Fame speech will help. Sure, it was a little long, with no real emotionally stirring closing statement. And I've kicked myself in the butt (figuratively) many times for not bringing the speech home after that ad-lib elbow gift from the wrestling Gods - and/or Chris Jericho, and CM Punk - knowing instinctively that the moment couldn't possibly get any more perfect. But, at the very least, I showed I could entertain a large crowd with some tales of wrestling past.

But that speech - as special as it was - is not indicative of what I do. But THIS footage is. Filmed at last summer's Edinburgh Fringe Festival with just a single camera at the side of the stage, I think it captures the real FEEL of what one of my shows is like. Unlike my naive decision to open the Montreal festival with a story I'd neither written out or told in public, this footage from The Fringe contains material I'd worked on for quite a while. I could have edited out my dealings with a heckler, or the helpful sexual suggestion from a spirited female fan, but opted not to. I think they provide a further sense of what my show is about.

I long ago accepted that I won't ever compete on a laugh-for-laugh basis with a guy like Louie CK, or a woman like Amy Schumer, or any one of a hundred (probably way more) talented performers who are more polished, more professional, and flat-out funnier than I'll ever be. But I wouldn't trade places with them, even if I could. I like telling my stories, my way, to my fans. I'm happy when I'm up there, on stage, connecting with an audience. There are still some nights when I take my emotional lumps out there and wonder what I'm doing, and why I'm doing it. Trust me, doing autograph signings is far easier, far safer, and up until recently, far more financially rewarding. But when I watch this footage (which I hope you will too) it all seems crystal clear. It's the closes thing I've ever felt to being in the ring..without a tooth stuck in my nose.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4728VA87qA&feature=youtu.be

THINKING OF REID FLAIR

Several years ago, I received a phone call from a distraught mother, whose daughter had just passed away after a long illness. I had met the young lady only once, and was at a loss for words - struggling to find any words of wisdom or guidance that might help at such an awful time. I told the grieving woman that I would talk to a friend of mine, who might be able to offer some guidance - a woman I had gotten to know well during the course of her own child's extended battle with, and eventual death from cancer.

 The young man's life and death had touched me to the point where I had written a small chapter, "Marcos", dedicated to his memory in my 2007 book, "The Hardcore Diaries." I hoped that his mother, Rachel, might be able to tell me something - anything, that might allow me to ease the suffering of this other woman.

  "Does it ever get better?", I asked.

"No", Marcos's mother told me. "It never gets better. Not a day goes by when I don't feel the pain of losing my boy. You just learn to live with the pain."

Like so many in the wrestling world, my heart goes out to the family and friends of Reid Fliehr, who left this world way too young - at the age of 25. AS a father of four children of my own, I can only imagine the grief that his family must be feeling. I didn't know Reid all that well.  But I remember watching him play while I was at his father's house in 1991 - all of 3 years old, taking on all the challenges that a swing-set  had to offer. I remember seeing him every couple of years after that, watching him grow from a toddler into a boy, and then into a handsome young man with a world of potential.

What I remember mostly, though, was sitting next to his father, Ric Flair, on an airplane, getting ready to take off from the Philippines to Los Angelas - a flight in the neighborhood of 16 hours. I was a little nervous about sitting next to the legendary Nature Boy for such an extended duration; after all, it was widely known that we didn't see eye to eye on too many things. But I listened to Ric, as one by one, child by child, he placed telephone calls to each of his children - just to tell them he loved them. I asked Ric about the calls during the course of the flight, mentioning how touching I found them to be.

"I do that every day", Ric said. "Just because you never know." Now Reid is gone, leaving behind a world of "whys" and "what ifs". But unlike so many who leave this world far too soon, he left knowing that he was loved. For Reid's family, the pain may never get better. Over time, I hope, and pray, they learn to live with that pain. But I hope that knowing they loved their son - and that Reid kew he was loved, will be a source of small comfort in the trying times ahead. God bless you, Reid Fliehr. May you rest in peace