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Fightin' Talk: Mick Foley Goes Clubbing

Posted: Nov 26th 2010 By: CMBurnham

Whichever of Mick Foley's triumphant incarnations you love best, there's no denying he's a legend.

The veteran New Yorker may be wrestling's true voice of reason, but his rapier wit and intelligence are at odds with his brutal in-ring back catalogue.

His latest book, Countdown To Lockdown, has hit British shelves and Foley dropped in to the FT office to speak to our loyal readers.

So is writing easier than wrestling for Foley these days? Laughing, he admits physically things are a little tougher.

He says "Anything's easier for me than wrestling these days! This is probably the hardest I've worked on any book, but I'm very happy with it.

"It will make people think and reflect on a deeper level than they would after a show. If wrestling is escapism, this book is realism."

FT had to know why on earth Randy Orton was on the cover.

"I am slamming him! I did not pick out the cover photo! I thought it was Wrestlemania 2004 but it's not. This is actually a week before where I had gotten out of bed from being very sick, which explains the haggard expression on my face."

Funnily, when FT asked for a picture of Foley on his WWE departure, we were childishly sent a frame of his ass underneath Orton from Backlash, so he's evened the score without any effort!

With MMA wrapping the global market in a snug triangle choke, wrestling faces a new challenge. Striking the balance between realism and entertainment is the key, says Mr Foley.

"The most important thing is for characters to connect with the audience. If that works then we don't have to shock people because the emotional investment is there.

"It's difficult to do it week in week out, especially with a show like pro-wrestling that is larger than life and is slightly shocking by nature, so it's a balancing act.

"Sometimes we fall, and sometimes we don't.

"I think we do acknowledge the dangers. I recall specific instances where guys have gone in for operations and it's been filmed and become part of a storyline so it's easy to connect.

"I don't think it needs to be like a documentary.

There should still be an escapist quality to professional wrestling.

"We don't want to depress people. We want to put out characters in some kind of peril and work their way out of it.
"By and large wrestling does a pretty good job."

Mick is unsure whether he's coming on tour with TNA in January, but says he would like to work with pin-up boy Flair if he does.

Mick Foley's Countdown to Lockdown is out now.