Kemo
10-20-2023, 08:30 PM
Mick Foley is a true legend of wrestling, and his Mankind character in WWE bore similarities to the tragic creature of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
After years of establishing himself as a hardcore combatant, Foley joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1996 as Mankind. The character was a tortured soul that was reflective of the 'inner torment' of all mankind. Foley would later portray Cactus Jack, a character from his pre-WWF days as well as Dude Love, the ladies-man persona Foley portrayed during his youth.
Mankind made an impactful debut on the post-WrestleMania 12 Raw by defeating Bob "Spark Plug" Holly and would later move into a feud with The Undertaker. Speaking on Hot Ones, Foley recalled the original idea Creative had which he was sure would doom his character.
"Mr. McMahon [went], 'Have you heard your name yet?' This is only like the third time I met him and I actually had heard the name. It was supposed to be Mason The Mutilator, which I thought 'That's the death knell of a career right there.' So I had a chance. He goes 'In this business, we've had crushers, we've had destroyers. We've had executioners, but we've never had...a mutilator' and I looked at him and I said, 'I like it. I like it a lot. But what if...' and what if were the two best words, 'What if instead of Mason, I was Mankind The Mutilator.'"
Foley added that the Mankind character could play on themes of Mary Shelley's literary classic 'Frankenstein' in which the monster is hated to the point of madness in a tragic take on the horror genre.
"I started telling him it [the name] can be a double meaning, the destruction of mankind, the future of mankind. That's again going back to Mary Shelley, is the creature who is made evil by society, not necessarily created to be that way. He took it all down, and sure enough when I debuted, there was no mutilator. It was just Mankind. and I'll go on the record as good as...I'll go so far as to say it turned out to be pretty iconic. I don't think I'm here with Mason The Mutilator."
Foley's Mankind character would eventually become beloved by fans, ultimately turning the tragic character into a babyface. It'd be as Mankind that Foley would sail off the Hell in a Cell structure in 1998, and it'd be as Mankind that Foley would win his first of three WWF Championships in January 1999.
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After years of establishing himself as a hardcore combatant, Foley joined the World Wrestling Federation in 1996 as Mankind. The character was a tortured soul that was reflective of the 'inner torment' of all mankind. Foley would later portray Cactus Jack, a character from his pre-WWF days as well as Dude Love, the ladies-man persona Foley portrayed during his youth.
Mankind made an impactful debut on the post-WrestleMania 12 Raw by defeating Bob "Spark Plug" Holly and would later move into a feud with The Undertaker. Speaking on Hot Ones, Foley recalled the original idea Creative had which he was sure would doom his character.
"Mr. McMahon [went], 'Have you heard your name yet?' This is only like the third time I met him and I actually had heard the name. It was supposed to be Mason The Mutilator, which I thought 'That's the death knell of a career right there.' So I had a chance. He goes 'In this business, we've had crushers, we've had destroyers. We've had executioners, but we've never had...a mutilator' and I looked at him and I said, 'I like it. I like it a lot. But what if...' and what if were the two best words, 'What if instead of Mason, I was Mankind The Mutilator.'"
Foley added that the Mankind character could play on themes of Mary Shelley's literary classic 'Frankenstein' in which the monster is hated to the point of madness in a tragic take on the horror genre.
"I started telling him it [the name] can be a double meaning, the destruction of mankind, the future of mankind. That's again going back to Mary Shelley, is the creature who is made evil by society, not necessarily created to be that way. He took it all down, and sure enough when I debuted, there was no mutilator. It was just Mankind. and I'll go on the record as good as...I'll go so far as to say it turned out to be pretty iconic. I don't think I'm here with Mason The Mutilator."
Foley's Mankind character would eventually become beloved by fans, ultimately turning the tragic character into a babyface. It'd be as Mankind that Foley would sail off the Hell in a Cell structure in 1998, and it'd be as Mankind that Foley would win his first of three WWF Championships in January 1999.
T-cqxO3mZQ0