LI pro wrestler Mick Foley joins WWE Hall of Fame
Long Island native Mick Foley's interviews while working as Cactus Jack for ECW in the mid-'90s are still considered some of the best in wrestling history. Foley and other ECW stars are largely credited for providing the creative influence of the "Attitude Era" that allowed WWE to overtake WCW in the "Monday Night War." Foley became Mankind in WWE, but Cactus Jack returned, along with Foley's persona from his youth, Dude Love. Credit: UPN/WWE
Long Island's most famous professional wrestler, Mick Foley, whose 25-year career was marked by blood, broken bones and a severed ear, was among the inductees at Friday's WWE Hall of Fame ceremony.
"Of all the moments I have enjoyed in this special building, this one stands out as the greatest of all," Foley, 47, of East Setauket, said at the evening event held at Madison Square Garden.
Showing off his Hall of Fame ring, he quipped, "I haven't worn jewelry since one of the front teeth I had made into an earring became no longer necessary because I lost the ear."
Foley, who has wrestled as Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love, was part of a Hall of Fame class that included wrestling legend Bruno Sammartino, who sold out the Garden 187 times, former world champions Bob Backlund, Booker T and Trish Stratus -- and Donald Trump.
"The Donald" has been a longtime supporter of WWE, and even put his iconic locks on the line in a hair vs. hair "Battle of the Billionaires" at WrestleMania 23. Trump seconded a wrestler who defeated a wrestler seconded by WWE chairman Vince McMahon.
The ceremony was part of WrestleMania Week, which climaxes Sunday night with the sold-out WrestleMania 29 at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J. Wrestler-turned-movie star Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson defends his WWE championship against John Cena in the main event.
