Foley’s tales of wrestling past to be told in southern Alberta

Despite the amputation of his right ear in a World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) match against Vader in 1994, wrestling legend Mick Foley as Cactus Jack went on to win the “King of the Deathmatch” tournament in 1995.

In 1998, Foley as Mankind, battled The Undertaker in a “Hell in a Cell” match, where Foley fell off of and through the 16-foot cell structure. Foley, who was a three-time WWE Champion, finished the match with one of his front teeth lodged in his nose. All in a day’s work — back then. Today, Foley is touring across Canada and abroad with an evening of spoken word storytelling and a funny one-man stage show with Mick Foley: Tales from Wrestling Past. Foley makes a stop in Lethbridge at the Yates Centre Sept. 28.

“We’re doing 17 dates through B.C. and Alberta and based on the response that I received last time I swung through Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver — we have greatly expanded the places we’re going to. Hitting cities the WWE either hasn’t hit in years or has never been to,” said Foley, who is also a two-time New York Times number one best-selling author.

Audiences, Foley noted, show up with fairly low expectations but he outperforms and puts on one heck of a show. “I’m not going there with the goal of not being good,” he added.

Foley said he has a great time each and every night and he does it because he loves it.

“It’s the closet thing I’ve felt of being in the ring but without the decidedly negative aftereffects,” joked Foley, adding he gets up in the morning, hits the road and drives a few hours and does it again in another town.

According to Foley, it’s a wrestling-centred show and he asks fans to trust him because he has hundreds of hours on the microphone and he said he will entertain.

“I just did four dates in Ontario and I’ve got a couple in Quebec in October and it was really just about 15 months ago when we sold out Edmonton and Calgary that everything started kind of falling into place. I started really getting confident about, not just the material — because this will be a completely different show than it was the last time I was through —  but confident in my delivery. With that confidence comes the willingness to take chances and that can result in spectacular successes or even more spectacular failures,” said Foley, adding failures can be just as fun as the successes on stage.

Tales from Wrestling Past showcases Foley’s trademark blend of wildness and warmth — combining the humour fans loved from his books and in-ring “promos,” with the intensity of his most famous matches.

During the WWE’s rise in the late 1990s, Foley earned the nickname “The Hardcore Legend” for his ability to absorb seemingly inhuman punishment in some of the most dramatic matches in sports-entertainment history.

Foley also penned his own memoir about his life in the ring and the book, “Have a Nice Day” hit number one in 1999. In 2001, Foley released, “Foley is Good,” which also hit number one. Foley has published a total of 10 books including four memoirs, four children’s books and two novels. The Hardcore Legend was featured at both the Montreal “Just For Laughs” Festival and the Edinburgh “Fringe Fest” and has appeared on “30 Rock,” “Boy Meets World” and many late-night and day-time TV shows. He was also featured in the critically acclaimed documentary, “Beyond the Mat.” Foley is also a subject and producer of the upcoming documentary, “I am Santa Claus,” set to be released in November.

“I started out on it as a subject of one of five people who portray the iconic character of St. Nicholas and then I really fell in love with the project to the point where I was driving in Philadelphia for all-night editing sessions and really proud of the fact that I’m a hands-on producer on this movie,” said Foley.

“To commemorate and to build interest I’m wearing Santa Claus-themed attire for the entire year. I will be rocking something Santa Claus-esque or Christmasy every day while I’m in B.C. and Alberta.”

As for the WWE and wrestling in today’s ever-changing entertainment world, Foley said he enjoys the WWE quite a bit. “I watch it almost every week with my children. I’m still a fan of the product, which means I can voice my opinion, usually positive but occasionally I’ll have some constructive criticism that I’m not shy about voicing. All in all, I like the direction of the company and I think they’ve got a lot of great talent and building for the future,” said Foley.

Mick Foley: Tales from Wrestling Past. Show starts at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $37.50 plus additional charges and are available online at http://www.enmaxcentre.ca.

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