Mick Foley Reveals Influence Behind His Long Hair And Penchant For Jumping Off Things

It is no secret that Mick Foley has an affinity for fellow WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka."

"I think it was that wildness in the eyes," Foley explained on "Foley Is Pod" recently. "Especially when he did the angle with Muraco."

Foley recounts seeing Snuka, blinded with rage by an unheard comment by Muraco, leaping over the top rope to the floor and taking out Muraco with a body press.

"You never saw someone coming over the top rope like that," Foley explained, describing it as a "could this be real?" moment — one that suspends the audience's disbelief and makes them believe they're watching two competitors with a real issue with each other.

"This is where I realized, I can't look like this guy. I can try to grow my hair like that guy." Foley says that growing his hair out to match his idol led to him being unable to join the United States military after a recruiter told him he wouldn't be able to serve with long hair.

But it wasn't just the aesthetic that influenced Foley. It was also Snuka's daredevil tendencies to leap off the turnbuckle or even a steel cage.

"I realized 'I can't jump high, but I can jump from high places,'" Foley continued. "And thus began a quest to jump off every place that I could imagine, with the caveat that there was something there to break my fall."

Snuka passed away in 2017, leaving behind a violent past and a divisive legacy, one with which Foley himself has admitted to struggling.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Foley Is Pod" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.