Mick Foley Talks Bray Wyatt Using The Mandible Claw, Upcoming Confrontation With Frank The Clown
WWE Hall of Famer and hardcore legend Mick Foley sat down for an exclusive interview with Wrestling Inc.'s own Nick Hausman this past weekend. During the discussion, Mick opened up about how he feels seeing stars like Bray Wyatt (along with his alter-ego "The Fiend"), Sami Callihan, and also women's stars like Su Yung using moves that he once crafted as his own.
"I think it's nice to look at the show and see your fingerprints here and there," Mick said. "Where, as ten years ago when I left, there were a lot of people who had grown up idolizing Ric, and Shawn, and Bret, and you could see that in the work. So now you have guys like Bray, who told me years ago, 'Look, I'm doing something in a rocking chair,' because he had gotten a rocking chair from an interview that I did for Randy Orton. You see it a little bit with Aleister Black and the rocking, and Su Yung, and Rosemary, and I love it; Sami Callihan doing the cactus driver.
"And so, I feel for Bray because you want a finishing move that you can do to anyone at any time. The mandible claw... is something that is all [Bray's] now," Foley finished.
In what can now be recognized as a twisted passing of the torch of sorts, Wyatt's "Fiend" character attacked Mick Foley with the mandible claw maneuver on the RAW Reunion special last month. Wyatt would take to Twitter to apologize and thank the Hall of Famer after the attack.
"People can read between the lines, but even in his tweet – he generally tweets in character and he said, 'I'm sorry, but thank you.' I certainly took that as a nod of appreciation and I like that," Mick said.
Foley has been keeping himself busy since he was last active inside a WWE ring. Frank The Clown, who has been dating his daughter Noelle, issued a hardcore challenge for the upcoming Warrior Wrestling 6, which Foley answered. The two are now set to meet in a "hardcore confrontation" on Sept. 1 in Chicago.
Foley made note as to why he is adamant this not be labeled as a legitimate match between the two performers.
"It's a challenge, not a match," Foley explained. "I cannot go from my last match being with Ric Flair to Frank The Clown. Which is why I made it clear, in no way, shape, or form is this going to be a match."
Foley has also been using his spare time to keep up with current trends in pop culture. He mentioned his affinity for fanny packs, noting how WWE Universal Champion Seth Rollins also enjoys them. Rollins apparently wore one during their group outing to see The Lion King (2019).
"They are [making a comeback]. I see a friend of mine here, he's wearing it much like Seth Rollins did when he and 'The Man' [Becky Lynch] took me out to the movies. I love the fact that that's detailed on the WWE Network," Foley said. "They did their Day Of [special] and you can see [Lynch] – I didn't even know we were being filmed, and she asked me if I – you know, I don't get to see Becky and she's a really good friend. I'm so flattered she still brings up my name in interviews as someone who was an influence on her.
"And so, we were going to be at the same convention and she asked me if I wanted to see 'The Lion King' with them," Foley continued. "And it was on video, so yeah, it was great. Seth was wearing the fanny pack over the shoulder. The only reason I'm not wearing mine currently is because it's a sad day when you have to extend the waistline because you haven't kept up with your DDP Yoga."
Mick's full interview with Wrestling Inc. aired as part of today's episode of our WINCLY podcast. It can be heard via the embedded audio player at the bottom of this post, or in the video above. You can check out past episodes of the WINCLY here. Subscribe to Wrestling Inc. Audio on iTunes or Google Play. Listen to the show via Spotify here or through TuneIn here.