WWE: Why Mick Foley Should Be in the Hall of Fame

For the spectacular matches he put on, for his work on the mic and for his contributions to the industry, Mick Foley belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame.

Despite lacking a wealth of athleticism and despite having a less-than-ideal physique, Foley had a long, impactful career. 

Fans will think first of his 1998 Hell in a Cell match with the Undertaker at King of the Ring. The brutal bumps he took in that match are a perfect example of his uncanny toughness and his willingness to do anything to please the crowd. And in the end, that’s a wrestler’s ultimate goal. 

A big reason that fans adore Foley is that they see a lot of themselves in him. 

In the way that Dusty Rhodes roped in fans as the everyman, Foley appeals to the outcasts, weirdos and castoffs in the audience. 

Not fitting the mold was how Foley rolled. 

Seeing him out the ring, chubby and awkward, you'd never guess that he was a professional athlete. Despite Ric Flair's assertion that he was just a glorified stuntman, Foley more than carried his weight in the ring. 

The enthralling feud between him and Triple H in 2000 wouldn't have been much without his in-ring skills. Randy Orton's career was helped tremendously from their tussle at Backlash 2004. 

Foley's resume is chock-full of memorable matches. As disturbing as his I Quit match with the Rock at the 1999 Royal Rumble was, it told a compelling story. Like so many times in Foley's career, fans could not look away, no matter how bloody or brutal the action became. 

Both that match and the aforementioned Hell in a Cell bout were awarded Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Match of the Year award. 

Foley's other greatest hits include numerous classics against Triple H, Randy Orton, Steve Austin and Terry Funk. 

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awarded Foley the Best Brawler award from 1991-2000. If you are the best at what you do for nine straight years, that should guarantee your Hall of Fame status.

And while thumbtacks and barbed wire bats may be the first things folks things of when remembering Foley's career, he was also engrossing on the mic as either Mankind, Dude Love or Cactus Jack. 

He won W.O.N.'s Best on Interviews award in 1995, 2004 and 2006, and with good reason.    

The concept of actively switching between personae was extremely innovative and on many occasions highly entertaining. 

Each Foley persona was one of a kind. 

Mankind was some odd combo of Hannibal Lecter and Quasimodo. Dude Love was so funny that it's no surprise that Foley later ended up doing stand-up. Cactus Jack was a unique take on an outlaw character, somehow being endearing and sadistic at the same time. 

When Foley began to use his real name as a fourth persona, it wasn't groundbreaking because he was being a character closer to who he actually was, but because he still hopped from persona to persona.  Not a whole lot of guys could have pulled that off. 

Stone Cold and the Rock get the bulk of the credit for carrying the Attitude Era, but Foley was just as big of a factor in the WWE's success at that time. Many of Austin and Rock's big moments featured Foley taking bumps, igniting the crowd or serving as the glue to the storylines. 

Try to imagine the Monday Night Wars without this key soldier.

Bloodbaths and street fights are as much a part of wrestling as headlocks and armbars. Foley made the gorier side of wrestling famous. 

From his Texas Death Match against Vader at Halloween Havoc 1993, to his infamous Death Match against Terry Funk where C4 exploded in the ring, to every barbed-wire gash he suffered or doled out, Foley has time and time again proven himself to be the king of the macabre. 

Abdullah the Butcher was a member of the 2011 class. Mick Foley was everything that Abdullah was, only more charismatic and more successful on the biggest stages. 

The question shouldn't be whether Mick Foley belongs in the WWE Hall of Fame, but who should induct him.