Review for WWE: For All Mankind: The Lifeand Career of Mick Foley

Mick Foley is one of the most beloved superstars in the WWE, many people forget how integral he was to the success of the attitude era and how (despite what Eric Bischoff thought) he put butts in seats. Three time WWE Champion, Hardcore Champion, also unique in that he held the ECW, WCW and WWE Tag Team Championships (a feat only matched by The Dudley Boyz). At Wrestlemania 29 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame... Which does beg the question why they would release this DVD before hand and not include his induction as an extra?

Over two hours Mick Foley tells his story from his childhood, his first sporting time (including high school wrestling subbing for King of Queens star Kevin James!) and of course the infamous Jimmy Snuka dive off the cage which inspired him. A lot of footage is shown of him training with the likes of Shane Douglas which is great. The documentary goes through his time through the indys, brief moments in WWE, World Class and then into WCW. It is never explained where the Cactus Jack character came from, but it was certainly one of his most iconic characters in the business which then went on to ECW where he went even more extreme. However, rather than revelling in his 'Hardcore Legend' gimmick, Foley and his opponent for many of those matches Terry Funk, look on them rather sadly as something that probably shouldn't have happened, but Funk says he did it to help Foley get over and boy did it ever!

When Foley finally did get to the WWE he came as Mankind, a deranged Hannibal Lecter type character who later evolved into a lovable goofball thanks to the creation of Mr Socko. During his time in the WWE, he appeared as Mankind, loveable Dude Love and again as the insane Cactus Jack. What is included is Dude Love and Mankind introducing Cactus Jack which is still one of my favourite promos of all time. All three enjoyed some success and throughout his time he had some amazing matches with the likes of The Undertaker, Stone Cold and of course The Rock.

Following his retirement, he went on to become a best selling author of many books, but would always be drawn back to the business with some amazing runs with the likes of Randy Orton and Edge. Unlike other people like Hogan or Nash who only ever did it for the money, Foley did it for the love of the business and also because he could. Anyone who has ever seen any of Hogan's returns and compares it to the matches Foley had against Orton or Edge will see just what I mean. There is no mention of his time in TNA, but that's not surprising, his return to the WWE is covered and though he seems to be fully retired now I do feel that if Foley wanted to have that One More Match he probably could and it would probably be just as great as his others.

This set features two disks worth of matches and though all are great, the lack of promos such as his amazing interview with Jim Ross or any of his bits when he was Commish is sad... even as a montage of his best bits would have been fine. That being said, there are no matches here that do not belong and though I could probably argue for others to be included such as his first WWE Championship win or one of his great matches with Stone Cold the fact is they are readily available on Foley's other sets.

What makes these matches even greater is the inclusion of the new commentary by Foley and former ECW commentator Joey Styles. This only appears on three matches which is a shame as it would have been interesting to have heard Foley's thoughts on all the matches chosen, however that is me just being greedy. The inclusion of his debut match against The British Bulldogs is amazing and even more so when you hear just how badly Dynamite Kid injured Foley during the match. The matches range from WCW, ECW and WWE and none of them are unwatchable despite most being the same sort of match, but then you could say that about a lot of superstars.

For All Mankind: The Lifeand Career of Mick Foley is a great documentary supported by two disks of his best matches. It is true that if you wanted this to be complete you should pick up his previous sets which would fill these gaps. If you are a fan of Mick Foley (And who isn't?) then this is certainly a set to pick up and when you do you will certainly have a nice day. Bang Bang!