Name	Mick Foley
Names	Mick FoleyJack FoleyCactus Jack MansonCactus Jack FoleyCactus JackDude LoveMankindCactus SacCommissioner FoleyGood Santa
Height
Weight
Birth date	Michael Francis Foley, Sr.June 07, 1965
Birth place	Bloomington, Indiana
Billed	Truth or Consequences, New Mexico (as Cactus Jack and Dude Love)The Boiler Room (as Mankind)Long Island, New York (as Mick Foley)
Trainer	Dominic DeNucci
Debut	June 24, 1983
Retired	}}

Michael Francis "Mick" Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American professional wrestler, author, comedian, actor, voice actor and former color commentator. He has worked for many wrestling promotions, including WWE, WCW, ECW and TNA Wrestling. He is often referred to as "The Hardcore Legend", a nickname he shares with Terry Funk.

Throughout his wrestling career, Foley has wrestled both under his real name and under various personas (most notably Dude Love, Cactus Jack and Mankind). He was the first ever WWF Hardcore Champion and also a three-time WWF Champion as Mankind. He won the WWF World tag team title eight times, the ECW World tag team title two times and the WCW World tag team title once. Following his retirement from wrestling full-time, Foley appeared occasionally with WWE as a special guest referee and later as a color commentator for the SmackDown brand.

Upon his departure from the company in 2008, he signed with TNA, where he was the storyline majority stock holder of the company. There, Foley has held the TNA World Heavyweight Championship and the TNA Legends (now known as Television) Championship. In addition to wrestling, Foley is a multiple-time New York Times bestselling autobiographer. He was also a subject of the documentary ''Beyond the Mat'', which followed him at the peak of his career. More recently, he appeared in ''Bloodstained Memoirs'', another wrestling documentary.

Early life

Foley was born in Bloomington, Indiana. Shortly after he was born, Foley's family moved to Setauket, New York, where Foley attended Ward Melville High School, played lacrosse, and wrestled. Foley was also a high school classmate of comic actor Kevin James of ''The King of Queens''. The two were on the wrestling team together. While a student at State University of New York at Cortland, he hitchhiked to Madison Square Garden to see his favorite wrestler, Jimmy Snuka, in a steel cage match against Don Muraco. Foley has said that Snuka's flying body splash from the top of the cage inspired him to pursue a career in pro wrestling. Foley is visible on the WWE video of the event.

Professional wrestling career

Mick Foley formally trained at Dominic DeNucci's wrestling school in Freedom, Pennsylvania, driving several hours weekly from his college campus in Cortland, New York, and debuted in 1983. In addition to appearing on DeNucci's cards, Foley and several other students also took part in some squash matches for WWF TV tapings, where he wrestled under the name "Jack Foley". In one of these matches Foley and Les Thornton faced the British Bulldogs, during which The Dynamite Kid clotheslined Foley with such force that he was unable to eat solid food for several weeks.

After several years of wrestling in the independent circuit, Foley began receiving offers from various regional promotions, including the UWF. He joined Memphis-based CWA as Cactus Jack, where he teamed with Gary Young as part of the Stud Stable. Cactus and Young briefly held the CWA tag titles in late 1988. On November 20, Foley left CWA for Texas-based World Class Championship Wrestling.

In World Class Championship Wrestling (WCCW), Cactus Jack, billed as Cactus Jack Manson, was a major part of Skandor Akbar's stable. Foley also won several titles, including the company's light heavyweight and tag team titles before leaving the company, losing his last match to Eric Embry in nine seconds. He then briefly competed in Alabama's Continental Wrestling Federation before completing a brief stint with World Championship Wrestling, including a match against Mil Máscaras at Clash of the Champions X: Texas Shootout. It was during this period that Foley was involved in a car accident that resulted in the loss of his two front teeth, adding to the distinctive look for which he is famous. Following the short stint with WCW, Foley then signed with Herb Abrams's Universal Wrestling Federation. In UWF, Foley teamed with Bob Orton to feud with Don Muraco, Sunny Beach, and Brian Blair.

He soon left UWF for Tri-State Wrestling (a forerunner to Extreme Championship Wrestling), whose style of high impact and violent wrestling style fit Foley well. On one night, known as Tri-State's Summer Sizzler 1991, Cactus Jack and Eddie Gilbert had three matches in one night: Cactus won a Falls Count Anywhere match, lost a Stretcher match, and then fought to a double disqualification in a Steel Cage match. These matches caught the attention of World Championship Wrestling promoters, and after a brief stint working in the Global Wrestling Federation, he joined WCW.

World Championship Wrestling (1991–1994)

On September 5, 1991, Cactus Jack debuted as a heel and attacked Sting. After feuds with Van Hammer and Abdullah the Butcher, Cactus Jack faced Sting, then WCW champion, in a non-title Falls Count Anywhere match at Beach Blast in 1992, which Sting won. For a long time, Foley considered this the best match he ever worked.

After spending his 1½ years with WCW as a heel, Cactus Jack became a face after engaging in a feud with Paul Orndorff, Harley Race and Big Van Vader. Jack and Orndorff wrestled each other in a match for a spot on WCW Champion Vader's team at a Clash of Champions event. After the match, Race and Orndorff beat up Jack, turning him face. Later on at the Clash of Champions, Cactus Jack helped Sting's team win the match. He engaged in a feud with Orndorff, winning a falls-count-anywhere match against Orndorff at Superbrawl III. He then moved on to face Vader.

Cactus Jack wrestled Vader on April 6, 1993, winning by count-out, but being severely beaten in the process. As a result, in the rematch with Vader on April 23, the two executed a dangerous spot to sell a storyline injury. Vader removed the protective mats at ringside and powerbombed Cactus onto the exposed concrete floor, causing a legitimate concussion and causing Foley to temporarily lose sensation in his left foot. While Foley was away, WCW ran an angle where Cactus Jack's absence was explained with a farcical comedy storyline in which he went crazy, was institutionalized, escaped, and developed amnesia. Foley had wanted the injury storyline to be very serious and generate genuine sympathy for him before his return. The comedy vignettes that WCW produced instead were so bad that Foley jokes in ''Have a Nice Day'' that they were the brainchild of WCW executives who regarded a surefire moneymaking feud as a problem that needed to be solved.

In one of WCW's most brutal matches of all time, Cactus faced Vader in a Texas Death match at Halloween Havoc. Race won the match for Vader by using a cattle prod on Cactus, knocking him out. The level of violence involved in this feud caused WCW to refuse to book Cactus Jack against Vader on a pay-per-view again. On March 16, 1994, during a WCW European tour, Foley and Vader had one of the most infamous matches in wrestling history in Munich, Germany. Foley began a hangman, a spot where a wrestler's head is tangled between the top two ring ropes The spot is usually painful but safe (though in WCW the danger factor was raised slightly because their ring ropes were not actual ropes, but elevator cables encased with rubber). Unbeknownst to Foley, however, 2 Cold Scorpio had earlier complained that the ropes were too loose, resulting in the ring staff tightening the ropes to the maximum. As Foley struggled to pull himself out, he tore off two-thirds of his ear and underwent surgery later that day to reattach the cartilage from the ear to his head, so that a total reconstruction would be possible in the future. Later that year, Cactus Jack and Kevin Sullivan were scheduled to win the tag team titles at Slamboree in 1994. Foley had to choose between reattaching his ear or wrestling in the pay-per-view and winning the titles. Foley chose to wrestle and won his only championship in WCW. Later on, Foley was frustrated by WCW's reluctance to work a storyline around losing his ear.

WCW also shared a brief co-promotion with ECW during this time in which Foley represented WCW on ECW television as the WCW Tag Team champion. During a promo, Foley spat on his Tag Team title belt and threw it to the ground to appeal to the hardcore fans who frowned upon the mainstream promotions.

Extreme Championship Wrestling, Smokey Mountain Wrestling, and Japan (1994–1996)

After leaving WCW, Foley went to the newly formed Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and began a feud with Sabu. Jack then began working the ECW tag team division on teams with Terry Funk, Mikey Whipwreck, and Kevin Sullivan. He had two ECW World Tag Team Championship reigns with Whipwreck while in ECW.

At the tail end of 1994, Foley joined Smoky Mountain Wrestling (SMW) as Cactus Jack, causing Boo Bradley to lose the TV Title. He often teamed with Brian Lee to feud with Bradley and Chris Candido. Cactus Jack then began a crusade to rid Bradley of his valet Tammy Lynn Sytch. He ignited a feud between Candido and Bradley when he accused Candido of having sexual relations with Sytch. Cactus Jack left SMW before the feud was resolved.

In 1995, Foley went to Japan and wrestled in International Wrestling Association of Japan, where he engaged in feuds with Terry Funk and Shoji Nakamaki. During his brief stint in Japan Foley had the nickname "Tsunami Stopper." Foley, however, soon returned to ECW to feud with The Sandman. Funk returned to team up with Sandman, and during a particularly violent spot, the pair hit Cactus with a Singapore cane forty-six times. Cactus Jack then defeated Funk at Hostile City Showdown 1995. Later, he fought Sandman for the ECW championship. During the match, Cactus Jack knocked Sandman unconscious and was declared the winner. Referee Bill Alfonso, however, reversed his decision on the grounds that the title cannot change hands by knockout.

Returning to the IWA, Cactus Jack began a feud with Leatherface, whom he had betrayed during a tag team match. Foley also continued to wrestle in independent circuits, winning championships on the Ozark Mountain and Steel City circuits. On August 20, 1995, IWA organized a "King of the Death Match" tournament. Each level of the tournament featured a new and deadly gimmick: Cactus Jack's first round was a barbed-wire baseball bat, thumbtack death match, in which he defeated Terry Gordy; the second round was a barbed-wire board, bed of nails match where Cactus Jack defeated Shoji Nakamaki. The final, against Terry Funk, was a barbed-wire rope, barbed-wire and C4 board, time-bomb death match, which Cactus Jack won with help from Tiger Jeet Singh. After the match, both men were ravaged by the wire, and burned by the C4 explosions. Foley later said that he only received $300 for the entire night but, "looking back [in 2010 he wrote that] that match in Honjo is probably the performance I'm proudest of." After the tournament, he teamed with Tracy Smothers for a quick run with the IWA tag team titles.

Foley then returned to ECW to team with Tommy Dreamer. Cactus began a gimmick where he criticized hardcore wrestling and sought to renounce his status as a hardcore wrestling icon. He said that he was on a mission to save his partner from making the mistake of trying to please bloodthirsty fans. The mismatched partnership lasted until August 5, 1995, when Cactus turned on Dreamer when they were teaming against The Pitbulls. Cactus Jack DDT'ed his partner and joined Raven's Nest, as he wished to serve Raven's "higher purpose." He remained one of Raven's top henchmen for the remainder of his time in ECW. On August 28, Cactus beat the previously undefeated 911. As part of Foley's heel gimmick, he began praising WWF and WCW on ECW television, which angered ECW fans. Their anger intensified once word began to spread that Foley was leaving to join the WWF (In ''Have a Nice Day'', Foley recounted an incident where he asked an ECW roadie to sell T-shirts for him at an event held in a Queens, New York venue where he had been popular in even as a heel; the man came back after being spat upon numerous times by angry fans, who made him fear for his life). Even when he tried to give sincere good-byes to the fans, Cactus Jack was met with chants of "You sold out" by the ECW fanbase everywhere he went. Cactus was booked to face WWF hater Shane Douglas, who won when he put Jack into a figure four leglock that allowed Mikey Whipwreck to hit him repeatedly with a steel chair. Foley's last ECW match was against Whipwreck on March 9, 1996, and he recounts that he was not looking forward to it due to the increasingly hostile reactions he got even when he wasn't in character. The ECW fans, who knew that this was Foley's last match, finally returned his affection. They cheered him throughout the match and chanted, "Please don't go!" After the match, Foley told the audience that their reaction made everything worthwhile and made his exit by dancing with Stevie Richards and The Blue Meanie. Foley has said that this exit was his favorite moment in wrestling.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment (1996-2008)

Multiple personalities (1996–1998)

Foley arrived in the WWF in 1996 with a new gimmick: Mankind, a tortured soul who constantly squealed (even throughout his matches), shrieked ''"Mommy!"'', spoke to a rat, enjoyed pain, physically abused himself (such as by pulling out his hair), wore a mask and lived in boiler rooms; hence, his specialty match, the Boiler Room brawl. The original name that Vince McMahon had for Foley was "Mason the Mutilator", but Foley thought that Mankind would be a better name and McMahon changed it. Mankind debuted the day after WrestleMania XII, quickly moving into a feud with The Undertaker. This feud continued through King of the Ring, Mankind's WWF pay-per-view debut. During the match, Undertaker's manager, Paul Bearer, "accidentally" struck him with the urn, allowing Mankind to apply the mandible claw for the win. The two then began interfering in each other's matches until they were booked in the first ever Boiler Room brawl, in which the goal was to escape the arena's boiler room and reach the ring to take the urn from Paul Bearer.

The Undertaker appeared to have won, but Paul Bearer refused to hand him the urn, allowing Mankind to win, thus (for the time being) ending the relationship between Paul and the Undertaker. While Mankind was managed by Paul Bearer, he referred to him as "Uncle Paul." Mankind then earned the number one contendership to face the then WWF Champion Shawn Michaels at In Your House: Mind Games. Michaels won by disqualification via interference by Vader and The Undertaker. For several years, Foley considered this match his best ever, saying "Sure, at 280 pounds I still looked like hell, but after a brutal cardiovascular training regimen, I was able to go full-tilt for twenty-seven minutes with a smaller, quicker, better athlete than me."

The Mankind-Undertaker feud continued with the first ever Buried Alive match at In Your House: Buried Alive. Undertaker won the match, but Paul Bearer, Terry Gordy (as the Executioner), Mankind and other heels attacked the Undertaker and buried him alive. Afterward, he challenged Mankind to a match at Survivor Series, which he won. The feud ended after one more match at In Your House: Revenge of the Taker for the WWF Championship, which Undertaker had won at WrestleMania 13. Undertaker won the match and Bearer took a leave of absence, ending the feud.

Jim Ross then began conducting a series of interviews with Mankind. During the interviews, Ross brought up the topic of Foley's home videos and the character he played in them, Dude Love. Around this time, Stone Cold Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels won the WWF Tag Team Championships from Owen Hart and The British Bulldog, but Michaels was injured and could no longer compete. Mankind tried to replace him, but Austin said he wanted "nothing to do with a freak" and resigned himself to facing Hart and the Bulldog alone the next week. Halfway into the match, however, Foley debuted a new persona known as Dude Love who suddenly appeared and helped Austin take the victory, becoming the new Tag Team Champions. The following week in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Dude teamed with Austin, and Mankind's longtime nemesis, The Undertaker, to face Bret Hart, Owen Hart and Davey Boy Smith, members of villainous anti-American stable, the Hart Foundation, in a USA vs. Canada Flag Match—the first match of its kind broadcast on ''Raw''. The Hart Foundation would ultimately win the match due to assistance from another Foundation member, Brian Pillman. Austin and Dude vacated their tag team titles when Austin suffered a (legitimate) serious neck injury at the hands of Owen Hart at SummerSlam. Dude Love feuded with Hunter Hearst Helmsley, as the two competed in a Falls Count Anywhere match. One of Foley's most memorable vignettes aired before the match began, in which Dude Love and Mankind discussed who should wrestle the upcoming match. Eventually, "they" decided that it should be Cactus Jack, and Foley's old character made his WWF debut. Jack won the match with a Piledriver through a table. Shortly thereafter, Extreme Championship Wrestling's Terry Funk joined the WWF as "Chainsaw Charlie," and he and Jack defeated the New Age Outlaws at WrestleMania XIV in a Dumpster match to win the tag team titles. The next night, however, Vince McMahon stripped them of the belts and scheduled a rematch in a steel cage, which the Outlaws won with help from their new allies, D-Generation X.

On April 6, 1998, Foley turned heel when Cactus Jack explained the fans would not see him anymore because they did not appreciate him and only cared about Stone Cold Steve Austin. Vince McMahon explained to Austin the next week that he would face a "mystery" opponent at Unforgiven. That opponent turned out to be Dude Love, who won the match by disqualification, meaning that Austin retained the title. McMahon, displeased with the outcome, required Foley to prove he deserved another shot at Austin's title with a number one contendership match against his former partner, Terry Funk. The match was both the WWF's first ever "Hardcore match" and the first time that Foley wrestled under his own name. Foley won, and after the match, a proud McMahon came out to Dude Love's music and presented Foley with the Dude Love costume. At Over the Edge, Dude Love took on Austin for the title. McMahon designated his subordinates Gerald Brisco and Pat Patterson as the timekeeper and ring announcer, and made himself the special referee. The Undertaker, however, came to ringside to ensure McMahon called the match fairly, and with his presence, Dude Love lost the match and was "fired" by McMahon the June 1st edition of Raw.

Hell in a Cell

On that same episode of Raw, Foley then reverted to his Mankind character, who began wearing an untucked shirt with a loose necktie and feuding with The Undertaker. At King of the Ring, the two competed in the third Hell in a Cell match. In one of the most famous matches in professional wrestling history, Foley received numerous injuries and took two dangerous and highly influential bumps. The first one came as both wrestlers were brawling on top of the cell, and Undertaker threw Mankind from a height of and sent him crashing through the Spanish announcers' table. This event also triggered Jim Ross famously shouting "Good God almighty! Good God almighty! That killed him! As God as my witness, he is broken in half!", and "Oh my God! Somebody stop the damn match!". With both men back on the top of the cell, Undertaker chokeslammed Mankind, and a section of the cage gave way. Foley fell through and hit the ring hard. A chair that had been atop the cage also slammed Foley's head and knocked out a tooth as he hit the canvas. He was also knocked unconscious for a few moments from the impact, but he finished the match after waking up. After getting up, the tooth could be seen up his nose, and his mouth was bleeding. Although Mankind lost, both wrestlers received a standing ovation for the match, and the event is often said to have jump-started Foley's main event career.

Many future matches attempted to replicate some of the spots from this match. In his autobiography ''Have a Nice Day! A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks'', Foley wrote that he couldn't remember much of what happened, and he had to watch a tape of the match to write about it. The match was voted ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'''s Match of the Year for 1998. Although many fans regard the match as a classic, it has generated controversy as well. Critics charge that the falls in the match were so extreme and they set the bar for further bumps so high that the inevitable attempts to equal or surpass them would be unsafe for the wrestlers involved. Additionally, in his autobiography, Terry Funk wrote that both falls, including the second one through the cage, had been planned with the cell designers, but the cell was supposed to sag rather than break open. Foley said in his first book that his wife cried during a post match phone conversation between the two, and this made Foley strongly consider retiring from wrestling. He also said that after the match, Vince McMahon thanked him for all he had done for the company, but made Foley promise to "never do anything like that again." He also made mention in the book of a rather humorous exchange he and Undertaker had backstage while being checked out by Dr. Pettit, the company's resident doctor. Foley, still somewhat dazed from the concussion he sustained, turned to the Undertaker and asked "Did I use the thumbtacks?", a staple of some of Foley's early matches. The Undertaker looked at him and rather sternly replied "Look at your arm, Mick!", at which point Foley discovered a significant number of thumbtacks still lodged in his arm.

Mr. Socko, the WWF Championship and retirement (1998–2000)

Although conventional wisdom holds that the Hell in a Cell match was responsible for Foley's rise to main event status, live television crowds did not initially get behind Mankind because of the match. Following a summer where he teamed with Kane to win the WWF Tag Team Championship on two separate occasions, Foley decided that crowds might respond better if Mankind were more of a comedy character, and so he became less of a tortured soul and more of a goofy, broken down oaf. He began the transition into this character following ''Summerslam'' in 1998, after Kane turned on him and the two lost the tag team championships.

The following month Foley began an angle with Vince McMahon, with Mankind trying to be a friend to the hated Mr. McMahon. On a September episode of ''Raw'', while McMahon was in a hospital nursing wounds suffered at the hands of The Undertaker and Kane, Mankind arrived to cheer him up. Having succeeded only in irritating McMahon, Mankind unveiled a sock puppet named Mr. Socko. Intended to be a one-time joke, Socko became an overnight sensation. Mankind began putting the sock on his hand before applying his finisher, the mandible claw, stuffing a smelly sock in the mouths of opposing wrestlers. The sweatsock became massively popular with the fans, mainly because it was marketed (mostly by Jerry "The King" Lawler during the events) as being a dirty, smelly, sweaty, repulsive, and vile sock.

McMahon manipulated Mankind, who saw the WWF owner as a father figure, into doing his bidding. McMahon created the Hardcore Championship and awarded it to Mankind, making him the first-ever champion of the hardcore division. Mankind was then pushed as the favorite to win the WWF Championship at Survivor Series, as McMahon appeared to be manipulating the tournament so that Mankind would win. He and The Rock both reached the finals, where McMahon turned on Mankind. As The Rock placed Mankind in the Sharpshooter, McMahon ordered the timekeeper to ring the bell even though Mankind did not submit, a reference to the Montreal Screwjob from the year before. As a result of Survivor Series, Mankind officially transitioned into a fan favorite, while The Rock became a villain and the crown jewel in McMahon's new Corporation faction.

After weeks of trying to get his hands on McMahon's new faction, the Corporation, Mankind received a title shot with The Rock at In Your House. Mankind knocked The Rock out by shoving a dirty sweatsock in the Rock's mouth, but McMahon ruled that the title would not change hands because The Rock never gave up. After several weeks of going after the Corporation, Mankind had his big night on December 29, where Mankind defeated The Rock and won his first WWF championship. The taped show was broadcast on January 4, 1999, so that is the date WWE recognizes as beginning the title run. Having title changes on broadcast television rather than pay-per-view was uncommon in professional wrestling, but because of the Monday Night Wars, TV ratings became more important. The rival WCW, attempting to take advantage of the fact that their show ''Monday Nitro'' aired live while Mankind's title victory was taped the week before, had announcer Tony Schiavone reveal the ending of the Mankind-Rock match before it aired. He then added sarcastically, "That'll put a lot of butts in the seats." The move backfired for WCW, as Nielsen ratings showed that Raw won the ratings battle that night, despite the Hogan vs. Nash main event which led to the reformation of the New World Order. Foley said that the ratings indicate that large numbers of viewers switched from Nitro to Raw to see him win the title and took great personal pride from this, and "Mick Foley put my ass in this seat" signs began showing up at WWF events.

Mankind first lost the WWF title to The Rock in a "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble. During the match, Foley took several bumps, including eleven unprotected chair shots. This match is featured on Barry Blaustein's documentary ''Beyond the Mat'', which shows the impact the match had on Foley and his family at ringside. The match ended after Mankind lost consciousness and The Rock's allies played a recording of Mankind saying "I Quit" from an earlier interview. The match was also voted 1999's Match of the Year by the readers of ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated''. Mankind won the title back at a rematch on Halftime Heat, which aired during halftime at Super Bowl XXXIII, in the WWF's first ever Empty Arena match. The two then competed in a Last Man Standing match at St. Valentine's Day Massacre, which ended without a winner, meaning that Mankind retained the title. Mankind was said to have thrown out his left shoulder early in the match, but showed no signs of it and refused to stop the match. It had to be popped back into place afterward. The next night, Mr. McMahon booked a ladder match for the championship, which The Rock won with help from The Big Show. Later in the year, Foley and The Rock patched up their friendship and teamed up to form a comedy team called the Rock 'n' Sock Connection, becoming one of the most popular teams during that time. The pair won the tag team titles on three occasions. Foley helped WWF ''Raw'' achieve its highest ratings ever with a segment featuring himself (as Mankind) and The Rock. The "This is Your Life" segment aired on September 27, 1999 and received an 8.4 rating.

Foley returned from knee surgery as Mankind to win the WWF Championship for the third time at SummerSlam in a triple threat match against Steve Austin and Triple H. It is believed that Mankind was booked to win the championship that night because Austin refused to lose it to Triple H. Foley stated the reason he was booked into the match was because Austin had torn a ligament in his knee and a triple threat match would add enough intangibles to make an acceptable match without aggravating Austin's knee. Mankind's win also led to an enraged Triple H to assault Austin, justifying Austin's absence while his knee healed. Triple H defeated Mankind and won the title the next night on ''Raw''. A major feud developed between Mankind and the McMahon-Helmsley regime, led by Triple H, which led to Mankind's reverting to his Cactus Jack persona and facing Triple H for the WWF Championship at Royal Rumble in a Street Fight. Cactus used barbed wire and thumbtacks, trademark weapons from his pre-WWF days, but Triple H won the match after delivering two pedigrees, the second onto a pile of tacks. This feud culminated with a rematch at No Way Out in a Hell in a Cell match, where stipulations held that if Cactus Jack did not win the title, Foley would retire from wrestling. Triple H won, after throwing Foley over him onto the cage. The cage gave away, snapped and Foley fell through the canvas thus ending the match, ostensibly ending Foley's career. Foley left for a few weeks but returned at the request of Linda McMahon to wrestle for the title at WrestleMania 2000 against Triple H, The Rock, and The Big Show. Triple H won, and Foley did not wrestle again for four years.

Commissioner (2000–2001)

After retiring from active competition, Foley served as storyline WWF Commissioner under his real name rather than one of his personas. Foley has said that he intended for his Commissioner Foley character to be a "role model for nerds," cracking lame jokes and making no attempt to appear tough or scary. He also had a knack during this time to have no one spot for his office; rather, Mick would have an office in all sorts of odd places (for example, closets). Foley turned getting cheap pops into something of a catchphrase, as he shamelessly declared at each WWF show that he was thrilled to be "right here in (whatever city he was performing in (e.g, New York))!" punctuated with an intentionally cheesy thumbs-up gesture. During this time, Commissioner Foley engaged in rivalries with Kurt Angle, Edge and Christian, and Vince McMahon without actually wrestling them. He left the position in December 2000 after being "fired" on screen by McMahon.

Foley made a surprise return on the ''Monday Night Raw'' just prior to WrestleMania X-Seven and announced that he would be the special guest referee in the match between Mr. McMahon and his son Shane at WrestleMania. After WrestleMania, Foley made sporadic WWF TV appearances throughout the spring and summer, at one point introducing Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura during a taping of ''Raw'' in the state as a foil to Mr. McMahon, as well as serving as the guest referee for the Earl Hebner versus Nick Patrick Referee match at the WWF Invasion pay-per-view.

Foley returned as commissioner in October 2001, near the end of The Invasion angle. During this brief tenure, Foley had the opportunity to shoot on the WWF's direction and how dissatisfied he was with it. Saying that there were far too many championships in the company, he booked unification matches prior to the final pay-per-view of the storyline, Survivor Series. After Survivor Series, he ended his commissionership at Vince McMahon's request and left the company.

Sporadic appearances and departure (2003–2008)

Foley returned in June 2003 to referee the Hell in a Cell match between Triple H and Kevin Nash at Bad Blood. On June 23, during a ''Raw'' broadcast in Madison Square Garden, he was honored for his achievements in the ring and presented with the retired WWE Hardcore Championship belt. The evening ended with Foley taking a beating and kicked down stairs by Randy Orton and Ric Flair. In December 2003, Foley returned to replace Steve Austin as co-general manager of ''Raw''. He soon grew tired of the day-to-day travel and left his full-time duties to write and spend time with his family. In the storyline, Foley was afraid to wrestle a match with Intercontinental Champion Randy Orton and walked out of the arena rather than face him.

In 2004, Foley returned briefly to wrestling, competing in the Royal Rumble and eliminating both Orton and himself with his trademark Cactus Jack clothesline. He and The Rock reunited as the Rock 'n' Sock Connection and lost a handicap match to Evolution at WrestleMania XX when Orton pinned Foley with an RKO as Foley pulled out Mr. Socko, this match turned out to be The Rock's final match (before a 7 year break) in the WWE. The two continued to feud, culminating in a hardcore match for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Backlash, where Orton defeated Foley as his Cactus Jack persona to retain the title with a botched RKO onto a barbed wire wrapped baseball bat, which Foley now regards as possibly the best match of his career. Later in the year, he would make a one-time appearance at Japanese promotion HUSTLE, challenging for the AJPW Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship against then champion, Toshiaki Kawada, albeit in a losing effort.

Foley appeared as a color commentator at WWE's ECW One Night Stand, which aired on June 12, 2005, and subsequently renewed his contract with WWE. Foley returned in 2005 in a match where fans were able to vote on which persona he would appear as—Mankind, Dude Love, or Cactus Jack—against Carlito at Taboo Tuesday. Foley cut promos for each character and an online vote was held. The fans voted for Mankind, who went on to win the match. On the February 16, 2006 ''Raw'', Foley returned to referee the WWE Championship match between Edge and John Cena. After Cena won, Edge attacked Foley, and the following week, Edge challenged Foley to a match at WrestleMania 22. Edge defeated Foley after spearing him through a flaming table. In the weeks after the match, Foley turned heel and allied himself with Edge against the newly rejuvenated ECW. This would be the first WWE heel turn (and his final heel turn) of Foley since his feud with Stone Cold Steve Austin as Dude Love in 1998. At ECW One Night Stand, Foley, Edge and Lita defeated Terry Funk, Tommy Dreamer and Beulah McGillicutty.

Foley then engaged in a storyline rivalry with Ric Flair, inspired by real-life animosity between the two. In ''Have a Nice Day!'', Foley wrote that Flair was "every bit as bad on the booking side of things as he was great on the wrestling side of it." In response, Flair wrote in his autobiography that Foley was "a glorified stuntman" and that he was able to climb the ladder in the WWF only because he was friends with the bookers. The two had a backstage confrontation at a ''Raw'' event in 2003, but Foley has said that they have largely reconciled. To spark the feud, Flair again called Foley a "glorified stuntman" and Foley called Flair a "washed up piece of crap" and challenged him to a match. The result was a Two out of Three Falls match at Vengeance, where Flair beat Foley in two straight falls; with a rollup counter to the figure four in the first and by disqualification in the second after a trashcan shot. After the match, Flair was split wide open by Foley with a barbed wire bat. The two then wrestled an "I Quit" match at SummerSlam, which Flair won when he forced Foley to quit by threatening Melina with a barbed wire bat. On the August 21 edition of ''Raw'', Foley literally kissed Vince McMahon's buttocks as part of McMahon's "Kiss My Ass Club" gimmick after he threatened to fire Melina. Shortly thereafter, she betrayed Foley and announced that he was fired.

Seven months later, Foley made his return to ''Raw'' on March 5, 2007 as a face again and tricked McMahon into giving him his job back. On April 9, Foley contributed to the Make-a-Wish Foundation and helped a young child named Michael Peña to become an honorary General Manager of the night. Foley appeared again on June 11 for Mr. McMahon Appreciation Night insulting McMahon. Foley also announced his place as a number one contender for the WWE Championship. During the ''Raw'' broadcast before Vengeance, Foley was scheduled to make his official in-ring return in a match against Umaga but he attacked Umaga before the match, and the match was never started. At Vengeance, Foley wrestled in a WWE Championship Challenge match involving WWE Champion John Cena, Randy Orton, King Booker, and Bobby Lashley. Cena retained by pinning Foley. A month later, Foley made an appearance on ''Raw'' as the special guest referee for a match between Jonathan Coachman and Mr. McMahon's storyline illegitimate son Hornswoggle. Hornswoggle won the match, after Foley handed him a miniature Mr. Socko. Foley then made an appearance on ''SmackDown'' the same week, where he defeated Coachman with Hornswoggle as the special guest referee. On the January 7, 2008 episode of ''Raw'', Foley and his tag team partner Hornswoggle qualified for the Royal Rumble by defeating The Highlanders, but Foley was eliminated by Triple H during the Rumble.

Foley debuted as a color commentator for SmackDown alongside Michael Cole at Backlash in 2008, replacing Jonathan Coachman. On the August 1 edition of ''SmackDown'', Foley was kayfabe attacked by Edge during Edge's promo for his SummerSlam match against The Undertaker. Foley sat out the August 8 ''SmackDown'' to sell his recovery from the injuries. Tazz filled in for Foley as a color commentator on SmackDown, while Raw wrestler Matt Striker filled in for Tazz on ECW. Foley told Long Island Press pro wrestling columnist Josh Stewart in August 2008 that "creatively, the announcing job wasn't working out too well". Foley allowed his contract with WWE to expire on September 1, 2008 and quietly left the company.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2008–2011)

Executive shareholder and championship reigns (2008–2009)

On September 3, 2008, Foley's agency, Gillespie Talent, issued a press release that stated Foley had signed a short-term deal with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). Foley claimed in the statement to be "very excited about the specifics of this agreement and the potential it holds". Foley made his TNA debut on September 5, at a TNA house show giving a short speech about how he loved the product, in which he also belittled WWE. The official TNA Wrestling website featured an image of a smiley face with a variation of Foley's catch phrase, "Have a nice day!" (and, before No Surrender, "Have a nice Sunday!").

On the September 18, 2008 edition of ''Impact!'', Foley made his first televised appearance for TNA, where Jeff Jarrett introduced him to the audience on the arena's video wall. Two weeks later, Foley made his full television debut in a promo making comments about the WWE roster, Vince McMahon and Kurt Angle. At Bound for Glory IV, he was the special guest enforcer for Jarrett and Angle's match. Later, on ''Impact!'', Foley said goodbye, but was then approached by Jeff Jarrett with a new offer; he later indicated that they had come to terms on a new contract and would make a major announcement the next week. On the October 23 episode of ''Impact!'', Foley announced that he was now co-owner of TNA along with Jarrett, just after Kurt Angle headbutted him.

On November 27, Thanksgiving Day, TNA presented the Turkey Bowl. Alex Shelley ended up being pinned by Rhino, and Foley handed Rhino the check. Afterwards, the defeated Shelley had to put on a Turkey Suit in compliance with the match rules, albeit with much refusal. However, Shelley "flipped off" Foley and proceeded to beat him up. In the aftermath, Mick mentioned that Shelley is lucky he still has his job. The Main Event Mafia's Kevin Nash, Booker T, and Scott Steiner were going to take on Brother Devon, A.J. Styles, and Mick Foley in his debut matchup at Genesis. Nash, however, suffered a legitimate staph infection and missed Genesis. He was replaced by Cute Kip. Foley got the pin when he hit Scott Steiner with a double arm DDT onto a chair.

On April 19, 2009 at Lockdown, he defeated Sting to win the TNA World Heavyweight Championship for his first ever championship in TNA, and his fourth World title overall. Mick did not lose the championship, but Sting became the new leader of the Main Event Mafia by pinning Kurt Angle at Sacrifice. Foley had also stated on ''Impact!'' tapings that if he retained the TNA World Heavyweight Title at the King of the Mountain match at Slammiversary, he would only put the title up in a match once a year. However, he lost the title to Kurt Angle in the King of The Mountain match at Slammiversary. He received a rematch at Victory Road, commenting he had only submitted once in his career (to Terry Funk, in a spinning toe hold) and swore he'd never do it again. He lost the match when Angle forced him to submit again with the ankle lock.

On July 30, 2009, the 200th episode of ''Impact!'', Foley won the TNA Legends Championship by pinning champion Kevin Nash in a tag team match where Nash teamed with Angle and Foley with Bobby Lashley. At Hard Justice Nash defeated Foley to regain the title, following interference from Traci Brooks.

Storylines with Abyss and Eric Bischoff (2009–2010)

On the September 24 edition of ''Impact!'' Foley turned heel again when he attacked Abyss during and after a TNA World Tag Team Championship match against Booker T and Scott Steiner. Foley revealed Abyss as the one who tore up his picture and beat him to a bloody pulp with a video tape and the baseball bat wrapped in barbed wire. Abyss then challenged Foley to a Monster's Ball match which Foley accepted. At Bound for Glory Abyss defeated Foley in the match. Two weeks later, Foley turned face by turning on Dr. Stevie and saved Abyss from him. The following week he explained that he had played Dr. Stevie all along and had challenged Abyss to a match at Bound for Glory in order to see how tough he really was. On the November 12 edition of ''Impact!'' Raven returned to TNA and saved Stevie's future in the company by costing Abyss a match and throwing a fireball in Foley's face.

After this, Foley turned his attention away from Abyss and Dr. Stevie and concentrated on Hulk Hogan's arrival in TNA, appearing to be paranoid about Hogan taking over TNA. On the December 3 edition of ''Impact!'' Foley teased another heel turn by booking face Kurt Angle in a handicap match, after Angle refused to give him information on who Hogan is bringing to TNA. At Final Resolution Abyss and Foley defeated Stevie and Raven in a "Foley's Funhouse" tag team match. On January 4, 2010, the day of Hulk Hogan's debut for TNA, Foley was assaulted by the reunited Kevin Nash, Scott Hall and Sean Waltman, when trying to get a meeting with Hogan. On the January 21 edition of ''Impact!'' new Executive Producer Eric Bischoff fired Foley, after claiming to have been attacked by him. On the February 11 edition of ''Impact!'', Bischoff and Foley "talked it over", as Hogan had suggested two weeks prior, and Foley was entered in the 8 Card Stud Tournament at Against All Odds. The match was a No Disqualification match against Abyss, who won the match and advanced. On the March 15 edition of ''Impact!'' Bischoff announced that he would be shaving Foley bald as a punishment for trying to help Jeff Jarrett in a handicap match the previous week. At first Foley was seemingly going along with the plan, but at the last second he shoved Mr. Socko down Bischoff's throat, put him on the barber's chair and shaved him nearly bald. On the following edition of ''Impact!'', Foley lost to Jarrett in a No Disqualification Career vs. Career match set up by Bischoff, forcing Foley to kayfabe leave TNA. In reality, Foley was taken off television due to him being on his way to exceed the maximum number of dates per year on his contract, at the pace he was making appearances.

EV 2.0, feud with Immortal and departure (2010–2011)

Foley returned to TNA on July 12, 2010, at the tapings of the July 15 edition of ''Impact!'', leading an invasion of fellow ECW alumni TNA World Heavyweight Champion Rob Van Dam, Tommy Dreamer, Raven, Stevie Richards, Rhino, Brother Devon, Pat Kenney and Al Snow forming the team of EV 2.0. The following week, TNA president Dixie Carter agreed to give the ECW alumni their own reunion pay–per–view event, Hardcore Justice: The Last Stand, as a celebration of hardcore wrestling and a final farewell to the company. At the event Foley refereed a Final Showdown match between Tommy Dreamer and Raven. On the following edition of ''Impact!'', the ECW alumni, known collectively as Extreme, Version 2.0 (EV 2.0), were assaulted by A.J. Styles, Kazarian, Robert Roode, James Storm, Douglas Williams and Matt Morgan of Ric Flair's Fourtune stable, who thought they didn't deserve to be in TNA. In August Foley began writing a weekly column for TNA's website. On the October 7, 2010 live edition of ''Impact!'', Foley defeated Ric Flair in a Last Man Standing match. At Bound for Glory Foley was in EV 2.0's corner, when Dreamer, Raven, Rhino, Richards and Sabu defeated Fourtune members Styles, Kazarian, Morgan, Roode and Storm in a Lethal Lockdown match. After not appearing for two months, Foley returned on the December 23 edition of ''Impact!'', confronting Fortune and Immortal. After Genesis, Foley once again disappeared from TNA television, but kept making regular appearances at TNA house shows. At the tapings of the May 12 edition of ''Impact!'', Foley made his return to TV as he was revealed as the "Network" consultant, who had been causing problems for Immortal for the past months. On May 23, Foley, who had expressed frustration with TNA and said that he did not plan to renew his contract with the promotion once it would expire in the fall of 2011, made a joke on Twitter, comparing his Empty Arena match with The Rock to a TNA house show. On the following edition of ''Impact Wrestling'' on June 2, Hulk Hogan announced that Foley had been fired as the Network Executive. This was done to write off Foley, who had asked for his release from TNA, off television. His departure from the promotion was confirmed on June 5, 2011.

Writing career

From May 7 to July 1, 1999, Foley wrote his autobiography — without the aid of a ghostwriter, as he proudly notes in the introduction — in almost 800 pages of longhand. The book, ''Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks'', became hugely popular and topped The New York Times bestseller list for several weeks. The follow-up, ''Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling'', was published in 2001 and debuted at number one on the Times list. Foley has also written three children's books, ''Mick Foley's Halloween Hijinx'', ''Mick Foley's Christmas Chaos'', and ''Tales from Wrescal Lane''. He has also authored ''Tietam Brown'', a coming-of-age story which was nominated for the WHSmith People's Choice Award in 2004. Foley's second novel, ''Scooter'', was published in August 2005. His writing has generally received favorable reviews. The third part of his autobiography was called ''The Hardcore Diaries'', and highlights his 2004 feud with Randy Orton, his match and later partnership with Edge, and program with Ric Flair in 2006. ''The Hardcore Diaries'' also spent time on the New York Times bestseller list. Foley's newest book "Countdown to Lockdown" was published on October 1, 2010. On September 30, 2010, Joey Styles interviewed Foley on WWE.com, even though he's still with TNA, about his new book, while Michael Cole plugged the book on the September 27 edition of ''Raw'' and a piece was published by Foley in ''Slate'' of which portions were adapted from ''Countdown''. On November 10, 2010, Foley appeared on The Daily Show and Off the Record to discuss the book and his charity work. ''Countdown to Lockdown'' wound up becoming Foley's first memoir not to make it to the New York Times bestseller list.

List of works

Memoirs

(1999) ''Have a Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks.'' ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-039299-1. (credited as Mankind/Mick Foley)

(2001) ''Foley Is Good: And the Real World Is Faker than Wrestling.'' ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-103241-7.

(2007) ''The Hardcore Diaries.'' PocketBooks. ISBN 1-4165-3157-2

(2010) ''Countdown to Lockdown: A Hardcore Journal.'' Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-56461-3

Children's fiction

(2000) ''Mick Foley's Christmas Chaos.'' ReganBooks. ISBN 0-06-039414-5.

(2001) ''Mick Foley's Halloween Hijinx.'' HarperCollins Publishers. ISBN 0-06-000251-4.

(2004) ''Tales From Wrescal Lane.'' World Wrestling Entertainment.ISBN 0-7434-6634-9.

Adult fiction

(2003) ''Tietam Brown.'' Knopf. ISBN 0-375-41550-5.

(2005) ''Scooter.'' Knopf. ISBN 1-4000-4414-6.

Film, television and radio

One of Foley's earliest acting roles was in 1996. Shortly before he left for Stamford, Foley appeared in Atlanta filmmakers Barry Norman and Michael Williams' short subject ''Deadbeats'' as "Bird", an armed robber turned debt collector. One of Foley's first TV guest appearances was as a wrestler on USA Network's short-lived action-comedy ''G vs E''. He also featured prominently in the documentary ''Beyond the Mat''. Foley, as Mankind, also starred in a series of commercials for Chef Boyardee's beef ravioli. He appeared in the Insane Clown Posse vehicle ''Big Money Hustlas'' as Cactus Sac, which was basically the same character as his Cactus Jack persona.

In late 2001, Foley hosted a series of ''Robot Wars'' dubbed "Extreme Warriors." He also provided a guest voice for two episodes of the Nickelodeon animated series ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'', in which he portrayed a satirical earthbending wrestler named the Boulder (essentially a parody of Foley's friend and former partner the Rock), and provided the voice for Gorrath in the pilot episode of ''Megas XLR''. Foley appeared in an episode of ''Boy Meets World'' as Mankind, giving advice to Eric Matthews before giving Eric the mandible claw and an airplane spin. Foley was also a voice in an episode of ''Celebrity Deathmatch'' where he was an animated version of Mankind doing a stunt from the ceiling, and later in the same episode he fought and defeated Ernest Hemingway. Foley also had a small role in the 2007 thriller movie ''Anamorph'' starring Willem Dafoe.

Foley has frequently appeared on Air America Radio's ''Morning Sedition'', including several stints as a guest host and has appeared on ''The Rachel Maddow Show''. He also hosted WWE's radio show. Foley also occasionally appears on the ''Opie and Anthony Show''. In the summer of 2007, Mick Foley was filmed for the film ''Bloodstained Memoirs'', a wrestling documentary.

In 2009, Foley had a guest voice appearance on Adult Swim show ''Squidbillies'' as Thunder Clap, a former pro-wrestler (strongly resembling Hulk Hogan in both appearance and speech), who had recently gone through some tough times, during the Season 4 episode "Anabolic-holic". On August 22, 2009, Foley made his stand-up debut at the Improv in Los Angeles, CA. The event is being billed the "Total Xtreme Comedy show" and also features comedians, Steve Simone, Brad Williams, Bret Ernst and Ring of Honor's Colt Cabana, who is also making his stand-up debut. The money Foley makes from the event will go to Wrestler's Rescue, which creates awareness and helps raise money to support the health care needs of retired professional wrestlers. In October 2009, Foley was guest DJ on E Street Radio, a Satellite radio station dedicated to the music of Bruce Springsteen.

On November 19, 2009 Foley made his first appearance on ''The Daily Show with Jon Stewart''. Deemed the "Senior Ass Kicker", Foley defended the pro-gay rights views of Will Phillips. He showed up again on March 15, 2010 to help correspondent Wyatt Cenac compare politics to pro wrestling, giving speeches for and against the use of the filibuster. Due to his charitable work and for standing up for a Will Phillips, Foley was awarded a "Medal of Reasonableness" by Jon Stewart at the 2010 Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.

In mid 2010, Foley has appeared on Chicago Comic Con, where he had his own booth promoting TNA. He was also interviewed by Victory Records, mentioning his interest in Swedish hard rock band Sister Sin.

On September 27, 2010, it was announced that Union Square Agency and American Original would be producing a feature film based on Foley's life.

In November 2010 Foley was a contestant on an all TNA week of ''Family Feud'', teaming with Jay Lethal, Matt Morgan, Mr. Anderson and Rob Van Dam against Angelina Love, Christy Hemme, Lacey Von Erich, Tara and Velvet Sky.

Filmography

2010: ''Family Feud'' - as Himself (5 episodes)

2010: "Warren the Ape: Anger Management" - as Himself.

2010: ''Savage Hot Babe Massacre

2009–2010: ''The Daily Show'' - Himself (Job Title: "Senior Ass Kicker")(2 episodes)

2009: ''Hard Knocks'' - as TBA (Post-Production)

2009: ''Squidbillies'' - as Thunderclap (1 Episode, Anabolic-Holic)

2009: ''Bloodstained Memoirs'' - as Himself

2007: ''Anamorph'' - as Antique Store Owner

2007: ''Staten Island'' - as Pawn Shop Owner

2006–2007: ''Avatar: The Last Airbender'' - as The Boulder (Voice, 2 Episodes)

2003: ''Jimmy Kimmel Live'' - as Himself (Guest Co-Host, 5 Episodes)

2001: ''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno'' - as Himself (1 Episode)

2001: ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' - as Himself (Contestant)

2001: ''Robot Wars: Extreme Wars'' - as Himself (Host)

2000: ''Saturday Night Live'' - as Himself (1 Episode)

2000: ''Big Money Hustlas'' - as Cactus Sac

2000: ''Now and Again'' - as Charlie (1 Episode, "The Eggman Cometh")

2000: ''Celebrity Death Match'' - as Mankind (1 Episode, "Battle of the Heavy Metal Headbangers")

1999: ''Late Night with Conan O'Brien'' - as Himself (1 Episode)

1999: ''The Martin Short Show'' - as Himself (1 Episode)

1999: ''The Howard Stern Show'' - as Himself (1 Episode)

1999–2001: ''The Howard Stern Radio Show'' - as Himself (3 Episodes)

1999: ''G vs E'' - as Himself (1 Episode, "Sunday Night Evil")

1999: ''Boy Meets World'' - as Mankind (1 Episode, "For Love And Apartments")

1999: ''Total Request Live'' - as Mankind (1 Episode)

1999: ''Beyond the Mat'' - as Himself

Personal life

Foley and his wife Colette, (née Christie) have three sons and a daughter: Dewey Francis (born in 1992), Noelle Margaret (born in 1993), Michael Francis, Jr. (born in 2001), and Hughie Francis (born in 2003). Foley's father, Jack Foley, died on September 13, 2009.

Much of the Foley's charitible work revolves around children. Among his involvement, Foley has participated in numerous Make-a-Wish Foundation events; has made surprise visits to children in hospitals; and has visited schools and libraries to talk to students about the value of education and the importance of reading. Foley sponsors seven children with ChildFund International (formerly Christian Children's Fund), a group he has been affiliated with since 1992. In recent years, he has become one of the fund's leading donors, helping fund childhood education centers in the remote areas of the Philippines and Mexico, as well as four small community schools in the war-torn West African country of Sierra Leone. After visiting the country in November 2008, an experience he called "one of the best experiences of my life; maybe the best," Foley committed to funding a larger primary school as well, which was completed in September 2009.

Foley has visited U.S. troops at various military bases and military hospitals. For several years Foley visited wounded soldiers at Washington D.C. based military hospitals on almost a monthly basis, becoming known as a "Legend among hurt troops," according to a Washington Times article.

Having become a devoted fan of Tori Amos' music in 1993, (particularly the song "Winter" from the ''Little Earthquakes'' album), and following a meeting with Amos at the 2008 San Diego Comic Con, Foley became involved with the Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network (RAINN); a group Amos co-founded in 1994. He joined their National Leadership Council, a small group of key supporters who have given their time and money to help RAINN eliminate sexual violence. Foley donated 50% of the advance royalties from his memoir, "Countdown to Lockdown" to RAINN. The other 50% went toward helping sexual abuse victims in Sierra Leone. Foley began training to be a volunteer for RAINN's online hotline in January 2010 and was named RAINN's Volunteer of the Month in September 2010, an honor he stated was as special as any he had received in his career.

In April 2011 it was reported that Foley had logged more than 550 hours helping victims through RAINN's online hotline. The same month Foley offered to mow anyone's lawn who donated up to a certain amount to the organization stating, "If you want to help survivors of sexual assault, or just want to see a big guy with long hair mowing your lawn in front of your friends, please take part..."

Foley has been outspoken in his support for the Democratic party. During the 2004 election cycle, Foley argued the Democratic point of view in a WWE-sponsored debate against John "Bradshaw" Layfield, who spoke for the Republican side. He was a contributor to Barack Obama's campaign for the U.S. presidency in 2008.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

Double underhook DDT

''Mandible claw'' (WWF/E / TNA) / ''Love Handle'' (WWF) / ''Mr. Socko'' (WWF/E / TNA)

Signature moves

''Cactus clothesline'' – Innovated

''Cactus Elbow'' (Diving elbow drop to the outside of the ring)

''Cactus Jack Crack Smash'' / ''Nestea Plunge'' (Senton to the outside of the ring, usually from the ring apron)

Running knee lift to the face of an opponent seated in the corner

''Sweet Shin Music'' (Superkick to the shin) – parodied from Shawn Michaels

*Stump puller pile-driver

*Swinging neckbreaker

*Double axe handle to opponent in tree of woe

Managers

The Grand Lizard of Wrestling

Brian Hildebrand

Paul Bearer

Downtown Bruno

Ron Fuller

Kevin Sullivan

Nicknames

"The Hardcore Legend"

"The Unpredictable"

"Mrs. Foley's Baby Boy"

Entrance themes

*"Funeral March" by Frederic Chopin (WCW)

"Mr. Bang Bang" by Jimmy Papa, Larry Velez, and Michael Seitz (WCW)

"Welcome to the Jungle" by Guns N' Roses (UWF)

"Born to Be Wild" by Steppenwolf (ECW / IWC / ROH)

"Back in Black" by AC/DC (ECW)

"Schizophrenic" by Jim Johnston (WWF) (April 1 1996–January 4 1999)

"Wreck" by Jim Johnston (WWF/E / IWC) (January 11 1999–September 1 2008)

"Chic Chic Bang Bang" by Dale Oliver and Serg Salinas (TNA) (September 3 2008–June 5 2011)

Championships and accomplishments

Championship Wrestling Association

CWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Gary Young

Eastern Championship Wrestling / Extreme Championship Wrestling

ECW World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Mikey Whipwreck

Extreme Mid–South Wrestling

MSW North American Championship (1 time)

George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame

Frank Gotch Award (2010)

Great Lakes Championship Wrestling

*GLCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

International Wrestling Association of Japan

IWA World Tag Team Championship ''(IWA Japan version)'' (1 time) – with Tracy Smothers

*King of the Deathmatch (1995)

National Wrestling League

NWL Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Ozark Mountain Wrestling

OMW North American Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

PWI Match of the Year (1998) vs. The Undertaker in a Hell in a Cell match at King of the Ring

PWI Match of the Year (1999) vs. The Rock in an "I Quit" match at Royal Rumble

PWI Most Inspirational Wrestler of the Year (1993)

PWI ranked him #19 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the year in the PWI 500 in 1999

PWI ranked him #46 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003

Steel City Wrestling

SCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Blue Meanie

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

*TNA Legends Championship (1 time)

*TNA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

World Championship Wrestling

WCW World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Kevin Sullivan

World Class Wrestling Association

USWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Scott Braddock

WCWA World Light Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

WCWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Super Zodiak II (1) and Scott Braddock (1)

World Wrestling Federation / World Wrestling Entertainment

WWF Championship (3 times)

WWF Hardcore Championship (1 time)

WWF Tag Team Championship (8 times) – with Stone Cold Steve Austin (1), Chainsaw Charlie (1), Kane (2), Al Snow (1) and The Rock (3)

*WWF Commissioner (2 time)

*WWE Co-General Manager

* Kiss My Ass Club Member

*Slammy Award (1997) for Loose Screw

Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards

*Best Brawler (1991–2000)

*Best on Interviews (1995, 2004, 2006)

*Feud of the Year (2000) vs. Triple H

*Best Pro Wrestling Book (2010) for "Countdown to Lockdown"

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 2000)

Lucha de Apuesta record

{|class="wikitable" width=100% |- !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=5%|Wager !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Winner !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Loser !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Location !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=15%|Date !style="background: #e3e3e3;" width=20%|Notes |----- align="center" |Career |Triple H |Cactus Jack |Hartford, Connecticut | | |- align="center" |Career |Jeff Jarrett |Mick Foley |Orlando, Florida | | |}

See also

Rock 'n' Sock Connection

Footnotes

References

Further reading

Mick Foley Radio Interview

External links

MySpace.com/officialmickfoley (The Official MySpace Page of Mick Foley)

Gillespie Talent, booking agent for Mick Foley

Category:1965 births Category:Living people Category:American children's writers Category:American male professional wrestlers Category:American memoirists Category:American novelists Category:American writers of Irish descent Category:People from Bloomington, Indiana Category:People from Long Island Category:Professional wrestling executives Category:Professional wrestling managers and valets Category:Professional wrestling referees Category:Ward Melville High School alumni Category:State University of New York at Cortland alumni

bar:Mick Foley ca:Mick Foley da:Mick Foley de:Mick Foley es:Mick Foley fr:Mick Foley it:Mick Foley he:מייקל פרנסיס פולי nl:Mick Foley ja:ミック・フォーリー no:Mick Foley pl:Mick Foley pt:Mick Foley ro:Mick Foley ru:Мик Фоли sco:Mick Foley simple:Mick Foley fi:Mick Foley sv:Mick Foley th:มิค โฟลีย์ tr:Mick Foley zh:米克·佛利

name	Mick Jagger
background	solo_singer
birth name	Michael Philip Jagger
born	July 26, 1943Dartford, Kent, England
genre	Rock, rock and roll, blues rock, rhythm and blues, funk, psychedelic rock, soul
instrument	Vocals, harmonica, percussion, guitar, bass, keyboards
occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, record and film producer, actor
years active	1961–present
label	Virgin, Rolling Stones, ABKCO, Universal
associated acts	The Rolling Stones, Super Heavy
website	MickJagger.com }}

Sir Michael Philip "Mick" Jagger (born 26 July 1943) is an English musician, singer-songwriter, actor and producer, best known as the lead vocalist of rock band The Rolling Stones. Jagger has also acted in and produced several films.

The Rolling Stones started in the early 1960s as a rhythm and blues cover band with Jagger as frontman. Beginning in 1964, Jagger and guitarist Keith Richards developed a songwriting partnership, and by the mid-1960s the group had evolved into a major rock band. Frequent conflict with the authorities (including alleged drug use and his romantic involvements) ensured that during this time Jagger was never far from the headlines, and he was often portrayed as a counterculture figure. In the late 1960s Jagger began acting in films (starting with ''Performance'' and ''Ned Kelly''), to mixed reception. In the 1970s, Jagger, with the rest of the Stones, became tax exiles, consolidated their global position and gained more control over their business affairs with the formation of the Rolling Stones Records label. During this time, Jagger was also known for his high-profile marriages to Bianca Jagger and later to Jerry Hall. In 1985, Jagger released his first solo album, ''She's the Boss''. He was knighted in 2003.

Jagger's career has spanned over 50 years. His performance style has been said to have "opened up definitions of gendered masculinity and so laid the foundations for self-invention and sexual plasticity which are now an integral part of contemporary youth culture". In 2006, he was ranked by ''Hit Parader'' as the fifteenth greatest heavy metal singer of all time, despite not being associated with the genre. Allmusic has described Jagger as "one of the most popular and influential frontmen in the history of rock & roll". His distinctive voice and performance, along with Keith Richards' guitar style, have been the trademark of The Rolling Stones throughout their career.

Life and career

Early life

Jagger was born into a middle class family at the Livingstone Hospital, in Dartford, Kent, England. His father, Basil Fanshawe ("Joe") Jagger (13 April 1913 – 11 November 2006), and his paternal grandfather, David Ernest Jagger, were both teachers. His mother, Eva Ensley Mary (née Scutts; 6 April 1913 – 18 May 2000), born in New South Wales, Australia, was a hairdresser and an active member of the Conservative Party. Jagger is the elder of two sons (his brother Chris Jagger was born on 19 December 1947) and was raised to follow in his father's career path.

In the book ''According to the Rolling Stones'', Jagger states "I was always a singer. I always sang as a child. I was one of those kids who just ''liked'' to sing. Some kids sing in choirs; others like to show off in front of the mirror. I was in the church choir and I also loved listening to singers on the radio – the BBC or Radio Luxembourg – or watching them on TV and in the movies."

From September 1950, Keith Richards and Jagger (known as "Mike" to his friends) were classmates at Wentworth Primary School in Dartford, Kent. In 1954, Jagger passed the eleven-plus, and went to Dartford Grammar School, where there is now The Mick Jagger Centre, as part of the school. Having lost contact with each other when they went to different schools, Richards and Jagger resumed their friendship in July 1960 after a chance encounter and discovered that they had both developed a love for rhythm and blues music, which began for Jagger with Little Richard.

Jagger left school in 1961. He obtained seven O-levels and three A-levels. Jagger and Richards moved into a flat in Edith Grove in Chelsea with a guitarist they had encountered named Brian Jones. While Richards and Jones were making plans to start their own rhythm and blues group, Jagger continued his business courses at the London School of Economics, and had seriously considered becoming either a journalist or a politician. Jagger had compared the latter to a pop star.

Career

Early years: 1960s

In their earliest days, the members played for no money in the interval of Alexis Korner's gigs at a basement club opposite Ealing Broadway tube station (subsequently called "Ferry's" club). At the time, the group had very little equipment and needed to borrow Alexis' gear to play. This was before Andrew Loog Oldham became their manager.

The group’s first appearance under the name The Rollin' Stones (after one of their favourite Muddy Waters tunes) was at the Marquee Club, a jazz club, on 12 July 1962. They would later change their name to “The Rolling Stones” as it seemed more formal. Victor Bockris states that the band members included Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Brian Jones, Ian Stewart on piano, Dick Taylor on bass and Tony Chapman on drums. However, Richards states in ''Life'', "The drummer that night was Mick Avory—not Tony Chapman, as history has mysteriously handed it down..." Some time later, the band went on their first tour in the United Kingdom; this was known as the “training ground” tour because it was a new experience for all of them. The line-up did not at that time include drummer Charlie Watts and bassist Bill Wyman. By 1963, they were finding their stride as well as popularity. By 1964, two unscientific opinion polls rated them as England's most popular group, outranking even the Beatles.

By the autumn of 1963, Jagger had left the London School of Economics in favour of his promising musical career with the Rolling Stones. The group continued to mine the works of American rhythm and blues artists such as Chuck Berry and Bo Diddley, but with the strong encouragement of Andrew Loog Oldham, Jagger and Richards soon began to write their own songs. This core songwriting partnership would flourish in time; one of their early compositions, "As Tears Go By", was a song written for Marianne Faithfull, a young singer being promoted by Loog Oldham at the time. For the Rolling Stones, the duo would write "The Last Time", the group's third number-one single in the UK (their first two UK number-one hits had been cover versions). Another of the fruits of this collaboration was their first international hit, "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction". It also established The Rolling Stones’ image as defiant troublemakers in contrast to The Beatles' "lovable moptop" image.

Jagger told Stephen Schiff in a 1992 ''Vanity Fair'' profile: "I wasn't trying to be rebellious in those days; I was just being me. I wasn't trying to push the edge of anything. I'm being me and ordinary, the guy from suburbia who sings in this band, but someone older might have thought it was just the most awful racket, the most terrible thing, and where are we going if this is music?... But all those songs we sang were pretty tame, really. People didn't think they were, but I thought they were tame."

The group released several successful albums including ''December's Children (And Everybody's)'', ''Aftermath'', and ''Between the Buttons'', but their reputations were catching up to them. In 1967, Jagger and Richards were arrested on drug charges and were given unusually harsh sentences: Jagger was sentenced to three months' imprisonment for possession of four over-the-counter pep pills he had purchased in Italy. On appeal, Richards' sentence was overturned and Jagger's was amended to a conditional discharge (he ended up spending one night inside Brixton Prison) after an article appeared in ''The Times'', written by its traditionally conservative editor William (now Lord) Rees-Mogg, but the Rolling Stones continued to face legal battles for the next decade. Around the same time, internal struggles about the direction of the group had begun to surface.

1970s

After Jones' death and their move in 1971 to the south of France as tax exiles, Jagger and the rest of the band changed their look and style as the 1970s progressed. For the Rolling Stones' highly publicised 1972 American tour, Jagger wore glam-rock clothing and glittery makeup on stage. Later in the decade, they ventured into genres like disco and punk with the album ''Some Girls'' (1978). Their interest in the blues, however, had been made manifest in the 1972 album ''Exile on Main St''. His emotional singing on the gospel-influenced ''Let It Loose'', one of the album's tracks, has been described by music critic Russell Hall as having been Jagger's finest ever vocal achievement.

After the band's acrimonious split with their second manager, Allen Klein, in 1971, Jagger took control of their business affairs and has managed them ever since in collaboration with his friend and colleague, Rupert Löwenstein. Mick Taylor, Brian Jones's replacement, left the band in December 1974 and was replaced by Faces guitarist Ronnie Wood in 1975, who also operated as a mediator within the group, and between Jagger and Richards in particular.

1980s

While continuing to tour and release albums with the Rolling Stones, Jagger began a solo career. In 1985, he released his first solo album ''She's the Boss'' produced by Nile Rodgers and Bill Laswell, featuring Herbie Hancock, Jeff Beck, Jan Hammer, Pete Townshend, and the Compass Point All Stars. It sold fairly well, and the single "Just Another Night" was a Top Ten hit. During this period, he collaborated with The Jacksons on the song "State of Shock", sharing lead vocals with Michael Jackson. For his own personal contributions in the 1985 Live Aid multi-venue charity concert, he performed at Philadelphia's JFK Stadium; he did a duet with Tina Turner of "It's Only Rock and Roll", and the performance was highlighted by Jagger tearing away a part of Turner's dress. He also did a cover of "Dancing in the Street" with David Bowie, who himself appeared at Wembley Stadium. The video was shown simultaneously on the screens of both Wembley and JFK Stadiums. The song reached number one in the UK the same year.

In 1987, he released his second solo album, ''Primitive Cool''. While it failed to match the commercial success of his debut, it was critically well received.

In 1988, he produced the songs "Glamour Boys" and "Which Way to America" on Living Colour's album ''Vivid''. He also collaborated with The Jacksons on the song "State of Shock". 15–28 March, he has a solo concert tour in Japan(Tokyo, Nagoya and Osaka). Show at 22 March is "Tokyo Dome" first performance of Japan's overseas artist.

1990s

''Wandering Spirit'' was the third solo album by Jagger and was released in 1993. It would be his only solo album release of the 1990s. Jagger aimed to re-introduce himself as a solo artist in a musical climate vastly changed from what had witnessed the release of his first two projects, ''She's the Boss'' and ''Primitive Cool''.

Following the successful comeback of the Rolling Stones' ''Steel Wheels'' (1989), which saw the end of Jagger and Richards' well-publicised feud, Jagger began routining new material for what would become ''Wandering Spirit''. In January 1992, after acquiring Rick Rubin as co-producer, Jagger recorded the album in Los Angeles over seven months until September 1992, recording simultaneously as Richards was making ''Main Offender''.

Jagger would keep the celebrity guests to a minimum on ''Wandering Spirit'', only having Lenny Kravitz as a vocalist on his cover of Bill Withers' "Use Me" and bassist Flea from Red Hot Chili Peppers on three tracks.

Following the end of the Rolling Stones' Sony Music contract and their signing to Virgin Records, Jagger elected to sign with Atlantic Records (which had signed the Stones in the 1970s) to distribute what would be his only album with the label.

Released in February 1993, ''Wandering Spirit'' was commercially successful, reaching #12 in the UK and #11 in the US, going gold there. The track "Sweet Thing" was the lead single, although it was the third single, "Don't Tear Me Up", which found moderate success, topping Billboard's Album Rock Tracks chart for one week. Critical reaction was very strong, noting Jagger's abandonment of slick synthesisers in favour of an incisive and lean guitar sound.

Contemporary reviewers tend to consider ''Wandering Spirits'' a high point of Jagger's latter-day career achievements.

2000s

In 2001, Jagger released ''Goddess in the Doorway'' spawning the hit single "Visions of Paradise".

He celebrated The Rolling Stones' 40th anniversary by touring with them on the year-long ''Licks'' tour in support of their career retrospective ''Forty Licks'' double album.

On 26 September 2007, The Rolling Stones made US$437 million on their A Bigger Bang Tour, which got them into the current edition of ''Guinness World Records'' for the most lucrative music tour. Jagger has refused to say when the band will finally retire, stating in 2007: "I'm sure the Rolling Stones will do more things and more records and more tours. We've got no plans to stop any of that really."

2010s

On 20 May 2011, Jagger announced the formation of a new supergroup, the first band he had formed since the Rolling Stones. The band, SuperHeavy includes Dave Stewart, Joss Stone, Damian Marley, and A.R. Rahman.

Relationship with Keith Richards

Jagger's relationship with band mate Richards is frequently described as "love/hate" by the media.

Richards himself said in a 1998 interview: "I think of our differences as a family squabble. If I shout and scream at him, it's because no one else has the guts to do it or else they're paid not to do it. At the same time I'd hope Mick realises that I'm a friend who is just trying to bring him into line and do what needs to be done." Richards, along with Johnny Depp, tried unsuccessfully to persuade Jagger to appear in ''Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides'', alongside Depp and Richards.

Richards' autobiography, ''Life'', was released 26 October 2010. On 15 October 2010, the Associated Press published an article stating that Richards refers to Mick Jagger as "unbearable" in the book and notes that their relationship has been strained "for decades."

Acting and film production

Jagger has also had an intermittent acting career, most notably in Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg's ''Performance'' (1968) and as Australian bushranger ''Ned Kelly'' (1970). He composed an improvised soundtrack for Kenneth Anger's film ''Invocation Of My Demon Brother'' on the Moog synthesiser in 1969. He auditioned for the role of Dr. Frank N. Furter in the 1975 film adaptation of The Rocky Horror Show, a now iconic role that was eventually played by the original performer from its run on London's West End, Tim Curry. Appeared as himself in The Rutles film ''All You Need Is Cash'' in 1978. In the late 1970s, Jagger was cast as Wilbur, a main character in Werner Herzog's ''Fitzcarraldo.'' However, a delay and the illness of main actor Jason Robards (later replaced by Klaus Kinski) in the film's notoriously difficult production resulted in his being unable to continue due to schedule conflicts with a band tour; some of the footage of his work is shown in the documentary ''Burden of Dreams''. He developed a reputation for playing the heavy later in his acting career in films including ''Freejack'' (1992), ''Bent'' (1997), and ''The Man From Elysian Fields'' (2002).

In 1995, Jagger founded Jagged Films with Victoria Pearman "[to] start my own projects instead of just going in other people's and being involved peripherally or doing music." Its first release was the World War II drama ''Enigma'' in 2001. That same year, it produced a documentary on Jagger entitled ''Being Mick.'' The program, which first aired on television 22 November, coincided with the release of his fourth solo album, ''Goddess in the Doorway.''

In 2008, the company began work on ''The Women'', an adaptation of the George Cukor film of the same name. It was directed by Diane English. Reviving the 1939 film met with countless delays, but Jagger's company was credited with obtaining $24 million of much-needed financing to finally begin casting. English told ''Entertainment Weekly'': "This was much easier in 1939, when all the ladies were under contract, and they had to take the roles they were told to."

The Rolling Stones have been the subjects of numerous documentaries, including ''Gimme Shelter'', which was made as the band was gaining fame in the United States. Martin Scorsese worked with Jagger on ''Shine a Light,'' a documentary film featuring the Rolling Stones with footage from the A Bigger Bang Tour during two nights of performances at New York's Beacon Theatre. It screened in Berlin in February 2008. ''Variety'''s Todd McCarthy said the film "takes full advantage of heavy camera coverage and top-notch sound to create an invigorating musical trip down memory lane, as well as to provoke gentle musings on the wages of ageing and the passage of time." He predicted the film would fare better once released to video than in its limited theatrical runs.

Jagger was a producer of, and guest-starred in the first episode of the short-lived comedy ''The Knights of Prosperity'', which aired in 2007 on ABC.''

Personal life

Jagger is known for his many high-profile relationships. He has been married twice and has had numerous romantic connections.

In 1970, Mick Jagger purchased Stargroves at East Woodhay in Hampshire as his country estate. It was often used as a recording venue. In the same year, he began a relationship with Nicaraguan-born Bianca De Macias, whom he married on 12 May 1971, in a Catholic ceremony in Saint-Tropez, France. The couple separated in 1977 and in May 1978, she filed for divorce on the grounds of his adultery. Bianca later said "My marriage ended on my wedding day." In late 1977, he began seeing model Jerry Hall, while still married to Bianca. After a lengthy cohabitation and several children together, the couple married on 21 November 1990, in a Hindu beach ceremony in Indonesia and moved together to Downe House in Richmond, Surrey. Jagger later contested the validity of the ceremony, and the marriage was annulled in August 1999. Jagger has also been romantically linked to other women: Chrissie Shrimpton, Marianne Faithfull, Anita Pallenberg, Marsha Hunt, Pamela Des Barres, Uschi Obermaier, Bebe Buell, Carly Simon, Margaret Trudeau, Mackenzie Phillips, Janice Dickinson, Carla Bruni, Sophie Dahl and Angelina Jolie, among others.

Jagger has seven children by four women: :*By Marsha Hunt, he has daughter Karis Hunt Jagger (born 4 November 1970). :*By Bianca Jagger, he has daughter Jade Sheena Jezebel Jagger (born 21 October 1971). :*By Jerry Hall he has daughter Elizabeth Scarlett Jagger (born 2 March 1984), son James Leroy Augustin Jagger (born 28 August 1985), daughter Georgia May Ayeesha Jagger (born 12 January 1992) and son Gabriel Luke Beauregard Jagger (born 9 December 1997) :*By Luciana Gimenez, he has son Lucas Maurice Morad Jagger (born 18 May 1999).

He also has four grandchildren.

His father, Joe, died on 11 November 2006, at the age of 93.

In 2008, it was revealed that members of the Hells Angels had plotted to murder Jagger in 1975. They were angered by Jagger's public blaming of the Hells Angels, who had been hired to provide "security" at the Altamont Free Concert in December 1969, for much of the crowd violence at the event. The conspirators reportedly used a boat to approach a residence where Jagger was staying on Long Island, New York; the plot failed when the boat was nearly sunk by a storm.

Jagger is an avid cricket fan. He founded Jagged Internetworks so he could get coverage of English Cricket.

His personal fortune was estimated in 2010, at £190 million (~$298 million US).

He said in September 2010 that he has a daily meditation and Buddhist practice.

Knighthood

On 12 December 2003, Jagger was knighted for Services to Music, as Sir Michael Jagger by The Prince of Wales. Mick Jagger's knighthood received mixed reactions. Some fans were disappointed when he accepted the honour as it seemed to contradict his anti-establishment stance.

As United Press International noted, the honour is odd, for unlike other knighted rock musicians, he has no "known record of charitable work or public services," although he is a patron of the British Museum. Jagger was absent from the Queen's Golden Jubilee pop concert at Buckingham Palace that marked her 50 years on the throne.

Charlie Watts was quoted in the book ''According to the Rolling Stones'' as saying, "Anybody else would be lynched: 18 wives and 20 children and he's knighted, fantastic!" The ceremony took place in December 2003. Jagger’s father and daughters Karis and Elizabeth were in attendance.

Jagger's knighthood also caused some friction between him and bandmate Keith Richards, who was irritated when Jagger accepted the "paltry honour". Richards said that he did not want to take the stage with someone wearing a "coronet and sporting the old ermine. It's not what the Stones is about, is it?" Jagger retorted: "I think he would probably like to get the same honour himself. It's like being given an ice cream—one gets one and they all want one."

Mick Jagger in popular culture

From the time that the Rolling Stones developed their anti-establishment image in the mid-1960s, Mick Jagger, along with guitarist Keith Richards, has been an enduring icon of the counterculture. This was no doubt enhanced by his controversial drug-related arrests, sexually charged onstage antics, provocative song lyrics, and his role of the bisexual Turner in the 1970 film ''Performance''. One of his biographers, Christopher Andersen, describes him as being "one of the dominant cultural figures of our time", adding that Jagger was "the story of a generation".

Jagger, who at the time described himself as an anarchist and espoused the leftist slogans of the era, took part in a demonstration against the Vietnam War outside the US Embassy in London in 1968. This event inspired him to write "Street Fighting Man" that same year and served to reinforce his rebellious, anti-authority stance in the eyes of his fans.

A variety of celebrities attended a lavish party at New York's St. Regis Hotel to celebrate Jagger's 29th birthday and the end of the band's 1972 American tour. The party made the front pages of the leading New York newspapers.

Pop artist Andy Warhol painted a series of silkscreen portraits of Jagger in 1975, one of which was owned by Farah Diba, wife of the Shah of Iran. It hung on a wall inside the royal palace in Teheran. In 1967, Cecil Beaton photographed Jagger's naked buttocks, a photo that sold at Sotheby's auction house in 1986 for $4,000.

On 26 September 2005 the British band Infadels released a single entitled "Jagger '67" which later appeared on their album We Are Not The Infadels. Jagger is directly referred to in pop singer Kesha's 2009 debut single ''Tik Tok''. Jagger was allegedly a contender for the anonymous subject of Carly Simon's 1973 hit song ''You're So Vain'', in which he sings backing vocals. Although Don McLean does not use Jagger's name in his famous song "American Pie", he alludes to Jagger onstage at Altamont, calling him Satan. (Jagger had assumed the guise of Satan in "Sympathy For The Devil", a track from the album ''Beggar's Banquet''.)

In 2010 a retrospective exhibitions of portraits of Mick Jagger was presented at the festival Rencontres d'Arles, in France. The authors of the 70 pictures are Bryan Adams, Brian Aris, Enrique Badulescu, Cecil Beaton, Simone Cecchetti, William Christie, Anton Corbijn, Kevin Cummins, Sante D’Orazio, Deborah Feingold, Tony Frank, Claude Gassian, Harry Goodwin, Anwar Hussein, Karl Lagerfeld, Annie Leibovitz, Peter Lindbergh, Gered Mankowitz, Jim Marshall, David Montgomery, Terry O’Neill, Guy Peellaert, Jean-Marie Périer, Michael Putland, Ken Regan, Herb Ritts, Ethan Russell, Francesco Scavullo, Norman Seeff, Mark Seliger, Dominique Tarl, Pierre Terrasson, Andy Warhol, Albert Watson, Robert Whitaker, Baron Wolman. The catalogue of the exihibition is the first photo album of Mick Jagger and shows the evolution of the artist in 50 years of career.

A single entitled "Moves Like Jagger" was released in June 2011 on the television program ''The Voice'' by judges Adam Levine and Christina Aguilera. The song is about Mick's onstage and ladykiller-esque swagger.

Alan Moore and Kevin O'Neill's ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century'', makes several references to ''Performance'' in its second issue, "Paint it Black", prominently featuring Mick Jagger's Turner character and features a fictionalized version of Brian Jones' tribute concert.

Discography

Albums

!Year	!Album details	UK Albums Chart>UK	Billboard 200>US	British Phonographic Industry>BPI / Recording Industry Association of America
1985	''[[She's the Boss''	* Released: 21 February 1985	* Label: CBS Records		(11 wks)		(29 wks)	UK: Silver	US: Platinum
1987	''Primitive Cool''	* Released: 14 September 1987	* Label: CBS Records		(5 wks)		(20 wks)
1993		* Released: 9 February 1993	* Label: Atlantic Records		(4 wks)		(16 wks)	US: Gold
2001	''Goddess in the Doorway''	* Released: 19 November 2001	* Label: Virgin Records		(4 wks)		(8 wks)	UK: Silver
2007	''The Very Best of Mick Jagger''	* Released: 1 October 2007	Rhino Entertainment>Rhino Records		(1 wk)		(2 wks)

Soundtrack

!Year	!Album details	Billboard 200>US
2004		* Release date: 18 October 2004	* Label: Virgin Records		(2 wks)

Singles

Release date	!A-side	!width="50"
	''Burden of Dreams''
1987	''Running Out of Luck''
1991	''At the Max''
1992	''Freejack''
1997
1999
	''Enigma (2001 film)
''[[The Man from Elysian Fields''
''Being Mick''
2003	''Mayor of the Sunset Strip''
2008

References

External links

in 2002

Sir Michael Philip ('Mick') Jagger (1943–), Singer and composer: Sitter associated with 33 portraits (National Portrait Gallery)

The Rolling Stones – Mick Jagger

Mick Jagger Joins a New ABC Sitcom

1983 Audio interview with Mick Jagger-discusses "Undercover" album Classic Rock Central

National Museum of Australia A collection of film memorabilia, including fascimiles of Ned Kelly's armour used in the film ''Ned Kelly'', is held at the National Museum of Australia.

}}

Category:1943 births Category:Living people Category:2012 Summer Olympics cultural ambassadors Category:Alumni of the London School of Economics Category:English Buddhists Category:English blues singers Category:English expatriates in the United States Category:English film actors Category:English-language singers Category:English male singers Category:English rock musicians Category:English rock singers Category:English songwriters Category:Ivor Novello Award winners Category:Knights Bachelor Category:People from Dartford Category:People from Hampshire Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Rolling Stones members Category:British rhythm and blues boom musicians Category:People educated at Dartford Grammar School

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Name	Linda McMahon
Birth name	Linda Marie Edwards
Birth date	October 04, 1948
Birth place	New Bern, North Carolina
Residence	Greenwich, Connecticut
Education	Bachelor of Arts
Alma mater	East Carolina University (B.A.)
Employer	WWE (1980-2009)
Occupation	co-founder of Titan Sports, Inc.Business Manager (1980-2009)President (1993-2000)CEO (1997-2009)
Home town	New Bern, North Carolina
Party	Republican
Boards	Connecticut State Board of Education (2009–2010)Sacred Heart University (2004–present)
Religion	Roman Catholic, (formerly Baptist)
Spouse	Vince McMahon (1966-present)
Children	Shane McMahonStephanie McMahon-Levesque
Networth	$156-400 million (2010)|awards
Footnotes	}}

Linda Marie McMahon (née Edwards) (born October 4, 1948) is an American professional wrestling magnate and politician. She is notable for her career developing WWE with her husband Vince McMahon. She was in the company from 1980 to 2009. During this time, WWE grew from a small regional business in New York to a large multinational. Linda and her husband became wealthy through the WWE's success, and the McMahon family name is now synonymous with the wrestling industry. As President and later CEO of the company, she negotiated business deals, launched wrestling merchandise, signed wrestler contracts, and managed and wrote for WWE publications. She also started the company's civic programs, Get REAL and Smackdown Your Vote. McMahon has occasionally performed in the ring, most notably in a wrestling feud with her husband which climaxed at WrestleMania 17.

McMahon left WWE in 2009 to run for U.S. Senator of Connecticut. She won the Republican primary and faced Democrat Richard Blumenthal. At one point in the campaign, she approached within 3 points of Blumenthal, but she lost on election day by 11%. McMahon spent over $50 million of her own money on the campaign.

Early life

McMahon was born Linda Marie Edwards to Henry and Evelyn Edwards in New Bern, North Carolina. She was an only child and grew up as a "jock", playing basketball and baseball. Her parents were both employees Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, a military base. She was raised in a traditional, conservative family and attended Catholic Mass regularly. During one Mass, Edwards, at the age of 13, happened to meet Vince McMahon, then 16. Her mother worked in the same building as McMahon's mother, although they had not met.

Vince's mother became good friends with the Edwards family, and Vince, who had lived with several abusive stepfathers, enjoyed the feeling of stability that he felt at the home. Edwards and McMahon dated throughout their high school years. She attended Havelock High School and Vince attended nearby Fishburne Military School. During this time, Vince was a "permanent fixture" at her home, spending hours with Linda and her family. He attended East Carolina University, studying business administration. Edwards was an Honors student in high school and aspired to become a pediatrician. Shortly after her high school graduation, Vince asked her to marry him. They married on August 26, 1966, when she was 17. She enrolled at East Carolina University in 1966, where she obtained a Bachelor of Arts in French and gained certification to teach. From 1968-1971, Vince worked as a traveling cup salesman before joining his father's company, the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF). Linda finished college in three years so she could graduate together with Vince. Their son Shane was born in 1970 followed by daughter Stephanie in 1976.

Early career

In 1969 the McMahons moved to Gaithersburg, Maryland and Vince began working as an independent promoter with his father’s company, Capitol Wrestling, located in Washington, D.C. Linda worked as a receptionist at the corporate law firm of Covington & Burling. She translated French documents and trained as a paralegal in the probate department. Linda learned a great deal about intellectual property rights, which she found useful in her later career.

Financially, the couple fared poorly for several years, and in 1976, while pregnant with Stephanie, Linda and her husband filed for bankruptcy. They also briefly received food stamps, until her husband took on a 90-hour a week job at a quarry.

By 1979 Vince had decided to start his own wrestling company. He purchased the Cape Cod Coliseum in Massachusetts and founded Titan Sports, Inc. in 1980. Vince and Linda held small hockey and other sporting events in addition to wrestling at the Cape Cod Coliseum. At one point, Linda cooked meatball sandwiches to feed the fans at these sporting events. As the company grew, Linda assisted Vince with administration and used her knowledge of intellectual property law to assist in trademark protection for the company. However, during much of these early years, Linda personally had little interest in professional wrestling.

In 1982, Vince McMahon purchased Capitol Wrestling, better known as the World Wide Wrestling Federation, from his father. This made Vince the owner of a large regional wrestling company, well-established in the Northeast. He later expanded his market by airing WWF shows on national television.

In 1983 the McMahons moved to Greenwich, Connecticut, where they continue to reside . McMahon has 5 grandchildren.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Corporate

Linda and Vince founded Titan Sports, Inc. in 1980. Many workers in the company referred to her as the “co-chief executive”. Linda became President and CEO of the company in 1993. The company's explosive growth and the way it transformed the wrestling industry caused some observers to label her and Vince "business geniuses".

One of Linda’s major interests in WWE was product merchandising. She negotiated many of the company’s business deals with outside vendors, establishing the company’s first line of action figures, Wrestling Superstars, in 1984. It was a first in the wrestling industry and helped expand the company’s popularity to children. She also was the primary negotiator for the World Wrestling Federation's 2000 TV deal with Viacom.

During an interview with the ''Detroit News'', when asked what it was like being CEO in a "testosterone-charged industry", McMahon replied, "It's lots of fun. I'm an only child, so I grew up as my father's son and mother's daughter. I was quite a jock. I played baseball, basketball—I think that background made Vince and I very compatible. I really have a very good understanding of the male psyche—I'm very comfortable in a guy environment. I have to say that there are very strong women in this company as well. Our human resources division and our consumer goods division are headed by women—It's still a testosterone business, and I like it."

Tom Cole

In February 1992, Tom Cole, a young WWF employee whose job was to set up the wrestling ring, alleged that he had been sexually harassed by several company employees.

According to Politico.com, "the WWF fired two men accused of harassing the young 'ring boys' who followed the wrestling circuit from city to city, and accepted the resignation of a third". "Modest" settlements were paid to three ring boys. Cole said that Linda encouraged him to share any information he had regarding the Federal steroid investigation. In 1993, Cole enrolled in college at the company's expense, but after a year of failing grades he was terminated in June 1993. After he filed for unemployment, Linda McMahon repeatedly challenged him at unemployment hearings with a company lawyer. Cole successfully received unemployment benefits from the company until 1995.

Cole's story raised questions, however, because he never filed a criminal complaint, came forward only long after the alleged incidents took place and later returned to work with one of the alleged harassers.

In a 1999 interview, Cole said he was bitter at Linda, but in 2010, after Politico attempted to contact him, Cole released an email through the WWE praising her. In the email he said, “I can truly say without hesitation I’m thankful for how Linda handled my situation. Without me going out into the world and finding myself, god knows where I'd be. I'm sending a check to Linda's campaign fund this evening. She is after all my favorite type of Politician...Fiscally Sound. As a life long Republican I hope she wins.”

Steroids and the WWE

Linda became President of the WWF in 1993. At the time, Vince had been indicted on charges he distributed steroids to his wrestlers. Steroid usage was rampant in the wrestling industry during the 1980s, but after passage of the Anti-Drug Abuse Act, it became an illicit substance. The Act, passed in 1988, making possession and distribution of anabolic steroids a federal crime. Federal drug enforcement agencies collected evidence on the WWF beginning in 1989, using undercover informants to expose a drug ring inside the company. The FBI and FDA arrested the WWF’s staff doctor, George Zahorian, in May 1990, after months of undercover steroid purchases from him. On May 27, 1990, they put a microphone on informant William Dunn, a strength trainer from North Carolina, and recorded his conversation with Zahorian during a steroid transaction worth $7,000. After Dunn made his purchase, agents arrested Zahorian and charged him with drug distribution.

Zahorian went on trial in February 1991, facing drug charges carrying up to 40 years in jail. His trial was widely publicized because wrestlers Brian Blair, Rick Martel, Roddy Piper, and Dan Spivey testified, saying they had purchased steroids from Zahorian after 1988. Billy Graham, who used steroids for many years, testified to buying steroids from Zahorian and said he became sterile, had liver problems, and suffered a degenerative bone disease as a result. Zahorian’s lawyer said he was the first doctor to be charged under the Anti-Drug Abuse Act and had no way of knowing the law had changed. He was found guilty in 1991 of 12 counts of drug distribution (8 for steroids, 4 for illegally-prescribed painkillers) and was sentenced to 3 years in prison.

In 1991, Vince announced that the company would begin testing its wrestlers for steroids. Two wrestlers, The British Bulldog and Chris Walker, were suspended in May 1992 for violating the policy. The World Bodybuilding Federation, a bodybuilding enterprise started by Vince, was entirely shut down as a result of ongoing steroid abuse. Vince was indicted in 1993 on steroid distribution charges using evidence from Zahorian's case. During his trial, testimony from wrestlers and drug investigators proved that many of the WWF's top stars, including Hulk Hogan, were using steroids to enhance their physiques. Hogan admitted to using steroids during the trial, saying it had been a part of his training regimen for over 13 years, but Vince never had encouraged him to use them. Because of Hogan's testimony, Vince was acquitted of all charges. The jury ruled that steroid use had been an individual choice, not a company policy.

Linda's Memorandum to Pat Patterson

During the trial, prosecutors revealed a 1989 memo Linda wrote to the company's Vice President, Pat Patterson. The memo directed Patterson to fire Zahorian and inform him of imminent legal charges charging him with steroid distribution.

Zahorian stated that he received a call from Patterson about a possible criminal investigation, and after their conversation, he immediately brought all documents related to the WWF to a lawyer. Hulk Hogan, who was receiving steroids from the doctor, said he severed ties to the doctor after a conversation with Patterson.

Linda's memo to Patterson became known publicly as the "Tip-Off Memo" during her campaign for Senate in 2010. It became a political liability used against her in both the nomination and general election campaigns.

Federal steroids investigation (2007–2009)

Following the murder-suicide of Chris Benoit in 2007, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee investigated steroid usage in the wrestling industry. The Committee investigated WWE and Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), asking for documentation of their companies' drug policies. Linda and Vince both testified. The documents stated that 75 wrestlers—roughly 40 percent—had tested positive for drug use since 2006, most commonly for steroids.

Committee Chairman Henry Waxman sent a scathing letter to the Office of National Drug Control Policy in January 2009 stating that drug use was "pervasive" in professional wrestling. The issue lay unresolved when Waxman left the Committee on January 3, 2009 to pursue a chairmanship in the United States House Committee on Energy and Commerce. Before leaving he sent a letter to then-drug czar John P. Walters, requesting that "ONDCP examine steroid use in professional wrestling and take appropriate steps to address this problem." Neither Walters nor his successor, Gil Kerlikowske, ever pursued the matter. Waxman's own Committee, the Oversight and Government Reform Committee, abandoned the issue after his departure.

Linda was asked why there had been no follow-up during a televised interview with ''CBS Face the State'' on January 20, 2010 and responded, "There's not been any follow-up from any of the inquiries that were made because I believe we had furnished thousands of documents and testimony for them, and I think if they looked at our policy and really delved into it, they would be very satisfied."

PG rating

In August 2008, WWE changed its TV Parental Guidelines rating from TV-14 to PG. In December 2008, at a UBS Media Conference, Linda described the new rating as a marketing strategy to attract a young generation of wrestling fans. She explained it as a way to create lasting loyalty to the brand.

Some older fans, who were long-accustomed to more realistic violence, sexual themes, and controversy, felt alienated by WWE's programming change. There has been speculation that McMahon devised the PG rating change in 2008 to improve WWE's public image in preparation for her political campaign.

Company legacy

During the '80s, the WWF successfully lobbied for deregulation in Connecticut, Delaware, Michigan, New Jersey, California, Florida, Pennsylvania, and Texas. By 2000, fewer than half the 50 states had athletic regulations on the wrestling industry.

As is normal practice for professional sports, WWE classifies its wrestlers as ''independent contractors'' rather than ''employees''. The classification spared the company from paying Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment insurance for wrestlers. McMahon stated the WWE wrestlers had lucrative contracts, merchandising deals, royalty payments and appearance fees previously unheard of in the wrestling industry. She noted that many of the wrestlers had agents, and viewed them like "singers, golfers, or tennis players". The company also offered seminars to help wrestlers pick health insurance plans.

Under Linda's tenure, WWE became one of the largest recipients of special tax credits for film and TV production granted by the State of Connecticut. During her 2010 campaign, Blumenthal's campaign criticized her and WWE for accepting the tax credits while laying off workers in 2009.

On-screen roles

Linda often referred to the creative side of WWE as Vince's specialty, stating that she was primarily in the management team, although she appeared in several storylines. McMahon debuted on WWF TV during the Corporate Ministry storyline, on the May 3, 1999, episode of ''Raw''. During an interview with Fox News, she said that she often did not know what the storylines were in advance and watched events unfold as the general public did.

In one storyline, Vince abused Linda and had an affair with Trish Stratus as Linda watched helplessly. Their feud reached a climax at WrestleMania X-Seven when Linda awoke from her stupor and kicked Vince in the groin.

Unlike her husband and children, Linda appeared on-screen as a more neutral, rational, and selfless character. She often used her "power" to thwart her family's plans or to punish a heel. However, in October 2005, she briefly turned heel to join with her "evil" family members.

Charitable work

Linda and Vince donated over $8 million in 2008, giving grants to the Fishburne Military School, Sacred Heart University, and East Carolina University. ''Nonprofit Quarterly'' noted that the majority of the McMahons' donations were towards capital expenditures. In 2006, they paid $2.5 million for construction of a tennis facility in Edensburg, Pennsylvania. As of 2010, Linda McMahon continued to serve on the board of the Close Up Foundation, a nonprofit which offers youth field trips to Washington, D.C. Barack Obama's 2009 and 2010 budgets recommended defunding the foundation.

Get R.E.A.L.

Linda launched the company's Get R.E.A.L. program to deliver positive messages about education to young adults. The program encouraged literacy through Public Service Announcements, posters, and bookmarks featuring wrestling superstars. In 2000, the American Library Association reported that the WWF's Know Your Role poster (at left), was its highest-selling poster for two straight months. Since 2006, thousands of posters featuring WWE superstars were distributed to libraries and reading facilities each year.

SmackDown! Your Vote campaign

Linda initiated WWE's non-partisan voter-registration campaign, "SmackDown! Your Vote", in August 2000. The campaign specifically targeted the 18-to-30 voter demographic, making use of online marketing, public service announcements, and youth voting partnerships. The campaign, which registered 150,000 new voters during the 2000 election, was started in coalition with MTV's Choose or Lose, Project Vote Smart, and Youth Vote 2000. As of the 2008 election, it listed fourteen voter registration partner organizations. During the 2008 Presidential election, Smackdown your Vote! registered many voters online, often in affiliation with Rock The Vote.

Special Olympics

Linda and her husband began supporting the Special Olympics in 1986. Linda first developed an interest in the Olympics from her friendship with NBC producer Dick Ebersol and Susan Saint James, who encouraged them to participate in the mid-1980s. Linda met Lowell Weicker, whose son is developmentally-disabled, through the Special Olympics. In 1995, as Connecticut Governor, Weicker appointed Linda McMahon to the Governor's Council for the World Special Olympics.

Achievements

McMahon became a member of the Board of Trustees of Sacred Heart University (Fairfield, Connecticut) in November 2004. She supported many organizations, including the USO, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation, the Starlight Foundation, and Community Mayors. In 2005, she won appointment to The Make-A-Wish Foundation of America National Advisory Council and received the Arthur M. Sackler Award from the Connecticut Grand Opera and Orchestra for WWE's support of its arts education program.

On January 29, 2007, Multichannel News named McMahon to its class of "Wonder Women" for 2007. The award recognized her outstanding contributions to the cable and telecommunications industries. In May 2007, she appeared as the keynote speaker at the Girl Scout Council of Southwestern Connecticut’s Women of Achievement Leadership Breakfast. McMahon herself had been a Girl Scout.

Under her leadership, WWE was the recipient of the USO of Metropolitan Washington's first ever “Legacy of Hope” award for its extensive support of U.S. troops and the USO's Operation Care Package program. In 2007, the company received the Secretary of Defense Exceptional Public Service Award for its support of deployed service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2008, the company received the GI Film Festival's Corporate Patriot Award.

Political career

Connecticut Board of Education

McMahon was appointed to the State Board of Education by Governor Jodi Rell, in January 2009. Linda went through a confirmation process in the Connecticut State Assembly, where she was questioned on her record as CEO of WWE. The State Senate approved her nomination by a vote of 34-1 and the House by 96-45, with some opponents expressing concerns that the nature of her WWE activities would send the wrong message. State representative Bruce Morris claimed she lacked "depth of knowledge regarding education". However, state representative John Hetherington said it "would be good to have someone outside the establishment on the board."

On April 1, 2010, McMahon resigned from the State Board of Education, because state law does not allow board members to solicit campaign contributions.

2010 U.S. Senate campaign

committee	Linda McMahon for Senate 2010
logo
campaign	U.S. Senator from Connecticut
candidate	Linda McMahon
status	Conceded
affiliation	Republican Party
headquarters	West Hartford, Connecticut
key people	Ed Patru (spokesman)
receipts	46.6
slogan	A businesswoman, not a politician, for Connecticut ''It's Time for Something Different'' ''Do you smell what Linda is cooking?''
homepage	http://www.linda2010.com }}

On September 16, 2009, McMahon announced her candidacy for U.S. Senator from Connecticut. She announced she would spend up to $50 million of her own money to finance her campaign and refused outside donations. She ran for the Republican nomination, campaigning on promises of lower taxes, fiscal conservatism, and job creation. She hired a campaign staff, and delivered speeches that some criticized as too calculated. Her mail, radio, television, and Internet advertisements quickly gained name recognition and strong poll numbers over her opponents.

McMahon's spending became a key argument of one of her rivals, former Congressman Rob Simmons, who accused of "buying the election". McMahon and Simmons engaged in a frequently bitter contest. At the party convention, McMahon received the most support, but Simmons received enough votes to qualify for the ballot for the August 10 primary, although he was not actively campaigning. In late July—two weeks before the primary—however, Simmons relaunched his campaign by airing ads on TV reminding voters that his name would be on the ballot, participating in debates, and accepting interviews with editorial boards. A third candidate, Peter Schiff, qualified for the ballot by submitting petition signatures. McMahon defeated her opponents and faced Richard Blumenthal in the general election, losing by 11%.

Post-campaign political activities

Immediately after her loss to Blumenthal, McMahon hinted that she would run again for Senate in 2012. McMahon maintained a high profile following the election, running TV ads, campaigning for politicians, and making frequent media appearances. When Lieberman announced that he would retire from the U.S. Senate, she was easily the Republican Party and Tea Party movement favorite for the 2012 election.

Notes

References

Further reading

External links

East Carolina University Alumni Profile

Category:1948 births Category:American businesspeople Category:American chief executives Category:Connecticut Republicans Category:East Carolina University alumni Category:Living people Category:People from Connecticut Category:People from Craven County, North Carolina Category:People from Greenwich, Connecticut Category:Professional wrestling executives Category:Sacred Heart University Category:Connecticut State Board of Education members Category:Women in Connecticut politics Category:WWE

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Name	Randy Orton
Names	Randy Orton
Height
Weight
Birth date	April 01, 1980
Birth place	Knoxville, Tennessee
Resides	Saint Charles, Missouri
Billed	St. Louis, Missouri
Trainer	"Cowboy" Bob OrtonSouth Broadway Athletic ClubMid Missouri Wrestling AllianceOhio Valley Wrestling
Debut	March 18, 2000
Retired	}}

Randal Keith "Randy" Orton (born April 1, 1980) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is signed to WWE wrestling on its SmackDown brand. Orton is a third-generation professional wrestler; his grandfather Bob Orton, Sr., father "Cowboy" Bob Orton, and uncle Barry O all competed in the professional wrestling industry.

Before being promoted to the main World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) roster, Orton trained in and wrestled for Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling for a month. He was then sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), where Orton held the OVW Hardcore Championship on two separate occasions.

After signing with WWF, Orton became a member of the stable Evolution, which quickly led to a WWE Intercontinental Championship reign, his first title with the company. Orton also acquired the moniker "The Legend Killer" during a storyline where he began disrespecting Hall of Famers and physically attacking veterans of the industry outside of appropriate restrictions. At age 24, Orton became the youngest person ever to hold the World Heavyweight Championship. With this win, Orton departed from Evolution and a feud with his former stablemates began. In 2006, Orton joined forces with Edge in a tag team known as Rated-RKO. Together, Orton and Edge held the World Tag Team Championship. After the team disbanded, during mid-2007, Orton gained two WWE Championship reigns in one night. Orton formed the group The Legacy with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase in 2008, however, they would disband in 2010 with Orton returning to singles competition. Overall, Orton has won eleven total championships in WWE, including being a nine-time world champion, having won the World Heavyweight Championship three times and the WWE Championship six times. He is also the winner of the 2009 Royal Rumble match.

Early life

Orton was born on April 1, 1980, in Knoxville, Tennessee. Son to Elaine and "Cowboy" Bob Orton, he has two younger siblings—Becky and Nathan. Knowing from experience the hardships of life as a professional wrestler, Orton's parents tried to convince him to stay away from the business, and his father warned him that life in the ring meant a life on the road, away from family. Orton attended Hazelwood Central High School, where he was an amateur wrestler. After graduating from Hazelwood in 1998, Orton enlisted with the United States Marine Corps. At the base, he received a bad conduct discharge a year later after going AWOL on two separate occasions and disobeying an order from a commanding officer. Under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Private First Class Orton was tried and convicted under a special court-martial and was put into a military prison for thirty-eight days.

Professional wrestling career

Training

Orton made his wrestling debut in 2000 at the Mid-Missouri Wrestling Association-Southern Illinois Conference Wrestling (MMWA-SICW) in St. Louis, Missouri, an offshoot of the historic St. Louis Wrestling Club headed by Sam Muchnick. There, he was trained by both the promotion and his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. He wrestled for the promotion for one month, Orton also refereed a few matches with World Organized Wrestling, a promotion where his uncle Barry Orton worked.

In 2001, Orton signed a deal with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and was sent to its developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky, where he continued his training. During his time in OVW, Orton wrestled the likes of Rico Constantino and The Prototype and teamed with Bobby Eaton during a tag team title tournament. He won the OVW Hardcore Championship on two separate occasions by defeating Mr. Black on February 14, 2001, and Flash Flanagan on May 5, 2001.

World Wrestling Federation / Entertainment

Evolution and World Heavyweight Champion (2002–2005)

One of Orton's first official WWF appearances was March 16, 2002 at WrestleMania X8's Fan Axxess, where he was defeated by Tommy Dreamer. Orton's first televised WWF match was against Hardcore Holly on ''SmackDown!'' on April 25, 2002. Soon after, Orton became a fan favorite and was placed in a series of matches with Holly. In September 2002, Orton was drafted to the Raw brand, where he defeated Stevie Richards in his debut on the show. Within weeks of his debut on the Raw brand, Orton suffered a shoulder injury, leaving him sidelined for months. While recovering, Orton still appeared on ''Raw'' in his own ''Randy News Network'' segment, a weekly vignette featuring him talking about his condition. The show interrupted other segments of Raw programming, which caused Orton to slowly transition himself into a narcissistic and self-centered villain.

After his injury healed, Orton joined the Evolution stable, which consisted of Ric Flair, Triple H, and relative newcomer, Dave Batista. The group was pushed on ''Raw'' from 2003 to 2004, with the height of their dominance occurring after Armageddon in 2003 when all of the men's titles on Raw were held by the members of Evolution. In 2003, Orton spent much of his time helping Triple H overcome challenges for the World Heavyweight Championship. Orton joined Triple H in a six-man Elimination Chamber match for the World Heavyweight Championship at SummerSlam, involved primarily to secure Triple H's title defense, and was eliminated by Goldberg.

Afterwards, Orton proclaimed himself "The Legend Killer", a young upstart who was so talented that he touted himself as the future of professional wrestling. He embarked on numerous storyline feuds with "legendary" wrestlers and gained infamy for his blatant disrespect of many older, well-respected names in wrestling history. With the help of his stablemate and mentor Ric Flair, he defeated Shawn Michaels at Unforgiven in the first of many high profile matches billed as "Legend versus Legend Killer." Orton then spat in the face of Harley Race on the April 26, 2004, episode of ''Raw''.

During this time, Orton began using the move that would become his signature finisher, the RKO, a jumping cutter named after his initials. Orton soon defeated Rob Van Dam for the WWE Intercontinental Championship at Armageddon on December 14, 2003. With this win, Orton started the longest Intercontinental title reign in seven years, holding the title for seven months.

Orton continued to establish himself as a "Legend Killer" throughout 2004, challenging the semi-retired wrestler Mick Foley. Famed for his hardcore matches and ability to handle excruciating pain, Foley offered Orton a hardcore "Legend versus Legend Killer" match if Orton would put his Intercontinental Championship on the line. In a bloody match involving thumbtacks and barbed wire, Orton defeated Foley. Two months later at Bad Blood, he successfully retained the Intercontinental Championship against Shelton Benjamin.

In July, at Vengeance, Edge defeated Orton to win the Intercontinental Championship, ending Orton's seven month title reign. After losing the Intercontinental Championship, Orton became the number one contender for the World Heavyweight Championship after winning a 20 man battle royal on July 26. At SummerSlam, Orton defeated Chris Benoit for the championship. Orton became the youngest person ever to hold the title in WWE history at the age of 24. Benoit congratulated Orton after the match, shaking his hand for showing the ability to "be a man."

The following night, after Orton successfully defended the championship against Benoit in a rematch, Evolution threw Orton a mock celebration, only to reveal that they were not pleased with his new victory.

Rated RKO (2005–2007)

While Batista had Orton propped on his shoulders in elation, Triple H gave him a pleased thumbs up and then abruptly changed it to a thumbs-down, which was followed by Batista's dropping Orton to the mat. Ric Flair and Batista attacked Orton in the ring as Triple H revealed his jealousy for Orton's title. He ordered Orton to hand over the championship, but he refused, spitting in Triple H's face and hitting him with the title belt. Orton's break-up with Evolution began a new storyline for him as a crowd favorite when he continued to feud with his former stablemates. A month later, Orton lost his championship to Triple H at Unforgiven. Seeking revenge, Orton lashed out at Evolution members, catching them by surprise during a show by giving them a large cake as a make-up gift, which he came out of to beat and humiliate the group. At Taboo Tuesday, Orton defeated Ric Flair in a Steel Cage match. After this, Orton experienced another push, becoming General Manager of the Raw brand for a week following a match stipulation at Survivor Series where he picked up the win for his team by last pinning Triple H in a 4 on 4 Survivor Series match. He continued to feud with Triple H, using his authority to place his opponents at severe disadvantages during title defenses. Orton was granted another chance at the championship in January 2005, but lost a six-man championship Elimination Chamber match to Triple H at New Year's Revolution. On the January 10 episode of ''Raw'', Orton defeated Batista to earn a match against Triple H at the Royal Rumble for the World Heavyweight title. At the Royal Rumble, Triple H defeated Orton to retain the World title.

Orton began an on-screen relationship with Stacy Keibler and briefly feuded with Christian in February 2005. On the February 28 episode of ''Raw'', "Superstar" Billy Graham made an appearance, in which he advised Orton to "go where no wrestler [had] gone before". Orton then produced a copy of ''SmackDown!'' magazine, which featured The Undertaker on the cover. Heeding Graham's advice, Orton claimed that he would set himself apart from all other wrestlers by ending The Undertaker's undefeated streak at WrestleMania. Throughout March 2005, Orton taunted The Undertaker, claiming he was unafraid of him. On the March 21 episode of ''Raw'', Orton turned into a villain once more after he delivered an RKO to his unsuspecting on-screen girlfriend, Stacy Keibler, knocking her unconscious. During Orton's promos, he would immediately run for cover when signs of The Undertaker's appearance were near (lightning, darkness, or smoke). When legendary wrestler Jake Roberts advised Orton not to underestimate The Undertaker, Orton performed an RKO on Roberts as well. In the weeks leading up to WrestleMania, Orton became more defiant and unafraid of The Undertaker, taunting and assaulting him in the ring following distractions from his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton. At WrestleMania 21, however, the heavily hyped match was unsuccessful for Orton, as he lost despite his father's interference.

The following night on ''Raw'', Orton faced Batista, who had become World Heavyweight Champion. Orton stated on-screen that his match with The Undertaker had aggravated a shoulder injury. While sidelined, Orton appeared on ''Raw'' and claimed that he was ineligible for the WWE Draft Lottery due to his injury. He was informed by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon that he was indeed a candidate for the draft, leaving a possibility of a return to ''SmackDown!''. Orton returned to WWE programming for the SmackDown! brand on June 16, announcing that he was the second pick in the 2005 draft lottery. He rekindled his feud with The Undertaker, defeating him at SummerSlam following a distraction from his father. Two months later, Orton and his father Bob Orton defeated The Undertaker in a Handicap Casket match. The following month, Orton was a participant in the annual elimination match of Team SmackDown against Team Raw at Survivor Series. In the match, Orton was the last remaining wrestler in the match, as he pinned Shawn Michaels to get the victory for Team SmackDown. At the event, The Undertaker, who had been absent since Orton had apparently killed him on an episode of ''SmackDown!'', returned by emerging from a flaming casket. The feud was finally settled with a Hell in a Cell match at Armageddon, where The Undertaker offered to retire if he lost. On December 16, The Undertaker entered the ring to deliver a promo while one of his druids appeared to be standing in the ring. The Undertaker sustained an RKO from Orton in a surprise attack. The druid revealed himself to be Orton's father, who gave Orton The Undertaker's urn, which, according to the storyline, allowed whomever held it to control The Undertaker. The Undertaker, however, beat both Ortons in a Hell in a Cell match, ending their nine-month-long feud.

Following Armageddon, Orton entered the 2006 Royal Rumble match as the thirtieth and final wrestler, but he was eliminated by Rey Mysterio. Mysterio won the match and a title shot, and Orton urged him to put the title shot at stake in a match at No Way Out. In the weeks preceding No Way Out, Orton made disparaging remarks about Eddie Guerrero, Mysterio's friend who had died a few months previously, in an attempt to gain villain heat. Many fans felt the comments were unwarranted and highly distasteful so soon after Guerrero's death in November 2005. Orton won at No Way Out, earning Mysterio's title shot for the World Heavyweight Championship at WrestleMania 22. General Manager Theodore Long re-added Mysterio to the WrestleMania 22 title match, however, making it a Triple Threat match between Orton, Mysterio, and then-champion, Kurt Angle. On April 2, at WrestleMania 22, Orton was pinned by Mysterio, making Mysterio the World Heavyweight Champion and ending their on-screen rivalry.

On April 4, 2006, Orton was suspended for sixty days for "unprofessional conduct." In an interview, Orton stated, "my conduct was unbecoming of a champion, which is what I will be again when I return." To cover for the suspension, a faked injury was devised, where Kurt Angle broke Orton's ankle during a grudge match. In July, Orton said his suspension resulted from smoking marijuana backstage. Orton returned from his suspension in June to the Raw brand, where he entered a rivalry with Angle, culminating in matches at One Night Stand and Vengeance before engaging in a storyline feud with Hulk Hogan. Orton began cutting promos insulting the aging Hogan and flirted with Hogan's then-eighteen-year-old daughter Brooke. At SummerSlam, the two met in a "Legend vs. Legend Killer" match, which Hogan won. After the newly reformed D-Generation X (DX) (Triple H and Shawn Michaels) cost Edge the WWE Championship numerous times, Edge approached Orton and asked him to join forces to defeat the team. Orton, whose championship reign had been ended by Triple H in 2004, agreed, forming the tag team Rated-RKO. The two became the first to defeat DX since their reunion and quickly dominated the Raw brand's tag team division to become tag team champions. As part of the angle, Rated-RKO attacked Ric Flair with steel chairs to enrage DX on November 27. At New Year's Revolution, Rated-RKO faced DX in a title defense, but the match was declared a no-contest when Triple H suffered a legitimate injury during the match.

With Triple H out of action, Rated-RKO continued their on-screen rivalry with remaining DX member Shawn Michaels. Michaels teamed with John Cena to defeat Rated-RKO for the tag team championship on January 29. Orton and Edge suffered a series of losses to Cena and Michaels in the following months, building hatred towards one another. Edge and Orton also became rivals in their goals of achieving the WWE Championship. Neither Edge nor Orton won the Championship, and they lost their claims as number one contenders after a failed match with Cena at Backlash. Orton then continued his "Legend Killer" persona, attacking Shawn Michaels. Using frequent attacks to the head, including an elevated DDT and a running punt to the face, Orton defeated Michaels at Judgment Day. When the kayfabe wounded and concussed Michaels collapsed in the ring, the referee was forced to stop the match and award Orton the victory. Orton continued his attacks when he engaged himself in feuds with Rob Van Dam, Ric Flair, Dusty Rhodes, and Sgt. Slaughter.

WWE Champion; The Legacy (2007–2011)

On the July 23 episode of ''Raw'', Orton was named as the number one contender at SummerSlam for John Cena's WWE Championship. Weeks before their scheduled bout at SummerSlam, Orton attacked Cena on three separate occasions by performing RKOs on him. At SummerSlam, Orton lost the title match to Cena, who pinned Orton after executing an FU. The following night on ''Raw'', Orton demanded a rematch for the title, but his request was declined by Raw General Manager William Regal. Orton then took his demands to Mr. McMahon, who also refused to give Orton a rematch unless he proved himself. That night, Orton interfered in Cena's match by assaulting Cena and kicking Cena's father, who was at ringside, in the head. Orton was granted his title rematch against Cena at Unforgiven and won by disqualification when Cena refused to stop punching Orton in the corner; however, Cena retained the WWE title because a title cannot change hands by disqualification. After the match, Cena's father, who was again at ringside, kicked Orton in the head. At No Mercy, Orton was awarded the WWE Championship by Mr. McMahon after Cena was stripped of the title due to an injury the previous week, which also ended the Orton-Cena storyline prematurely. Orton then lost the title to Triple H in the opening match of the show, making Orton's reign the fourth shortest in WWE history. Later in the night, Orton defeated Triple H in a Last Man Standing match to regain the title, thus becoming a two-time WWE Champion in one night.

Following No Mercy, Orton continued his feud with Shawn Michaels, who made his return on the October 8 episode of ''Raw'' and performed Sweet Chin Music on Orton. The two met in a title match at Cyber Sunday after a match was made in which the fans would get to vote on either Michaels, Jeff Hardy or Mr. Kennedy as the opponent. As a result, Michaels was voted to face Orton. In the match, Orton was disqualified when he performed a low blow on Michaels, but Orton retained the title. In a scheduled rematch, Orton successfully defended the title at Survivor Series against Michaels when he performed the RKO on Michaels for the win. The stipulation of the match was that if Michaels used Sweet Chin Music, the match would be stopped and Michaels would never get a chance at the WWE title, but if Orton got himself disqualified, he would lose the title.

After weeks of intensity between the two, Orton defeated Jeff Hardy to retain the WWE Championship at the Royal Rumble. Following this, he re-engaged in his feud with John Cena, who had returned from injury and won the 2008 Royal Rumble match. Orton lost the match after getting himself intentionally disqualified, thus retaining the title. At WrestleMania, Orton retained the WWE Championship in a Triple Threat match involving Cena and Triple H. Orton won the match by pinning Cena after a Pedigree from Triple H. The following month, at Backlash, Orton lost the title to Triple H in a Fatal Four-Way Elimination match, which also included Cena and John "Bradshaw" Layfield. After failing to win the title back at Judgment Day, Orton faced Triple H in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand for the title. Orton lost the match and legitimately broke his collarbone. During this time, Orton dropped his Legend Killer gimmick and replaced it with his new gimmick known as The Viper and debuted his new entrance music, Voices. Just before he made his return, Orton re-injured himself in a motorcycle accident, and, to keep on-screen exposure, he made an unexpected return to ''Raw'' at the beginning of September, criticizing all of the champions on the brand. Heel tag team Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase took exception to this and tried to gain his respect. Unsuccessful until the pay-per-view event Unforgiven, the two of them, alongside new recruit Manu, assaulted World Heavyweight Champion CM Punk, costing him his title. He made his in-ring return on the November 3 episode of ''Raw'' losing to Punk by disqualification after Ted DiBiase interfered. In retaliation, Orton punted DiBiase in the head. The following week, they made it official by defeating Batista and Triple H, Orton's former stablemates, in a three-on-two handicap match, dubbing themselves The Legacy. On January 25, 2009, Orton won the 2009 Royal Rumble match by last eliminating Triple H. On the March 2 episode of ''Raw'', Orton challenged Triple H for the WWE title at WrestleMania XXV, where Orton lost the match. Orton, however, won the title at Backlash in a six-man tag team match with Cody Rhodes and Ted DiBiase, facing off against Triple H, Batista, and Shane McMahon. At Extreme Rules, he dropped the title to Batista in a Steel Cage match. The following night on ''Raw'', Orton and Legacy attacked Batista and (kayfabe) broke his arm, forcing him to vacate the title. It was later revealed that Batista was suffering from a torn biceps and Legacy was given on-screen credit for his injury. On the June 15 episode of ''Raw'', Orton regained the title in a Fatal Four-Way match involving Triple H, John Cena and The Big Show. Orton later lost the title to John Cena in an "I Quit" match at Breaking Point, but defeated Cena to win back the championship in a Hell in a Cell match at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in October. At Bragging Rights, Orton lost the title to Cena in a 60 minute Iron Man match.

On the January 11, 2010, episode of ''Raw'', Orton won a triple threat match, with the help of Rhodes and DiBiase, to challenge Sheamus at the Royal Rumble for the WWE Championship. At the Royal Rumble, however, Orton failed to win the championship when Rhodes interfered, causing a disqualification. After the match, Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase. On the February 15 episode of ''Raw'', Orton was again disqualified in a rematch after Rhodes and DiBiase interfered. Orton and DiBiase both competed in the WWE Championship Elimination Chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view, and DiBiase eliminated Orton after hitting him with a pipe which Rhodes had passed to him. The next night on ''Raw'', in a six-man tag team match, Orton attacked Rhodes and DiBiase in retaliation. At WrestleMania XXVI, Orton defeated Rhodes and DiBiase in a triple threat match, turning him into a fan favorite in the process for the first time since 2005.

Following his departure from Legacy, Orton, now playing a babyface role, faced Jack Swagger for the World Heavyweight Championship at Extreme Rules in April, however, he was unsuccessful in defeating Swagger. After being speared by Edge, resulting in Orton losing a number one contender's match for the WWE Championship, on the WWE Draft episode of ''Raw'', he faced Edge at the Over the Limit pay-per-view, but separated his right shoulder during the match, which concluded in a double countout. At Fatal 4-Way in June, Orton competed in a fatal four-way match for the WWE Championship against John Cena, Sheamus and Edge but came up short. On the July 19 episode of ''Raw'', he won a number one contender's match against Edge and Chris Jericho giving him a match against Sheamus at SummerSlam. At the event, Sheamus was disqualified for bringing a steel chair into the match giving Orton the victory, however, not the title. Immediately afterwards Orton took the steel chair and hit Sheamus with it and gave him an RKO. Orton defeated John Cena, Chris Jericho, Wade Barrett, Edge and Sheamus in a Six-Pack Challenge Elimination Match to become WWE Champion for the sixth time at Night of Champions.

After defending his title against Sheamus at Hell in a Cell, Orton feuded with Wade Barrett, who attempted to use John Cena to help capture Orton's championship. After successfully defending his title against Barrett at Bragging Rights and Survivor Series, Orton defeated Barrett again on the November 22 episode of ''Raw'', only to lose his title immediately afterwards to The Miz, who cashed in his Money in the Bank briefcase. Orton failed to recapture the title after losing a Tables match to The Miz at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view and again in a singles match at the Royal Rumble in January 2011 after interference from the New Nexus starting a feud between Punk and Orton. The following month at the Elimination Chamber event Orton participated in the Raw Elimination Chamber match but was unsuccessful in winning. Over the ongoing weeks, Orton would punt all members of the New Nexus, Michael McGillicutty, David Otunga, and Mason Ryan, removing each, one by one, from active competition. At WrestleMania XXVII, Orton defeated CM Punk. On the April 11 episode of ''Raw'', McGillicutty, Otunga and Ryan returned and cost Orton a number one contender's match for the WWE Championship. Two weeks later, at the 2011 WWE Draft, Orton was drafted to SmackDown and beat Punk at Extreme Rules thus ending his feud with New Nexus.

World Heavyweight Champion and various feuds (2011–present)

On April 29 episode of ''SmackDown'', Orton made his debut his match in a tag team match with Christian against Alberto Del Rio and Brodus Clay. The following week, Orton received a title opportunity against World Heavyweight Champion, Christian. Orton was successful in defeating Christian to win his second World Heavyweight Championship. At Over the Limit and Capitol Punishment, Orton successfully defended his championship against Christian. In July at Money in the Bank, Orton lost the title to Christian after Christian spat in his face, which led Orton to lose control of his temper, kick Christian in the groin and get disqualified, in a match where the stipulation was if Orton got himself disqualified, or if the referee made a "bad call", Christian would automatically win the championship. A month later, at the SummerSlam pay-per-view event, Orton regained the title when he defeated Christian in a No Holds Barred match. Orton ended his feud with Christian when he retained the World Championship in a Steel Cage Match on the August 30 episode of ''SmackDown''.

Orton then entered a feud with Mark Henry after Henry became the number one contender to the World Heavyweight Championship and over the next few weeks, Henry would attack Orton, getting the advantage over him. At Night of Champions, Orton lost the World Heavyweight title Henry, and failed to regain it two weeks later at Hell in a Cell. On the October 14 edition of ''Smackdown'', Orton received another title shot against Henry after winning a 41 man battle royal, he was successful in winning the match by disqualification but failed to win the title after interference from rival Cody Rhodes. He then defeated Rhodes at Vengeance, and on the November 4 episode of ''Smackdown'' in a Street Fight.

Orton would re-ignite his feud with Wade Barrett after both superstars were named captain for a traditional 5 on 5 Survivor Series elimination match. On the November 11 episode of ''SmackDown'', Orton was defeated by Barrett in a singles match, however on the November 14 episode of ''Raw'', Orton won in a rematch by disqualification. His team was defeated at Survivor Series with Barrett and Cody Rhodes being the sole survivors. Barrett would then begin attack and distract Orton during matches, getting the advantage. On the December 9 edition of ''SmackDown'', Orton and Barrett both competed in a time to beat challenge. The winner got to choose if they wanted to use tables, ladders or chairs at TLC. Barrett pinned Ezekiel Jackson in 7:53, however Orton pinned Dolph Ziggler in 7:51 and chose a tables match after throwing Ziggler threw a table. At Tables, Ladders, & Chairs, Orton defeated Barrett hitting the RKO mid-air with Barrett landing through the table. Barrett and Orton would continue their feud on the December 23 episode of ''SmackDown'', where they engaged in a brawl that ended backstage with Barrett getting hit with a RKO onto a car. This led to a Falls Count Anywhere match on December 30 episode of ''Smackdown'', where Barrett pushed Orton down a set of stairs before exiting through the door. Orton suffered a herniated disc as a result, taking him off television for a number of weeks. On January 27, 2012 edition of ''SmackDown'', he returned to the ring and attacked Barrett. On the February 3 edition of ''SmackDown'', Orton defeated Barrett in a No Disqualification match to end the feud.

On the February 14 edition of ''Raw SuperShow'', Orton suffered a concussion after World Heavyweight Champion Daniel Bryan smashed Orton over the head with the title belt. Due to the injury, Orton was taken out of his elimination chamber match at the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view and was replaced by Santino Marella. In retaliation, Orton hit Kane with an RKO on the March 5 edition of ''Raw Supershow'', after the latter defeated R-Truth. On the following ''SmackDown'', Orton would hit Kane with another RKO before his match and they would later engage in a brawl as ''SmackDown'' went off air. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Orton was defeated by Kane in a singles match.

Other media

In 2004, Orton appeared on the late-night talk show ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'', to promote the Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view. In March 2007, alongside Edge, John Cena, and Bobby Lashley, Orton appeared on the NBC game show ''Deal or No Deal''. In July 2009, Orton revealed he read for the lead role in ''The Marine 2'' (2009), the sequel to the 2006 film ''The Marine''. He was given the part, but after injuring his collarbone, the film's producers decided to go with Ted DiBiase. Orton has a supporting role in the film ''That's What I Am'', alongside Ed Harris and Amy Madigan. The film is a coming-of-age comedy written and directed by Michael Pavone. On March 28 2012 it was reported that Randy Orton would starring in "Marine:Homefront" On 3 April it was reported that Orton was dropped from starring Marine Homefront due to his past with the USMC.

Controversy

While on the Raw brand, Orton was accused of harassing fellow WWE employees Amy Weber and Rochelle Loewen; Loewen has called Orton "an animal". While she quashed a long-standing rumor that he defecated in her bag, she did claim that he vandalized her possessions and subjected her to verbal harassment because she did not know who he was upon meeting him.

On March 19, 2007, ''Sports Illustrated'' posted an article on its website as part of its continuing series investigating a steroid and HGH ring used by a number of professional athletes in several sports. That article mentioned several current and former WWE wrestlers, including Orton who was alleged to have obtained clomiphene citrate, anastrozole and the steroids stanozolol, nandrolone, oxandrolone, and testosterone. WWE has since made a statement on this situation, claiming that the allegations preceded the Talent Wellness program WWE launched in February 2006.

Personal life

In November 2005, Orton announced his engagement to his girlfriend Samantha Speno. They married on September 21, 2007. In December 2007, Orton announced that he and his wife were expecting their first child, a daughter. Orton and his wife welcomed Alanna Marie Orton on July 12, 2008.

He had a tattoo on his left arm that read "USMC" for United States Marine Corps but covered it up after receiving a bad conduct discharge when he went AWOL from the service. He was sent home after serving thirty-eight days in military prison at Camp Pendleton in California.

Orton suffers from hypermobile shoulders. After being medically cleared to wrestle and after he broke his collarbone in a Last Man Standing match at One Night Stand against Triple H, Orton re-injured his collarbone in a motorcycle accident.

In wrestling

Finishing moves

*''O-Zone'' (Overdrive) – 2002–2003

''RKO'' (Jumping cutter, sometimes from the top rope or used as a counter to a midair opponent) – 2003–present

Running punt kick to an opponent's head - 2007-present (Used mainly to cause a storyline concussion)

Signature moves

Bodyscissors

Dropkick

European uppercut

Falling clothesline

Full nelson slam

Gutwrench elevated neckbreaker

Inverted headlock backbreaker

Knee drop

Lou thesz press followed by mounted punches

Olympic slam

''Orton Stomp'' (Multiple stomps while circling a fallen opponent)

Rope-hung DDT

Side belly-to-belly suplex

Snap scoop powerslam

*Spinebuster sometimes into a sit out position

Superplex - adopted off his father, "Cowboy" Bob Orton

Wrenching chinlock

Managers

*Ric Flair

*"Cowboy" Bob Orton

*Lita

*Stacy Keibler

Tag-teams and Stables

* Evolution

* Rated RKO

* The Legacy

Nicknames

"The Legend Killer"

"The Viper"

"WWE's/The Apex Predator"

Entrance themes

* "Line in the Sand" by Motörhead (2003–2004) (Used while a member of Evolution)

"Burn in My Light" by Mercy Drive (August 30, 2004–May 5, 2008)

*"This Fire Burns" by Killswitch Engage (March 3, 2006)

"Voices" by Rev Theory (May 12, 2008–present)

Championships and accomplishments

Ohio Valley Wrestling

OVW Hardcore Championship (2 times)

Pro Wrestling Illustrated

*PWI Feud of the Year (2009) vs. Triple H

PWI Most Hated Wrestler of the Year (2007, 2009)

PWI Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2004)

PWI Most Popular Wrestler of the Year (2010)

PWI Rookie of the Year (2001)

PWI ranked him #1 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2008

PWI ranked him #2 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2011

PWI Wrestler of the Year (2009, 2010)

World Wrestling Entertainment

World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)

World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Edge

WWE Championship (6 times)

WWE Intercontinental Championship (1 time)

*Royal Rumble (2009)

*Seventeenth Triple Crown Champion

Wrestling Observer Newsletter

*Most Improved (2004)

Notes

References

External links

WWE profile

Online World of Wrestling profile

Slam! bio and story archive

Twitter

Category:1980 births Category:American professional wrestlers Category:Fictional portrayals of schizophrenia Category:Living people Category:American Christians Category:People from Knoxville, Tennessee Category:People from St. Louis, Missouri Category:People from Jefferson County, Missouri Category:United States Marines

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Arda Ocal () (born May 7, 1981, in North York, Ontario) is a Turkish Canadian TV and radio broadcaster and writer, currently with The Score Television Network. He was formerly a co-host of the daily lifestyle program Daytime on the Canadian channel Rogers Television in Mississauga, Ontario, before beginning to host their flagship Brampton Battalion OHL hockey broadcasts. Previously, he also served as editor-in-chief for ''Think Impact'' (a division of Impact, Canada's largest entrepreneurial organization).

He is currently a host on The Score Television Network and The Score Satellite Radio, which is found on SIRIUS Satellite Radio. Ocal hosts "Aftermath" which appears twice weekly on The Score Television Network, following the broadcasts of Monday Night Raw on Tuesday afternoon and Friday Night Smackdown, as well as a radio version of the program on Monday evenings after RAW live. He is also a weekly on air contributor to The MMA Show with Mauro Ranallo. In the course of his duties he has interviewed a variety of notable international superstars and aired segments of these interviews on his show. These include: Bret Hart, former WWE champion Sheamus, Honky Tonk Man, The Iron Sheik, Drew McIntyre, Chris Jericho, Gail Kim and Sgt. Slaughter.

Ocal holds a degree in Mathematics and Business Administration from the University of Waterloo. While there, he spent three years hosting a variety show on CKMS in Waterloo, Ontario, and released ''Warrior Nation'', a compilation disc of the University of Waterloo's best musical talents, which sold over 4000 copies.

In his spare time he serves as a member of the board of directors at a well known charity in Brampton as well as the Brampton Symphony Orchestra, and co-owns Maximum Pro Wrestling, where he is also an on air broadcaster.

References

External links

Arda Ocal profile at MaxPro

Category:1981 births Category:Canadian people of Turkish descent Category:Canadian radio personalities Category:Canadian television hosts Category:Living people Category:People from North York, Ontario