Mick Foley says a backstage conversation with Shawn Michaels inspired WWE to revive his teenage character
Summary
– Shawn Michaels unknowingly helped bring Dude Love to WWE by asking Mick Foley about his original wrestling dream
– Bruce Prichard overheard Foley explain the character and took the idea directly to Vince McMahon
– The opportunity eventually allowed Foley to portray Dude Love, Mankind, and Cactus Jack during the same WWE run
Mick Foley has revealed how a casual backstage conversation led to Dude Love appearing on WWE television.
Speaking with Inside The Ropes, Foley explained that he was working main event matches with Shawn Michaels while Michaels was dealing with an injury.
Foley took pride in protecting Michaels and helping him safely work through those matches while he recovered.
During one of their conversations, Michaels asked Foley whether he had always imagined himself portraying a dark character like Mankind.
Foley laughed because Mankind was completely different from the type of wrestler he dreamed of becoming as a teenager.
He told Michaels that he had originally wanted to portray someone with the same kind of appeal that HBK later developed.
Foley clarified that he did not literally want to become Michaels.
He wanted to play a character whom women loved, and men wanted to imitate.
That character was Dude Love, a confident ladies’ man Foley created when he was 18.
Foley believed he was sharing an old story with Michaels.
He did not realize that Bruce Prichard had overheard the conversation.
Prichard went to Vince McMahon and explained that Foley had a more interesting personal history than WWE officials realized.
He also revealed that video footage of the original Dude Love character existed.
McMahon became interested in bringing Foley’s childhood creation to WWE television.
Foley later received an early-morning phone call from McMahon asking how he would feel about becoming Dude Love.
Foley initially assumed the character would only be used for a few weeks.
McMahon told him that Dude Love could become his permanent identity moving forward.
That complete replacement never happened.
Instead, WWE allowed Foley to rotate between Dude Love, Mankind, and Cactus Jack.
The arrangement gave him three separate characters existing during the same WWE run.
A question from Michaels, an overheard conversation, and Prichard’s pitch ultimately transformed Foley’s teenage creation into part of WWE history.
