Mick Foley is an enigma. In a profession that has been largely dominated by huge, muscle bound, hulks of men, Foley did not fit the ideal role of a wrestler. No offense to the guy but he is far from good looking and has a below average body. He clearly did not share the mold of other wrestling personalities like the Rock, Steve Austin or Hulk Hogan. Yet Mick is practically a household name. In recent years, Mick Foley has gained mainstream attention through his literary work including an acclaimed autobiography and a novel (Tietam Brown). Oh, did I forget to mention that he is also an author? Not really the expected qualities of your average professional wrestler. But Mick Foley is anything but your average professional wrestler. To the uninitiated, Mick Foley is a very popular wrester who is best known by three alias including Mankind, Cactus Jack and Dude Love. Wrestling is understood to be fake (we all get it) and is viewed more as a live theatre that is highlighted by the athletes ability to make the events taking place in the ring look real. It is widely known that wrestlers do take their fair share of bumps and bruises and put their bodies at risk. However, few others put their bodies at more risk than Mick Foley. In fact, Foley carved out his own niche by constantly being willing to inflict extreme punishment on his body. The man is a human rag doll who at times seemed literally impervious to pain. Through these actions, he defined for a generation, hardcore wrestling. Now through this great, new two disc DVD set, Mick Foley Greatest Hits & Misses gives viewers the chance to relive some of the highlights of his hardcore career.

The DVD provides a lot of depth into the career of Mick Foley by not only including footage from WWE (the producer of the DVD) but also other (unfortunately) defunct promotions that Foley ran in including WCW, ECW and even the obscure SMW. Had it just been highlights from his arguably most successful period in the WWE, would have hurt the overall DVD in my opinion. The DVD really benefits from the footage from the other leagues making it feel like a true compilation of Foley's career. (However, to this wrestling geek, it doesn't truly feel complete without inclusion of a couple of Foleys earlier bloodbaths from Japan. But hey…can't have it all I suppose.)

The DVD also does a nice job of showcasing the three top qualities of Mick. One, it includes a number of his memorable bumps (stunts or falls to those not in the know). Regardless of how many times you watch it, the plummet from the Hell in the Cell match with Undertaker (from the WWE's 1998 King of the Ring) is still incredible albeit ridiculously unsafe. Two, it highlights his ability to cut wicked promos (a promotion speech for an upcoming match to those not in the know). The DVD includes what has to be one of his best, the "cane dewey" speech from ECW. A must see for those that give a shit about this sort of thing. And three, it emphasizes his sense of humour. (the quality to make something laughable or amusing to those not in the know). The introduction of mister socko is still pretty funny. I'll leave it at that.

The DVD includes a number of matches from throughout the span of his wrestling days. Highlights include a particularly vicious early WCW tag team match (or as they call it Chicago Street Fight…gotta love wrestling) from 1993 featuring Mick and some guy named Maxx Payne taking on the Nasty Boys. A bizarre ECW match from 1995 between Mick and the Sandman. Where Mick's opponent the Sandman is literally knocked out during the match and can't remember the scripted finish. A bad match that needs to be seen to truly understand the term "the lights are on but no one is home". And also a couple WWE gems, including an old televised RAW match from 1998 between Mick and legend Terry Funk and a pay per view bout with HHH from 2000. The only thing conspicuous by its absence is one of Mick's matches from a series of classics he had with the Rock from late 1998 or 1999. The DVD includes a short television match with the Rock where Mick wins the world title which makes sense for its inclusion but why they didn't include one of their excellent ppv brawls is beyond me.

As a quick side note, for true wrestling fans, the DVD also does a nice job of recapturing the years 1995-2000, a period of time which was without a doubt a golden age for pro wrestling. With the rise and fall of the revolutionary Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and the "attitude" era in WWE with the meteoric success of Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Rock, it was a truly great time for the sport which may never be rivaled.

All in all, if you are a wrestling fan this DVD is a must see. Mick Foley is without a doubt a hardcore legend and his matches are so good that they not only stand the test of time but also deserve repeat viewings. There are 90 minutes worth of extras and most of it is worthwhile. It is in total close to 6 and a half hours of blood and mayhem. Wrestling fans, don't ya dare miss it!

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