Fans lined up hours in advance to meet wrestling legend Mick Foley on Thursday, Aug. 23.

Foley appeared at a signing event held at The Grand 1401 downtown for retailer Chunkopop — the second straight year Foley came to Fresno to greet his fans. Decked out in Disney gear, the wrestler also known as Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love happily met his fans, ready to sign pictures and even championship belts.]

“I love doing these signings. And I was doing a convention in San Jose and I thought instead of going home immediately, I’d spend a couple days in the Sequoia National Forest and then head out and, work my way down the state and  … meet some people and do a few more signings,” Foley told Off the Bottom Rope.

Foley spent a few minutes with Off the Bottom Rope to talk about his health, the 2024 election, and memories of his onetime partner, Kevin Sullivan.

Foley Moving Around Better

Foley is known as the Hardcore Legend for his willingness to use any weapon — especially his own body — to attack his opponent. He moved around decently during his trip in Fresno, although not at full speed as he once could.

“I had my hip and knee replaced, a few years back, and, it’s got me moving around pretty good. (I’m) trying to drop some weight to be healthier. But all in all, I could be worse,” Foley said.

Bumps, and more bumps. Off the top rope, off the ring apron, off Hell in the Cell. Foley certainly earned his frequent flyer miles just from the distance travelled from the top to the bottom.

He has no regrets.

“I could look back and say I should have done a lot of things differently. But if I’d done all those things differently along the way, I would have never gotten to where I did. So, it was just that idea of trying to have the best match I could every night when I was coming up, no matter how small the crowd was. That ended up turning heads,” Foley said.

Foley on 2024 Presidential Election

Foley and former President Donald Trump has something in common — they are both WWE Hall of Famers. But, don’t expect Foley to support Trump in November.

Despite his reluctance to respond, Foley gave his take on the election.

“I haven’t commented on politics in over a year. I saw what I saw on January 6th. Other people saw it. They saw and then were told they didn’t see what they saw. But to me, that represents a real danger to the democracy. You know, people want to differ with me on that.

“I just know what I saw and no one can tell me I didn’t see what I saw, no matter how many months you might have talking heads telling you you didn’t see what you saw. I saw what I saw on January 6th, and it represented a grave danger to democracy,” Foley said.

Foley and Kevin Sullivan

Last week, the wrestling world lost Kevin Sullivan, former wrestler and booker for WCW during the Nitro era.

Foley — when known as Cactus Jack in WCW — was part of Sullivan’s entourage known as The Slaughterhouse in 1990. After years apart, they reunited to win the WCW tag team championship over The Nasty Boys in 1994 in one of the legendary hardcore matches of the era.

“He meant even more to me as a creative mind than he did as a wrestler. He thought so much of me that he came out from behind the broadcast booth and started wrestling again. And we formed a good tag team. But it was really him seeing something in me as a creative mind that made him want to create something. And that was, a big difference to me. It really put me on the national map,” Foley said.

Sullivan died Aug. 9 at the age of 74. He booked — planned storylines, akin to a showrunner for a scripted show — at the peak of WCW between 1996 and 1999.

His long career also included a stint in 1977 with Roy Shire’s northern California promotion, featuring matches at the Cow Palace in the Bay Area, and Fresno’s Selland Arena.

I met Sullivan last year at the WrestleMania in southern California. He told me that his travels to Fresno were brief — in and out the same day. He would return to his home for the time being in Fremont.

Foley in Fresno

Foley did not have too many memories of wrestling in Fresno, but he did main event one pay-per-view held at Selland Arena.

In July 1998, Steve Austin & The Undertaker defeated Foley, wrestling as Mankind, and his partner Kane for the WWF tag team championship.

Foley debuted in Fresno two years earlier, losing to The Undertaker at a house show match July 26, 1996.

His last Fresno match took place Feb. 15, 2000 for the airing of Smackdown! two days later. Foley, wrestling as Cactus Jack, took on X-Pac in a falls county anywhere match. The match spilled out to the back parking lot. X-Pac’s partners, Degeneration X, attacked Jack and stuffed him into the luggage compartment of a bus — this was the Attitude Era, after all.

Steve Austin & The Undertaker vs. Kane & Mankind from WWF Fully Loaded, 7/26/98 at the Selland Arena in Fresno.