Mick Foley recently spoke with Justin Barrasso for Sports Illustrated Extra Mustard; you can read a few excerpts below:
Foley comments on how Santa Claus makes him feel and what Christmas means to him:
“Cactus Jack required me to be tougher and meaner. The tough part for me was to be more aggressive because that wasn’t my natural manner, but the red Santa suit allows me to be kinder and wiser.”
“I was so caught up in the moment that I believed I was Cactus Jack when I was out there, and that is how I feel now in the Santa suit. Christmas brings out the best in people. I know there are those who think it’s overly commercialized, but all I see in Santa Claus is the ability to bring joy to people. When I think of Christmas, I think of joy.”
Foley comments on the power and responsibility of wearing a Santa suit:
“The goal is to turn a hospital room into a little wonderland during a visit from Santa. At the Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh, there was a little girl in quarantine. I couldn’t go into her room so, from the threshold of the doorway, I told this little girl about the box of ‘Fairy Dust’ I was holding. I really built up that box of fairy dust, and I’ll never forget the look on her face when I opened it up.
“I broke down afterward in the hallway, and I’m so grateful that I am in a place where I can spread that type of joy. That’s more a testament to that red suit than anything else. If you believe in what you’re doing, that suit has the ability to bring out the best in you.”
Foley comments on how his love of Christmas started:
“My oldest son was born in February of ‘91 and I started working for WCW in September of ‘91. I was on the road almost constantly for WCW. We even worked Christmas night. I was away a lot, but I found the way that we could maximize that Christmas season was to build it up for months.”
“We’ve gone to Santa’s Village in New Hampshire every year since 1996. Since I was always on the road with wrestling, we built the Christmas season up for months. I remember when my daughter Noelle was young, I’d put Al Snow on the phone with her, and Al would ask her where she was going in a few months. Noelle would answer, ‘Santa’s Viwwage.’ Maybe I overdid it, but my children still gravitate to that place, they have so many great memories of it.”
