Anything for Cheap Pops: In Person Recap of Mick Foley’s NXT Full Sail Show

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In what was a surprise opener for many fans in attendance, Mick Foley’s “Cheap Pops!” comedy show started off with a bang (or bang-bang! depending on who Foley is at the time). The opening number was performed by the voice of the Attitude Era himself, Good Ol’ JR Jim Ross.

JR added some sizzle to Foley’s steak for the night by giving the intimate room of at Full Sail University Live a taste of his one man show “Ringside with Jim Ross”. If one believes there’s no need to go see Ross’s one man show live because they can listen to The Ross Report podcast, they’re sorely mistaken. The opportunity to hear JR’s wit and wisdom on the wrestling business and on life is a breath of fresh air for both hardcore fans and the uninitiated.

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The crowd at Full Sail gets a bonus opener featuring Ringside with Jim Ross

During Ross’s solid half hour of comedy and valuable life advice, there were the classic STONE COLD! (repeated three times) references, a couple of Terry Funk and Jim Barnett impressions slipped woven in with a fantastic Q&A session. Two standing ovations later, JR introduced the crowd to Mrs. Foley’s Baby-Boy’s Baby-Girl (MFBBBG) aka Noelle Foley.

Post MFBBBG’s cute introduction of her pops who, as she claims, just so happens to be “cheap”, Mick Foley emerged as a beautiful cross between a homeless gentleman and an out-of-work Santa Claus. The crowd loved him for it and of course, they loved his eagerness to entertain.

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Mrs. Foleys Baby-Boys Baby-Girl

Foley made no bones about “Cheap Pops!” being solely a comedy show. The artist formerly known as Mankind assured the crowd that the show was in fact “…an autobiographical journey…” full of twists and turns but still infused with comedy. For those in attendance, there were pauses of serious contemplation about life but Mick would snap us all out of it by being his charming self and with that came involuntary laughter.

The journey Mr. Foley took the crowd on was a departure from the funny stories and musings listeners may have heard on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast or  it’s wrestling equivalent, The Art of Wrestling podcast hosted by Colt Cabana. This was a different side of Cactus Jack that’s probably only able to be seen during this show. While Mick was doing most of the talking, the show felt like a conversation with an old friend who wanted to give out some free bonus material rarely heard during a re-telling of their life’s story.

Mick made some quick jokes about The Miz that had the crowd chanting for more. Names like Vader, Sting, Hulk Hogan and Paul Heyman came up casually as their likenesses appeared on a big screen behind the stage. There was talk of the infamous Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker Wrestlemania 30 match that ended the streak but the conversation didn’t go the way one might think. How Foley talks about this scenario is best experienced live.

Mick waxed philosophically on the subtle art of pandering and admittedly he was not above it. For the night, The Full Sail Live arena was delighted to be known geographically as “this part of Florida”. It’s official; this is the only way one should ever try and explain Winter Park, Florida.

As is his personal rule, Mick only drops one F-Bomb per show. That’s a difficult decision to make on-stage while being touted as a comedian. But this is Mick Foley and my God, does he make that F-Bomb count.

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Mick Foley makes a reference to Paul E. Dangerously during the show.

After allowing one of his young sons to show off his drum skills and making funny references to the rest of his family who were there to support him in the front row, Mick held a brief Q&A session. As the show ended, there was a sense of pride beaming from the Hardcore Legend. It was quite easy to see that this isn’t the last time fans of WWE or just Mick Foley himself will see the Hall of Famer record a special to be aired on the WWE Network or any other television entity. The show is money.

“Cheap Pops!” is scheduled to air on the WWE Network during the end of April 2015. The rumor mill and twitter say Wednesday April 28, 2015. No official confirmation for an air date has been made at this time from the WWE.

Do not make the mistake of missing out on “Cheap Pops!”.

 

 

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