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Brick Wall Comedy
Brick Wall Comedy
Promotional art for Cheap Pops
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Cheap Pops

Mick Foley

WWE Network · 2015 · 58 min

A wrestling veteran tells road stories about the absurdity of sports entertainment.

Mick Foley trading his flannel and barbed wire for a comedy club microphone makes sense given that the hardcore wrestling veteran spent decades delivering promos that functioned as sweaty, breathless stand-up routines. Cheap Pops brings his one-man stage show to a theater crowd, focusing on the absurdity of his career inside and outside the ring. The strongest moments rely on his self-awareness, like breaking down the mechanics of a 22-foot elbow drop in WCW only to pivot into a deeply stupid joke about accidentally slapping another wrestler’s ass on the way down.

Filmed at Full Sail Live in Orlando, Florida, the set was produced specifically for the WWE Network in 2015. It arrived just as the platform was experimenting with original non-wrestling programming. Foley’s career was firmly in its legacy phase, two years post-Hall of Fame induction, and the hour leans heavily on nostalgia and inside baseball for wrestling fans. Curiously, the show vanished from the streaming archive later that year due to expiring licensing agreements, turning it into a short-lived piece of wrestling media trivia.

The set list

2 bits

  1. Stacy Keibler emailing Foley about showing George Clooney one of his wrestling matches

    Foley suggested showing Clooney his iconic Hell in a Cell match along with interview promos, turning the interaction into a multi-layered story rather than just a punchline.

  2. Bringing his son on stage to play the drums

    Foley shared that his son is autistic and a self-taught drummer, creating a personal and touching moment with the audience.

How it plays

Tone
Humorous, nostalgic, and all-ages appropriate with a self-imposed one F-bomb rule.
On stage
Hardcore wrestling icon turned humorous, warm, self-described storyteller channeling the passion and connection of his classic wrestling promos.
Pace
Passionate, enthusiastic delivery focused on refined narrative timing and comedic storytelling.
About
Three decades of professional wrestling memories, Behind-the-scenes WWE anecdotes, Family life, Wrestling promos and cheap pops

What the critics said

Audience and fan attendee reports praised the performance as 'pure gold' from start to finish, with Foley noting the post-release response on the WWE Network was overwhelmingly positive.

In the room: An enthusiastic, highly supportive crowd composed of devoted wrestling fans and NXT talent, giving loud reactions throughout the taping.

Summed up from reviews, articles and listings. Sources: realmickfoley.com, sportingnews.com, filmalist.com, wrestlezone.com, 411mania.com, pwpix.net, ewrestlingnews.com, en.wikipedia.org, thepitchkc.com.

Backstory

Filmed for the WWE Network at Full Sail University (the home venue of WWE's NXT brand) as the finale to Foley's 'Hardcore Legend' tour.

Details

Released
Taped
Full Sail Live, Winter Park
Runtime
58 min
Where
WWE Network
Topics

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