But before we get into that, you have to understand that the whole thing came about by accident.

 

It was a typical Wednesday night where I was lucky enough to have a mid-week visit with my favorite son. After dinner, we went to a nearby bookstore (one of his favorite activities) and he pointed out an edition of the WWE Superstars comic book, knowing that I'd reviewed the first edition of last month.

 

I flipped through the pages, just to take a look and it noted a list of Mick Foley's upcoming appearances (Foley is the author of the comic book series) and noted that he was performing at a comedy club in Concord, Ontario (where I happen to live).... and it was tonight!!!

 

I was sure it was stale-dated or incorrect information... or else surely I would have heard about the performance earlier. But then I checked the comedy club's website and saw a confirmation that The Hardcore Legend was indeed performing on July 30th.... at 7 p.m.

 

This was a problem because it was currently 7:25 p.m.

 

Well, I wasn't going to sacrifice even five minutes of my visit with my son, even if my favorite all-time wrestler/author was less than 10 minutes from my home. Even Mick Foley, a noted Father Of The Year type, would understand that rationale.

 

I'd missed Foley's appearance in Toronto earlier this year and the timing kind of sucked, but that was that. About 30 minutes later, my visit was finished for the night and I dropped my son off at his mom's when an idea hit me. Maybe, just maybe, I'd catch Foley in the parking lot after the show? The comedy club isn't a big venue, and it's not like I'm really going out of my way... so it figured it was worth a shot.

 

At 8:30 or so, I arrived at the venue, figuring the show must be finished by now or pretty close to it. Someone was at the ticket booth but they clearly weren't paying attention, so I walked right in. When I opened the door to the comedy club, there were no bouncers at the door or anything.... but there was Mick Foley onstage - with Trish Stratus!

 

It turns out the show was about halfway over, and hey..... half a free show is probably better than paying 30 bucks for the full one, right? Foley is also a noted cheapskate, so he'd understand that one, even if I was kind of ripping him off at the end of the day.

 

This was surreal. The man whose books Have A Nice Day, Foley Is Good, The Hardcore Diaries and Countdown To Lockdown (and even Tietam Brown and Scooter) I've read countless times was sitting down and shooting the shit maybe fifty feet away from me.

 

Foley and Stratus (whom I'd last seen a few months ago at the Jim Ross one-man show) answered pretty much every question in the audience, telling jokes and relaying stories along the way. Among the highlights from what I recall:

 

Mick and Trish both hoped that TNA would find a way to continue on after Spike TV opted not to renew them. After all, both have friends who work there and the industry needs true competition.

 

Foley cited books by Terry Funk, Bret Hart and Chris Jericho (which are all reviewed on Bulldog's Bookshelf, by the way) as among his favorite and particular liked Jericho's sense of comedic timing.

 

Foley mentioned more than once that he was no longer in the good graces of Vince McMahon these days. He relayed a story how, after this year's Royal Rumble, he texted Dolph Ziggler, CM Punk and Brie Bella (on behalf of Daniel Bryan) and registered his disappointment. Unfortunately, the text meant for Bryan was instead sent to McMahon himself.

 

Both Mick and Trish were asked about the current state of women's wrestling. Stratus diplomatically said that while the segment may have peaked during the heyday of herself, Lita, Victoria and Mickie James, there were enough talents around these days, such as AJ and Natalya, that the division could become viable once again. Foley cited the Brie Bella-Stephanie McMahon feud as an example of how they are sporadically writing very interesting angles for women.

 

Foley concluded the chat with a recollection of his famous Hell In A Call match with The Undertaker... not necessarily recalling the match, but pointing out Undertaker's bravery for continuing the match on a broken angle.

 

Afterwards, the 75 or so fans lined up to get autographs and photos with Mick and Trish. I somehow continued my lucky streak by being, like, fourth in line. Feeling guilty about sneaking in to the show, I bought a Cactus Jack "Wanted" shirt (which I'd always wanted anyways) and got Mick to sign it. I got a photo with both and chatted briefly with them, telling Mick how much I enjoyed all of his books.

 

All in all, it was an incredibly random but fun night and if you're able to see Mick Foley perform live, I would highly recommend it.

 

Although I may not publicly recommend sneaking in.