Introduction:
While some fans only see Mick Foley (or one of his many characters) when he was out there battling away with the other WWE superstars, the more observative fans could also see his trusty right-hand-man, Mr Socko, waiting there in his pocket for his call to arms.
Mr Socko may be better-known that Mick himself and is certainly the most sought-after piece of foot apparel in the world. Whilst all Foley fans would've seen him shove the dirty old sock on his right hand before punishing his opponents with another Mandible Claw, not all would remember its begginings or some of its bigger victims.
This section of the site is dedicated to just that - reliving the memory of the greatest sock in the history of sports entertainment.
The Beggining:
Is it possible to believe that one of the greatest marketing ploys in wrestling history may have been an accident? Well, it just may have been. True Foley fans can remember the first time Mr Socko came out - RAW on the 5th of October, 1998. Vince McMahon was sick in hospital at the time, and Mick (in character as Mankind) went to visit him.
Mankind and Vince had been getting along OK at this point and he was there genuinely trying to cheer the WWE owner up. Mick had a whole bunch of other things with him to try and cheer McMahon up but none worked. This made Mankind resort to pulling out the sock from his shorts in one last attempt to help Vince McMahon feel better.
As he slipped the now-famous sock onto his hand and screamed, "Mr Socko!" over and over at Mr McMahon as Vince once again asked Mankind to leave the hospital.
I am unsure how much of the scene had been pre-scripted but I'd say there'd be a good chance that if Mick didn't have that odd sense of humour that had served him to well growing up, the world would have never seen his little partner in crime Mr Socko.
No-one at the WWE could've possibly known just how popular Mr Socko would become and it was only after, at the next RAW show, dozens of signs about the sock that Mankind decided to use him as part of his finishing move, the Mandible Claw.
The Major Victims:
Mr Socko has been a part of a number of Mankind's greatest victories since his debut. What astounds me, however, is how Mr McMahon and those aligned with Team Corporate managed to stop him from getting used so many times. Anyhow - Mr Socko's top five memorable victims are:
5. The Rock - Any time you can shove a dirty old sock down the WWE World Champion's moth is a good one, but this Mandible Claw was all in vain becasue, despite winning in a match for the title, Vince came up with a stipulation that would prevent him from gaining the title
4. Mark Henry - There was nothing special about this Mandible Claw except that it was the first time Mr Socko had been used in the move by Mankind during one of his matches
3. Mankind - This wasn't a memorable moment for Mr Socko but it is one of the few times a wrestler has put his finishing move on himself (the reason being that by doing so he would disqualify himself and therefore not give Ken Shamrock the win - even though he had him in a ankle-lock submission move and Mankind was close to tapping out)
2. Vince McMahon - There were numerous times that Mr Socko was called to he shoved far down the WWE owner's throat and every single one was great for Mankind - revenge for all the times Vince had screwed him over
1. Shane McMahon - What? Shane McMahon, you're probably thinking. What a crap choice! But Mr Socko would have to be proud of this Mandible Claw as it was this lengthy submission move that set in motion a train of events that finally saw Mankind defeat The Rock (with some help from Stone Cold Steve Austin) and win the WWE Title. (It wouldv'e been The Rock up here but Mr Socko wasn't required in the match that saw him become Champion)
Pictures of Mr Socko: |
