WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley spoke with ESPN this week to promote Monday’s RAW 25th Anniversary special, which he reportedly will not be attending due to a scheduling conflict.

Foley made his Monday Night RAW debut back in April of 1996. In the years that would follow, Foley was a key player during the Attitude Era, a period that saw WWE achieve its biggest audiences in company history.

Longtime fans have fond memories of Foley working with The Rock at the height of the Attitude Era and Foley explained to ESPN why they worked together so well.

“If you were an uninitiated viewer and tuning in, you’d say, ‘So wait a minute, the ugly guy with the mask and tattered shirt … he’s a good guy? And this other guy who looks like he’s carved out of marble, he’s the bad guy?’ But it worked. We played off each other.”

When he was first introduced on WWE television, Foley portrayed the boiler-room-dwelling freak, Mankind. He’d later introduce his alter egos tot he WWE Universe – the hardcore legend Cactus Jack and the irresistible ladies man, Dude Love. Each of his personas offered the fans something different to embrace.

When asked who would win in a hypothetical showdown between Mankind, Cactus Jack and Dude Love, Foley said the character he created back in his teen years would come out on top. “Dude hides under the ring and waits for the other two to wear themselves out, then takes advantage,” he joked.