10 shocking Moments from WWF (WWE) 1996

#7 The debut of Mankind

The debut of a legend

With the rise of WCW on the horizon, Vince McMahon was forced to look elsewhere across the professional wrestling world for ways to shore up his crumbling mid-card roster. McMahon is known for having a strong preference for making his own stars, so whenever a well-renowned wrestler from Japan or Europe makes their WWF/E debut, you know they are there on merit.

Mick Foley, a former Japanese death match legend, was brought to the WWF in 1996, making his RAW debut the night after Mania XII. Despite making the biggest name for himself under the 'Cactus Jack' gimmick, Vince instead decided to turn Foley into 'Mankind'.

Considering this was a more naive time for the wrestling business, Mankind was actually quite a deeply thought-out character. The idea was that Mankind would personify the dark, twisted side to human beings that we all know we have.

He was made to perform promo segments from the boiler room of the arena, constantly hiding in the shadows through fear of spreading his evilness to others.

Whether it was the spooky mask or just Foley's ability to connect with the audience, Mankind very much hit the ground running, entering into a WWF Championship feud with Shawn Michaels and turning Paul Bearer against The Undertaker.

It would be another few years before the company fully worked out how much of an asset Foley would prove to be, but the early signs were more than impressive.