During the latest edition of his “Foley Is Pod” podcast, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley commented on Jim Cornette coming up with the idea for the Mandible Claw, the psychology behind the move, and more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On Jim Cornette coming up with the idea for the Mandible Claw: “I didn’t create it. I brought it back at the suggestion of Jim Cornette. Probably gave it to me in ’92. I was like, ‘Jimmy, man, this elbow is a tough thing to do on house shows,’ and plus you got to either accept the countout or roll a guy in. There was one match, an enhancement match, I had and I looked unconquerable. This is 1990, and at that point, I dropped an elbow from the apron went over the guardrail. I pulled it in and years later, it’d be like ‘he dropped an elbow over the guardrail, I just saw RVD do moonsault off second rope over there.’ But for its time, especially at my size to come over and drop the elbow over the guardrail, then throw the guy back over the guardrail, roll him in, and then I caught him with a bow and arrow cradle and brought him back to the pin. So it’s like, I’ve just always barbaric stuff and then I lose. I win with a technical wrestling move, which just added a little layer to that character, but I looked like unconquerable there. And that was 1990 even when I was predominantly known for losing. Man, I needed something I could do that wasn’t going to have me dropping elbows all the time.”
On the psychology behind the move and Vince McMahon’s reaction to it: “Corny brought up the idea of the Mandible Claw and laid out the history of Dr. Sam Shepard upon whom the TV show and the movie The Fugitive was based. And I pitched it to [Bill] Watts. He shot it down immediately. I tried tell him it was a nerve hold but he wasn’t interested. When I brought it up to Vince [McMahon], he said well, ‘Why wouldn’t someone bite your fingers?’ I explained it to him anatomically, it goes underneath the tongue and the nerves. Your thumb pushes up on the nerve. I said and the thing about it is, it’s very visual. I said I can’t think of another hold except the Cobra Clutch where you have both the face of both the perpetrator and the victim in the same frame. And I sold him on the idea that I was always very camera conscious. I don’t know if he approved it right away because at that time, especially in the second or third meeting, I was pitching a lot of ideas, and he was doing a lot of writing. So I didn’t know how much of it would come to fruition.”
You can keep up with all your wrestling news right here on eWrestlingNews.com. Or, you can follow us over on our Twitter and Facebook pages.
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
