Mick Foley once pulled off a surprise wrestling move on Saturday Night Live – without telling host Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson beforehand.
The WWE Hall of Famer recounted the 2000 moment on the January 19 episode of Pod Meets World, the Boy Meets World rewatch podcast hosted by Danielle Fishel, Rider Strong and Will Friedle.
The Unauthorized Move
During the March 18, 2000 broadcast, Johnson played “Nicotrel,” a character who beats people up to help them quit smoking. At the sketch’s end, Johnson was joined by fellow wrestlers Foley, Triple H and Big Show.
That’s when Foley decided to break out the People’s Elbow on cast member Chris Parnell.
“Somebody asked me when I dropped ‘the People’s Elbow’ on one of the cast members, he said, ‘I’m surprised Rock let you do that when he saw it in rehearsal,'” Foley laughed. “I said, ‘I didn’t do that in rehearsal.’ … He wouldn’t have let me do it.”
Behind-the-Scenes Revelation
Foley admitted he deliberately kept the move secret from Johnson during rehearsals, knowing his friend likely wouldn’t approve.
The wrestlers “all had a great time” on the show, according to Foley, though he confessed his wrestling schedule left him unfamiliar with the SNL cast at the time.
“The cast could not have been nicer, but I wasn’t that aware of who they were because they hadn’t hit reruns yet … they weren’t on syndication,” Foley explained. “Everyone I met was really nice to me. I wish I’d been more aware, But unless they’d been on the show for more than four years, I probably had not seen them.”
Johnson’s Impressive Performance
Foley’s “key takeaway” from the experience was witnessing Johnson’s star potential during his first SNL hosting gig.
“I could see The Rock’s future expanding as the show was going on,” Foley said. “He just crushed it. I mean, he crushed it. He really nailed every one of his skits.”
The 60-year-old described his overall SNL experience as “incredible,” despite his limited knowledge of the show’s cast members at the time.
Recent Departure from WWE
Foley announced his departure from professional wrestling in a December 16 social media post, citing Trump’s inflammatory comments following director Rob Reiner and wife Michele Reiner’s murders as the “final straw” that prompted his decision to part ways with the company.
