On a recent edition of Foley Is Pod, the Hardcore Legend Mick Foley named his Mount Rushmore of play-by-play commentators. He also shared the origin behind Cactus Jack’s signature “bang, bang!” catchphrase.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Where “bang, bang” came from: “Bang… bang… bang… on the door, baby. You can actually hear me sing ‘on the door baby.’ [referencing the song Love Shack by the B-52s] So it wasn’t a quick ‘BANG BANG!’ Have no idea where it came from. It was just one of those things.
“I liked it, but it was also in ’91, where Dusty talked to me about it and how much he liked it, and to emphasize it even more. So somewhere in that fifteen month period… I had been utilizing it. It was alive, but Dusty really urged me to push it to the forefront.”
The WCW commentators putting him over: “I was really lucky that the announcing team, they were interested in my character. It was a character that was easy to work with from an announcing perspective. So up and down the line, I had Jim Ross, of course. With all due respect to Gordon [Solie], JR is the best I’ve ever seen. He will graciously say we’re all playing for second place and give the Dean the nod. But JR is the best there’s ever been.”
Foley’s Mt. Rushmore of play-by-play voices: “I would have Lance Russell up there. This is as the primary announcers; the color matches are so much more plentiful. I would say JR, Gordon, Lance… Vince. Vince was that hyperbole, man. ‘Dowwwwn to the canvas, oh, whatta maneuver.’ And with ‘whatta maneuver,’ there’s a whole lot less learning that needs to take place.”
