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Mick Foley says wrestling Kevin James in high school helped give him the confidence to pursue professional wrestling. Foley described their repeated practices as an important influence on his decision—not as the sole reason he became a wrestler.
What Foley said about Kevin James
In a November 2023 Instagram caption reproduced by Fightful, Foley called James his high-school pal and said their frequent competition in the school wrestling room helped him believe he could take a chance on his dream.
“Had I never ventured down to my high school wrestling room and competed with Kevin day in and day out, there’s no way I would have had the confidence to take a shot at my dream of wrestling professionally.”
That is Foley’s own explanation of the connection: the experience helped build his confidence. It does not establish that James alone caused Foley’s career.
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How James remembered their high-school wrestling
James offered his perspective during a 2021 appearance on Hot Ones, in remarks transcribed by Wrestling Inc.. He said he had played football and had no prior wrestling experience before being recruited as a heavyweight to practice with Foley.
“I played football, and never wrestled before, but they needed another heavyweight to go with Mick [on the team]. So they brought me over, and we had some battles.”
James also recalled throwing Foley around and Foley jumping from a roof onto cardboard boxes. Those are details from James’s recollection, not independently documented match records or verified accounts of the roof jump.
The belt photo was a joke, not a championship claim
Foley’s caption appeared alongside an image of James with a WWE championship belt. Foley noted that the belt seemed to have been photoshopped onto him; the image was presented as a joke, not evidence that James held the championship.
Why the anecdote matters
A 2026 VICE retrospective describes Foley and James as classmates and wrestling teammates at Ward Melville High School, and notes Foley’s later account of the confidence he gained from wrestling James. The story is a small but telling example of how an early experience can shape someone’s willingness to pursue a much bigger ambition.
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