Mick Foley is “The Hardcore Legend.”
On Tuesday, the WWE Hall of Fame mega-star appeared as a guest on ‘The Ariel Helwani Show’ for an in-depth interview (see video below), during which he spoke about his decision to leave WWE, possibly wrestling again in AEW and more.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts. Also embedded below is a complete video archive of the discussion.
On his decision to step away from WWE due to the Donald Trump association: “I just think WWE had a very cozy relationship where there was definitely the illusion of a relationship there — the perception, rather. I think when five different people are posing in the Oval Office and they’ve all received Stone Cold Stunners, that’s a little cozy. And I felt like even though I wasn’t technically employed by the company, but because I had a Legends deal, because my name’s been associated with WWE for over 30 years, that I was complicit in my silence. And so I did speak up. I reached out to the head of talent relations, who I consider a friend, who I still write handwritten letters from Santa to every year… Basically, I give up the Legends deal. It runs out at the end of this month. I realized that by giving up two really easy, very high paying jobs at WrestleMania week for WWE that I had to work 24 hours on my own to make what I could’ve in six, and I’m okay with that. So I’m good with my decision. Everyone I think has to make a decision that’s right for them. And in my case, I just didn’t want to be in a position where my grandchildren are asking what their grandfather was doing when things were really, you know, tough. And I want my children to be able to say, ‘This is what grandpa did.’ So I made the move that I thought was right for me. I love that company. I’m not going to disparage them, but it didn’t seem like a good fit. Didn’t seem like a fit that would allow me to look at myself in the mirror before I went to bed.”
On how he’s still willing to return: “I didn’t close the door forever. I said in my announcement, you know, as long as [Trump’s] in office.”
On possibly wrestling again in AEW: “It’s definitely crossed my mind. You know, the cinematic matches have opened up the door for guys whose cardio may be suspect. But I’ll tell you what, this loss of 100 pounds has made my life so much easier. Like, I used to have to stop a couple times just walking up a moderate hill. And now I don’t even realize I’m walking up hills when I do them because I’m not really getting winded, not like I used to. I don’t know. I think that clearly if I had a match, it would have to be a match that would avoid trauma to the head. Luckily, there’s a whole lot of me to traumatize below the neck. So I think I have one last good match in me. I just believe — all the stars would have to align. All the stars would have to align. It would have to make sense. If I can come up with enough of those type of moves that allow me to risk a little bit less while still giving fans a good match, and if I feel like I’m up to it, then maybe a couple of years down the road we will look into that. Stranger things have happened.”
