Mick Foley signed for AEW

Mick Foley, the former WWF champion that rose to prominence during the peak of the Attitude era and proved many doubters, including Vince McMahon wrong along the way, saw his WWE contract expire within the past few weeks. Foley, a New York Times #1 best-selling author, announced his intentions to let his WWE deal expire earlier this year because of the company's strong affiliation with Donald Trump. The legendary grappler is a very outspoken critic of the current administration and drew a line in the sand when executives were hosted in the Oval Office alongside Trump on a few different occasions because of Linda McMahon's role in his cabinet as the Head of the Department of Education. The six million dollar donation to his initial campaign and her work on the board of a Republican super pac that raised money for his re-election certainly paid off when she was gifted the positions of the Small Business Administration during the first term and then the education department for the current term. The fact that she has no actual background in education probably won't help most of America's woeful test scores.

The WWE can claim to be an apolitical organization, but that's simply not the case anymore. Thankfully for the publicly-traded corporation, the average WWE fan is more concerned with who wins the scripted match than the potential corruption of democracy in reality so they will conveniently look the other way when WWE management endorses the Trump administration, even if they don't agree with his policies.

Granted, politics are more of a work than pro wrestling, and it's more profitable too, but that's a different discussion for a different time.

Still, Mick Foley took a stand, which took at least some level of the famous Foley fortitude since not only did he walk away from the WWE payday, but he also risked alienating some of his potential customers for outside project since any political involvement can split the audience. Maybe someone with one of those silly red hats would decide not to buy an autograph or a ticket to a live show because the hardcore legend isn't a fan of the orange blob in the White House.

All things considered, it shouldn't be too surprising that Mick left the WWE, specifically because this isn't the first time that he was at odds with the office. Famously, Mick abruptly quit the company in 2001 when he was discontent with  the creative direction of the promotion in the aftermath of the WCW purchase. He was back in the WWE fold a few years later, working a memorable feud against Randy Orton, a storyline that helped push Orton up the card at the time. By 2008, Mick was put on commentary for a short-lived stint on Smackdown before he quit after Vince's infamous screaming into their headsets prompted him to quit. Foley surfaced in TNA for a handful of years, and despite his best efforts, he just had too much damage to his body to have another major run as an in-ring competitor. Mick was back again and inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, and was used for the general manager role on Raw in the years that followed. More recently, Foley was under contract for a merchandise deal, but was mostly on the convention circuit or touring for stage shows.

The former champion not under the WWE umbrella doesn't affect the promotion all that much, mostly because at his age, his on-screen role would be very limited in terms of what he could be used for. So, the merchandise aspect is the biggest part of his departure.

Last weekend, Foley made his All Elite Wrestling debut as the pre-show host with Renee Paquette at Double or Nothing, and was reported to have signed a contract with the organization. Given that Tony Khan has had Ric Flair on the payroll for the past few years, but you never see him because he's too outlandish to put on television, it's not a surprise that Tony offered a legendary performer from the past a payday for relatively easy work. That's not a knock on Tony at all, it's nice to see someone care enough to be willing to provide a level of financial security for the previous generation, but the point is, just because Foley is under an All Elite contract, that doesn't mean that he will necessarily be apart of AEW programming on a regular basis.

After the pay-per-view, Mick spoke glowingly about his experience at the event, and of course he would, it's easy to say nice things when the experience included a new contract from a billionaire. I'm not calling Mick insincere, but rather to point out that there wasn't really anything else he was going to say about his time on the show. Following up on that, Mick called himself a "Swiss army knife" for the promotion, implying that he could be useful in different roles.

Mick Foley is one of my favorite performers all of time, and his willingness to sacrifice his body in an effort to give the fans there money's worth might've been questionable, but the nobility of the intention was undeniable. Mick Foley gave more of himself than he received from the pro wrestling business, which is why it's nice that he can secure a new contract at this point in his life. That being said, outside of the smaller role as a host, or an occasional promo like the solid segment with Darby Allin before the pay-per-view, I truly don't think there's much for Mick Foley to do in AEW. At 60, Mick required several surgeries to repair the physical damage that he did to his body during his career, which included stints away from the ring. Furthermore, Mick has talked about memory issues in the past, including when he suffered a minor concussion when he tested the waters to train for a potential retirement match. The bottom line is, there's no way that Mick Foley should work a match in AEW, or probably do anything even remotely physical, as it would be dangerous, as well as irresponsible.

The concerning part is, despite such a legendary career where he overachieved, Mick never got the proper sendoff, as a throw away hardcore match against Ric Flair on TNA television more than 15 years ago was his last singles match. Considering the grand stage that Tony Khan gave Sting after his underwhelming conclusion in WWE, it's worrisome that Foley might consider an option for a last match to put an exclamation point on his in-ring tenure. Hopefully, that doesn't happen because it shouldn't.

As far as what Mick brings to the table going forward, as I said, I'm not sure there's too much for him to do other than a brief segment before the pay-per-views. Don't get me wrong, Foley is a recognizable name to wrestling fans, but as a host on the pre-show, his contributions to the bottom line would be moot. In some ways, I'd expect him to fade into the background and collect a paycheck to show up when he's asked to be there, similar to the status of Big Show the past several years. That's not a knock on Paul Wight or Mick Foley, as nobody, specifically on an individual basis, would be able to truly move the needle for AEW.

Again, it's not surprising that Mick left the WWE, he was more or less always at odds with the company in some form or fashion since he inked a contract thirty years ago when Vince McMahon scoffed at his ability to be a star until through sheer determination, Mankind became one of the biggest stars of the biggest era in the business. It's also not surprising that Tony Khan offered an aging legend a new contract, if for no other reason than he's a genuinely good guy that wants to show respect to the previous generation. At 60, Foley's run is over, this isn't a scenario where he can work with smoke and mirrors to piece together a final run the way that Sting did  so his arrival in All Elite doesn't change much in the grand scheme of things.

Clash in Italy review

TKO's international expansion continued with the first pay-per-view in Italy as a part of the WWE's European tour. As I've written before, it can't be understated how important the success of these international shows are because it's a step toward the true globalization of the product. Of course, the advancement of streaming technology, and more importantly, the ability for an immediate replay are key reasons that these international pay-per-views can be added to the regular WWE schedule. With just five matches on the main card, it might sound like this event was a little thin in terms of delivering enough meat on the bone for both the live and streaming audience, but the line-up was stacked with star power and theoretically a lot at stake from a storyline perspective to give the impression that the broadcast was "must see" for the WWE audience.

This was another PPV where the first hour was on the standard ESPN channel, and while I understand the logic behind it, especially with the massive investment that the network has into WWE programming as one of the cornerstones of its app, there are times that the television format affects the presentation of those portions of the show. The opener of Cody Rhodes vs. Gunther was a worthwhile way to get some level of viewership through ESPN, particularly if there were plans to switch the title, which there was a case to be made for since Gunther was promoted as such a dominate heel the past few years. From a performance perspective, this was a quality segment as everything they did was crisp and smooth. However, from a more substantive point of view, this was somewhat underwhelming. This is actually meant as a compliment, I expected more from this bout since these are two of the top performers in the business today, but this was a 10-minute contest that had a paint-by-numbers approach that just didn't into second gear. This wasn't given the time to build a level of organic drama, and seemed rushed to fit the TV time slot more than anything else. Again, this wasn't a subpar match, but rather not near what it could've or probably should've been. Given that Gunther had his foot under the ropes for part of the pin fall at the finish, I'm guessing that the somewhat disputed finish will be used to justify a rematch at Night of Champions in Saudi Arabia or Summer Slam.

The Women's title match was fine what was it was, but was another bout that didn't get into second gear, despite being given the time to do so. It should be noted that Rhea Ripley previously disclosed that she's dealing with an eating disorder, and she looked alarmingly thin during this match. She looked somewhat frail and it's definitely concerning. All things considered, it might be better for her to take some time off to completely focus on her health. She's one of the most over stars on the roster and even a few months away wouldn't diminish her status. Furthermore, her health is exponentially more important than pro wrestling. On the other end of the spectrum, Jade Cargill looked juiced to the gills and her shoulders looked unnaturally muscular, which is a sharp contrast to the lean muscle that she had when she arrived in the WWE. On a positive note, Cargill seems to finally be more natural in the ring and her move sequences are less clunky than they were prior. The biggest problem with this segment was that toward the conclusion, it used the same loophole with the foot on the rope as was used in the previous match when Gunther had his foot under the bottom rope. It come off as repetitive and flat when it was used for the second time in less than an hour into the broadcast. Eventually, Ripley got the pin to retain the championship, but I'm not sure if this was a productive segment for the division.

Brock Lesnar vs. Oba Femi was the five-minute fireworks match that you'd expect it to be. I usually shake my head when several finishers are used in a match, but this was probably the exception to the rule, taking into account the context of the storyline. This was essentially a role reversal of their Wrestlemania match, which was by design. Oba got caught off guard with the sneak attack before the bell the same way that Lesnar was caught off guard with the power bomb in their first match. Obviously, this sets up for the rubber match at Summer Slam, the location that will be Brock's actual retirement. I saw some of the feedback online scoff at Oba taking a loss, but it's a rather moot point in the grand scheme of things. If I had to guess, I'd say that their Summer Slam match will be given the most time of any of the bouts of the trilogy, and Oba will be presented as the new dominate monster of the WWE landscape. Sure, this match at Clash in Italy was one-dimensional, but it was merely used as a bridge to get to the bigger stage with a bigger payoff.

Sol Ruca defeated Becky Lynch to win the Women's Intercontinental championship, and while she was booked poorly without nay notable victories on the main roster ahead of this match, she looked like a credible star during this segment. The aerial maneuvers and fast sequences worked well to stand out after the brutes did the power match in the segment before this. It goes without saying that Sol Ruca will have to continue to evolve as a performer as far as learning the finer points of working television, as well as the promo work for the causal fans, but the office has certainly given her a good chance to be successful with win over someone as established as Becky Lynch. I could be wrong, but with how cemented Becky is as a tent pole of the women's division, she doesn't necessary need a championship for the angles she's involved in to carry a level of cache. Her star power inherently brings a level of importance to her roles on the shows. It will be interesting to see how Sol Ruca is booked going forward, as far as if she's presented strong enough to became a star of the division or if she will be regulated to the second tier if the run as champion is underwhelming.

The main event was decent, and the crowd was into the segment, but it didn't capture the drama of their match the prior month. This was basically a longer, but lesser version of the Backlash main event. The Clash in Italy contest went almost 30 minutes and became a tedious viewing experience toward the conclusion, particularly when the stuff they did outside of the ring during the middle of the match was slow and plodding. The key was, at least as far as the biggest difference maker between this contest and the one at Bashlash was that during their first match, they were able to make it look like Jacob Fatu might actually beat Roman Reigns for the championship. They simply never got to that level here, and this bout took the course of a rather typical WWE main event as far as a predictable result. Roman used a spear to get the pin fall to retain the title. Post-match, Jacob Fatu left with Roman and The Usos, while the Solo Sikoa group watched from the crowd, which might be an indication of another angle between the two factions.

If management wants to keep the belt on Roman, it's understandable since the two years away from the title picture can at least make the case, albeit not necessarily a strong one, that there was enough time to put him back in the main event scene without it being a total retread. However, this angle with Fatu is basically the same concept that was booked for Jey Uso during Roman's initial heel run. In short, as well done as the Samoan rivalry storylines did over the past few years, Reigns and more or less everyone else involved needs some new ground to cover to avoid redundant narratives. Furthermore, I don't think it was a wise decision to book Fatu in a scenario where he looks like he can't win the world heavyweight championship since it could affect the perception of his potential as a main event star in the future.