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.
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