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The Foley Files - January 8, 2010

Posted: Jan 12th 2010 By: mikeiles

Hello everyone, and welcome back to another addition of "The Foley Files". It certainly was an exciting week to be part of TNA; a record rating on Spike, a host of surprises, and the type of buzz I haven't felt in the wrestling world in a long time.

I knew there would be some big things in store for fans, but I was astonished to hear that Jeff Hardy was heading our way. I heard the rumor the night before the big show, and felt that if it were to turn out to be true, it would have to be considered among the biggest TNA coups in history; one of the top wrestlers in the business, at the absolute peak of his popularity, joining up with TNA is absolutely huge. Speaking of huge, how about the response in the Impact zone when the Nature Boy emerged from the limo? I'll bet there are some people out there wondering how I personally felt about the arrival of the "Nature Boy" into TNA, given our history. Well, believe it or not, a couple nights after Christmas, I had a phone conversation with Ric Flair, during which I strongly reccomended he make the switch. I'm not sure what difference, if any, my words had, but I think Ric will feel right at home in the "Impact Zone" and on Spike.

For those history buffs out there, this past Monday's show was my first ever on-air interaction with Hulk Hogan, and my first with Scott Hall since we were part of the same team in the imfamous 1991 "Chamber of Horrors" match in WCW. Backstage, there was alot of concern for Hamada after she suffered an ankle injury; it was certainly a tremendous display of courage to complete the match. If I had one fault with the show, it would simply be that there were so many big things happening, so quickly, that I'm not sure our television audience had a chance to digest and appreciate all of them. Hopefully, we will find a way to make the most out of all these big surprises in the upcoming weeks; to continue the momentum that Monday afforded us, and to keep that buzz going.

I appreciated all of the comments I recieved regarding my feelings about the passing of the great "Dr. Death" Steve Williams. It's a shame that more wrestling fans didn't get to see Doc in his prime, or get to meet him during his long battle with cancer - he was truly an inspiration and the definition of a "fighter". I don't often look around the web at wrestling sites, but in attempting to see what was out there about Doc, I did see that one fairly prominent blogger had listed me as his "Disgrace of the Year" for 2009. Look, everyone is entitled to their opinion, but I have to think that this writer was not fully aware of the implications of using the word "disgrace" to describe my first full year in TNA, especially because it was the same word he used to describe the heinous actions of Chris Benoit in naming him the "Disgrace of the Decade" in the same piece ofwriting. I don't care how "stupid" this blogger thought my storylines were, how "self-indulgent" he found the feuds I participated in to be, how "horrible" he found my humor, or what he thought of my appearance. There is simply NO way that anything I have ever done should put my work in TNA in the same classification as the murders that Chris Benoit was responsible for. For many years, through financial contributions and hundreds (yes, hundreds) of days of volunteer work, I have tried to make a difference in the lives of people facing particularly difficult challenges in life. As a Long Islander like me, this person was surely aware of some of the positive things I have been involved with, and that I should therefore deserve far better than to have the word "disgrace" attached to my name - no matter what this individual thought of my on-air or in-ring performances. I believe I deserve a public apology (on his blog, or through some other forum)...and not one of those disingenuous "I'm sorry if Mick felt offended" apologies either. A real one.

On a happier note, I am glad to report that I have finished the final two chapters of "Countdown to Lockdown". These were the two most important chapers of the book, dealing with my thoughts regarding the deaths of so many young wrestlers, and the use of performance enhancing substances in pro-wrestling and the sports world in general. Hopefully, readers will find these two chapters, as well as the rest of the book, to be insightful and thought provoking.

Thanks for reading - I'll be back in a week with more "Foley Files".

Tags: Mick Foley, TNA, Ric Flair, WCW, Steve Williams