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Q & A With Mick Foley

Posted: Sep 17th 2008 By: CMBurnham

Mick Foley has always been a guy who loves being involved in wrestling. He is a three-time WWE Champion and one of the most beloved figures in the company over the past decade. Since he is no longer a full-time wrestler, Foley decided to give it a try in the broadcast booth. At the Backlash pay-per-view on April 27, he took over as the color commentator for the Smackdown brand.

While he enjoyed working with veteran announcer and good friend Jim Ross, he didn't like Vince McMahon's style of producing which was to yell at him. Rather than enduring it, Foley decided to step away from the position.

On September 1, his WWE contract expired and he walked away from the promotion and agreed to a short-term deal with rival promotion TNA Wrestling.

Last week, Mick Foley was a guest on my Between The Ropes radio show to discuss his announcing job with the WWE and why he left for TNA. Here is the first part of that conversation with the rest coming later in the week.

First of all, you?re no longer in the WWE Alumni section on their website. You were taken out of the upcoming Legends of WrestleMania video game.

I know. I?ve been erased. It?s like I no longer existed there.

What happened?

That was kind of a surprise to hear. I was as taken back by that (being taken off the WWE Alumni section) as I was when I found out I was taken off the Legends of WrestleMania game.

Yeah that?s weird that they would actually go through the trouble of taking you out of the game.

In a way, I guess it?s kind of flattering because if they didn?t think my leaving was noteworthy I don?t think they would have taken any step. So I guess, like I said, it?s a form of flattery in a way. By the way, did you guys hear about appearance at the TNA show? (Mick made a quick appearance recently at a TNA house show in Long Island, NY.)


Yeah I saw it online. You got lost out there didn?t you?

(Laughs) I?ve been to that arena 25-30 times. It used to be called the Westberry Music Fair and now I think it?s called the North Ford Theater at Westberry. It?s one of the last few remaining theaters around which means that every seat is a good seat but you don?t know exactly where you are. As I came out ? and the only reason I appeared was because they were showing up in Westberry and I can count on one hand how many times a wrestling show has been that close to me and since I just started working for the company, my kids wanted to go to the show. It seemed like a waste not to show up and as long as I was there it seemed like a waste not to at least let people know that I was there. I was just going to come out and wave and not necessarily say anything. But once I realized I passed (TNA referee) Earl Hebner twice and that I was officially lost on my first appearance, I better say something. I don?t care if it?s weak or not. I have to at least make up for this. It was a little strange but it has to get better from there.

I think at that point you should have just yelled ?you screwed Bret? and just ran.

(Laughs) But it was exciting and it was good to see so many of the guys and that I had worked with before and see some of the people I had only seen on their show. I always heard about what a great, relaxed atmosphere it was. WWE can be a little tense, I guess, back behind the scenes. So for a lot of people ? especially people who had been with WWE and done pretty well and saved a little bit of money ? it?s a great atmosphere.

I thought the only reason you decided to go to TNA was for the free trips to Orlando to go to the theme parks.

(Laughs) That?s the thing. I see these things now that I actually learned how to use the Internet about three days ago and talking about and speculating about my contract. They?re not paying me. They just give me front of the line pass at Universal.

That?s what we talked about. Foley is going to come here to work the wrestling shows but he?s more here for to go to the theme park. You actually are in the theme park the whole time you?re at the TNA show.

That?s what is known as a fringe benefit. The only time I had that in my career was when we wrestled in Hershey (PA). So I do plan on taking advantage of that.

Not only that but you know that within a couple of miles there is a Waffle House and a Cracker Barrel.

(Laughing) Yeah but we have Waffle House and Cracker Barrel is Connecticut now. It?s no longer just a southern thing. This is cool. I?ve managed to escape the whole reason why I left the WWE or did you guys not realize that?

We?re starting out with some small talk first. So let?s get into that now and have you talk about your decision to leave the WWE once your contract expired.

Basically, I told Vince (McMahon) that I had some concerns that he cared a lot when he produced. For me, there may have been too much caring. I think I would have enjoyed an atmosphere where there was a meeting ahead of time and everybody?s on the same page and then a discussion afterwards as opposed to?

Him screaming off your ear?

You know, this is one thing I?ll say for Vince. He knew it bothered me because I told him the next day. I was getting ready to go to Disneyland the day after the pay-per-view in San Diego. It was really bothering me that this thing was on my mind. Honestly, I hadn?t expected it and the first reaction I had when I got my first real earful was that what I had written in 2001?s Foley is Good about never hearing Vince yell at another person was no longer true. As I was being ? I?m not got to say yelled at ? as whatever was happening was happening, I was like ?that?s not even true?. It was bothering me so I called him. I was actually on my way to Legoland and Disneyland was going to be after the Smackdown taping and I was expected to get his machine and I got him. I had my kids in the car and my wife and we?re like five minutes from Legoland and I just told him that I didn?t feel that was the way I should be talked to.Vince is very passionate about it. That?s just his way. I knew it was. For me, it?s not the right way. I don?t think that brings out the best in somebody. I could be wrong. In all the times we discussed the job, the conversation never got heated and my wife thought I was crazy when I said I can?t let anybody ruin my Disneyland vacation. That was the primary thing that my mind had to be clear. I think he really tried to treat me differently but he does things his way and it?s his company. Here?s the news I?ll break to you guys. The main reason I left was if Vince?s producing had a positive effect on my announcing, I might have thought while I disagree with his motives, the proof is there on the screen. But what happened was I went from thinking about it all the time. When I was asked by different guys how I liked it those first few weeks and I would say it?s great. It?s like being in the ring; it?s like cutting interviews except instead of thinking about things I can say about myself, I?m thinking about things I can say about other guys. It was never a conscious decision to stop doing that but I believe - this is my kind of psychological take on it ? that it was like my brain?s way of defending itself was to not care as much. I went from thinking about the job almost all the time to not thinking about it at all and I really thought my performance was suffering. There were some weeks where I was a little embarrassed; I hadn?t done my homework. One of the things I always liked was the feedback I got was real whether it be guys like Triple H or Batista or some of the younger guys. I remember Scotty Armstrong who I?ve known for a long time and really respect saying we love the way you call the matches because you call it like you?re one of the guys. I always wanted to be someone who did their homework and did justice to the guys. At a certain point when you stop thinking about it, you stop being as good as you could be and you?re doing a disservice to the guys that you?re supposed to be putting over. So I thought it was having a negative effect on me. I wanted to get out while I thought I was still credible because little by little and week after week I think you would have seen the performances getting worse and worse and then I wouldn?t have been in a position to leave on my own because my contract was up. I think I would have been asked to leave because I was Coach-like (referring to former Smackdown commentator Jonathan Coachman) in my analysis.

Is commentating still something that you would like to do at some point down the line perhaps without a producer in your ear constantly? We?ve talked about it on the show. Imagine trying to do a broadcast of any sort and someone is talking in your ear constantly. How can you form a thought when somebody else is filling your head with words?



You know, it was really difficult, even when his volume wasn?t up. It was hard to get into the zone and really become part of the match when you?re listening. It?s not like what he says is optional. You pretty much have to say it. There are times when I would listen back and I?d hear JR (Smackdown lead announced Jim Ross), for example, he made a good comment about going hunting with Dick Cheney and I didn?t even hear it because I was so busy trying to fit in what Vince was saying. In some ways ? and I?ve been talking about this steadily over the years when it comes to guys doing interviews ? when something is done for you, it won?t necessarily hurt your interview that week or your performance that week. Over the course of time, once you eliminate the need to think for yourself, it can?t help but hurt the way you approach interviews or, in this case, approach matches. Even though 90% of what we said was ? at least in my case what was said ? was coming from my own thoughts, there?s still that crutch that you not only can use but have to use. It just didn?t work for me. But again, it?s Vince?s company and he?s going to be right a lot more often than he is wrong. I just think that way of approaching producing is wrong.

How exactly did the color commentating position come along? You did it for several months after replacing Jonathan Coachman. Was it something you went to them about or did they come to you? And were you supposed to be in that role long-term if everything worked out?

I?ll answer that last question first. I think once I did it for a couple of weeks I really liked it. I remember thinking that this was something I could do for five years, ten years. If they had offered me a five year contract after three years I would have jumped on it because I really liked it. So I?m fortunate in a way that things happened the way they did because I really see this opportunity at TNA as a good one. It?s short-term now but it could lead to something longer term down the road depending on how we each like working with the other ? TNA management and me. I was offered the job when I went to Marissa McMahon?s move premiere. The one where I did the world?s most glorified cameo. It ran a little longer than I thought and I had to get back. I thought I at least want to go to the after party. I don?t want to think that I?m slighting the McMahons. I walked in and Vince was the first person I saw and within two minutes? Who knows with Vince? You don?t know if this is something that had been on his mind or if it came up at that point in time. He asked me if I?d like to try the announcing and I agreed to give it a try. All of a sudden, I started to feel guilty about The Coach because we can joke or be honest about him. Either way, Coach wasn?t great in that role but he?s a good guy and I don?t want to cost anybody their job. So I called him a couple of days later and he was so cool about it. I left a message saying I hope we don?t have heat and he called back and said how could we ever have heat. Then he told me he was actually looking at it as a break because he had been wanting to pursue some other things. For those of you who watched Sportscenter recently, you?ll know that Coach really landed on his feet. So I think the key is you have to do the color commentating position in the WWE just so you can leave it and end up better off than you were when you get it.

Tags: Mick Foley, WWE, TNA, Jim Ross