Mick Foley feels WWE has lost a ‘little bit of magic’ with corporate ownership
Since being acquired by Endeavor and put under the TKO umbrella, Mick Foley feels WWE has lost some of the magic it once had.
Foley appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show yesterday to discuss the news that he has signed with AEW. Though Foley loves WWE and is not going to disparage them, Foley said one thing that stands out between the two companies is the feeling of love that goes into the AEW product due to it not having corporate ownership. Foley said he once took a break from watching wrestling for a couple of years and, when he came back, gravitated more toward the AEW product than what was happening in WWE.
As a huge theme park fan, Foley said he’s seen some establishments go from being family run to corporately owned. The parks might get more money put into them and some nicer rides when that happens, but the feeling of magic that once existed is reduced. Foley believes the same is true for WWE.
“What I feel from watching the two shows is that AEW has that little bit of magic, and WWE has kind of lost it,” he said. “I think when you’re part of a corporation, and the bottom line is everything, you take away from your midcard by making it clear that what you’re selling is more important than the product in the ring.”
Foley said younger fans will often come up to him and want to talk about his matches, even though they weren’t even born when the bouts happened. He wonders if older WWE matches resonate more with fans because the broadcast was more focused on what was going on in the ring instead of treating matches as a means to an end.
“Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were locked in on the matches. There weren’t so many things they had to go to that would take people out of that suspension of disbelief,” Foley said. “That’s just a theory on my part, but I think 10-20 years down the line, the matches that JR called, whether it was with The King or whether it was with Jim Cornette in WCW, they’ll stand the test of time, I think, better than the current matches in WWE because it seems like the matches are a means to an end instead of something to be enjoyed for themselves.
“So I just feel like at this point, AEW has — the personal ownership shows, and a love and a feeling of magic, that I don’t think the corporate ownership of WWE displays nearly as well.”
Mick Foley’s AEW role —
The 60-year-old Foley made the decision not to renew his WWE Legends contract due to the “close relationship” he feels the company has with President Donald Trump. In AEW, Foley is open to a variety of roles including broadcasting and helping to promote the product through media appearances. He could see himself becoming a manager and isn’t even ruling out the idea of getting back into the ring for one more match.
The midcard scene is one area where Foley believes AEW really thrives, and he thinks he could help out some of those wrestlers if he served as their manager.
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.