WWE Raw General Manager Mick Foley is the special guest on Lilian Garcia: Making Their Way to the Ring this week, explaining his recent weight loss and why he thinks there won’t be a second season of his family’s hit docu-series, Holy Foley!. Mick also calls Raw’s three-hour program “an anchor around your neck,” and says he was the first person ever to make Chris Jericho’s list.
Highlights from Mick’s interview are below:
Mick on the tie he’s wearing in a new WWE headshot:
The tie I’m wearing in that promo shot is a gift from James Ellsworth, for what he felt I did for him to get into WWE. Isn’t that nice?
What did he do for Ellsworth?:
The idea of pushing for James Ellsworth would actually be too ridiculous. I didn’t actually go up and say, hey you oughta use this kid. I did mention to several people, producers that he made for phenomenal TV.
Mick reveals the motivation for his recent 100 pound weight loss:
I have some hip surgery coming up, and that’s going to require some extensive rehab, and during the course of that I think it would be really good for me to drop a few more pounds.
On how Chris Jericho came up with “The List”:
I’m so proud to say that he was complaining about me, and there was a guy from catering going by and he was like, that Foley. You know what I’m going to do? You know what I’m going to do? Then he grabs a notebook away from the guy and he goes, I’m going to start a list. And I said to somebody, he’s going to have that over in three weeks. Sure enough, it’s become part of the wrestling lexicon.
Mick answers whether he has creative control at WWE:
I do get some say. Yeah, they’re pretty good. They know that I wouldn’t be doing the job unless I believed in it.
Why he accepted the General Manager position:
When it comes to WWE I actually make less money by being GM than I would if I was working for myself. But I believe this is an important job. I do. It has a chance to steer the way the show is seen.
Mick speculates why SmackDown Live has been the fan favorite over Raw:
Even though SmackDown has been kind of like the internet darling, I believe that if they had three hours instead of two they would find out that it’s tough to be a darling when you’ve got that massive three hour anchor around your neck.
Mick tells a recent story from backstage at Raw:
I was about to go out there a couple weeks ago, and I heard Braun Strowman say, I want a title shot. Mr. McMahon’s behind the curtain, at the board watching the monitor, and he goes, oh god, it’s not a title shot. I was thinking to myself, then what is it? That’s exactly what I would go to call it when I would go out there. You want a title shot? He’s like, it’s a title match. It’s a match! So if you ever wonder what it’s like to see a six-foot-eight, three hundred pound behemoth get chewed out, you should’ve been there.
Will there be a season two of Holy Foley!?:
Personally, I don’t think there’s going to be a season two…You look at the show and it’s an expensive show to make, you know? I think the dollars are there on the screen. It’s really high quality. I’m not trying to pick on other shows. But I look at it and I think, wow this is a cut above the other reality shows that I see, even the popular ones.
Mick answers whether he’ll ever wrestle again:
I do not intend to have another match ever, and I’d be doing myself a great disservice. WWE kind of saved me from myself when there was an issue with my impact test, which is the test that measures for concussions. They pulled me out of the atmosphere where I would ever suffer a concussion again. So they kind of saved me from myself in that respect.
For more from The Hardcore Legend, including details on his upcoming Christmas memoir and Vince McMahon’s advice on his hip surgery, check out Lilian Garcia: Making Their Way to the Ring!
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
