WWE Hall Of Famer Mick Foley was asked his thoughts on Vince McMahon’s retirement and Triple H taking over on the latest “Foley Is Pod” podcast:
“What I’m seeing is that the talent is getting a second chance. The cream is rising to the top. I think there is more of a sense that you’re playing to win instead of playing not to lose which is really important. I think mistakes are accepted as an unavoidable byproduct of growth, and people are not under the same pressure to be perfect all the time which means you’re nowhere close to perfect any of the time. I would say the best compliment I can give the new Hunter regime is that I don’t think WWE has that problem, and that was the biggest problem I saw in the last few years.”
“I love Vince McMahon. I can’t think of a time and place where I could have been better utilized. There’s so many reasons why my push could have been shortened, not as strong, or forgotten, and there is no way you and I are having this conversation without Vince, with a little help from Bruce and J.R. and The Undertaker. I don’t think you can ever underestimate the power of The Undertaker wanting to do business, and even some other guys on the way out like Kevin Nash saying, ‘The guy is money.’ Shawn Michaels liked me immediately. So I had some big proponents. Bret Hart liked working with me. So all the top guys I worked with enjoyed it.”
“To listen to Bruce who told him, ‘Hey, this guy has a more interesting story than the fictional portrait that you guys have created’, and that’s where the groundbreaking interviews with Jim Ross came in. So all of that, ultimately, was up to Vince.”
“I think it’s a really good thing for WWE. People are excited. I feel for Mr. McMahon because business was so much a part of his life. I hope he has some things, and he does have grandchildren and some things that are meaningful, but he can still make a huge impact in other ways. I give Triple H an ‘A’ and we’ll see in the following few months if that becomes an ‘A+’”
Foley was asked if he would rather be part of a great match or a great storyline:
“To me, the great matches go hand and hand with the great storylines. I needed the great storyline. I loved having J.R. call those matches to explain the story to the fans. Of course, he had that amazing job of just saying enough putting you in that space to make you feel almost like you’re in that wrestler’s head. I think the great moments are more important to me. I think if you have great matches for too long, too regularly, people stop seeing them as a big deal.”
You can listen to the podcast below:
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
