WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley addressed his absence from Raw is XXX in the most recent “Foley Is Pod” podcast. Foley previously stated on Facebook that he did not want to appear on the show because he had been on the road for a month and wanted to spend time with his family.
That statement apparently led some to believe that there were problems between Foley and WWE. Foley denied rumors that he currently has heat with WWE:
“Absolutely not. I will say I have had some heat over the years. Maybe if you polled everyone in WWE, maybe I have heat with someone that I’m not aware of. But to the best of my knowledge, everything is going really well. I’m involved to some extent with this show on WWE. I’ve spent more time in Connecticut, not necessarily WWE headquarters, but right up the road working with WWE personnel on a show I’m really proud of, really, really proud of this, but there’s an extravagant amount of traveling because I have to travel to where the talent is available when they are available. So it’s not like logistically a loop is being set up. Basically, you know, if I can visit the milk truck in Modesto, California, I gotta go out and see that milk truck when Kurt Angle is available. Bill Goldberg got a lot of things on the plate, so I’ve got to go out to Kansas when Bill is available, not because he lives there, but because that’s where the collector is. So just for example, there was one three day stretch where I went from Florida, to Modesto, California. Modesto, California to Boston. Boston to Hutchinson, Kansas, which is not a direct flight, and then back to Florida. So you’re literally putting like 30 flying hours together by the time you’re done, especially if something’s not nonstop, so it can be very time consuming.”
Foley continued, “So for the 30th Anniversary of RAW, like every anniversary, falls in that third week of January, where they have, to me, their second biggest show of the year to promote. So you know going in that there’s only room for like three speaking roles and that everyone else is in the poker game. So that’s a long way to go when you’ve been on the road for 25 days, or whatever the case is, and you just want to see your family.”
“So in the interest of full disclosure, like, I visited my mom. That’s a four day block. But you know, I’m a son. I’m trying to be there for her. So I include that. Even now, right before we took the air, I was trying to change my rental car schedule, because I realized that if I change my schedule, and instead of flying out of Huntsville to Chicago for the next episode that I may or may not be hosting, that if I chose instead to drive eight and a half hours, I could see my family and still kind of be there by the time, and so that’s the decision I made is you put a lot of value on that time at home, especially when you’re in like a four or five month block where you haven’t been home very much. I just felt like I needed those two days with my family more than the show needed me.”
You can listen to the complete podcast now via AdFreeShows.com.
(h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription)
