Hardcore Legend. WWE Hall Of Famer. New York Times Best-Selling Author. Appreciator Of Christmas. Guy Who Was Once Thrown Off The Top Of A Cell Through A Table And Then A Few Minutes Later Was Thrown Through The Top Of The Same Cell And Lost His Teeth And Stuff. There are a number of labels that can be placed upon Mick Foley, but one thing has remained consistent through all of his personalities: Foley is always willing to speak his mind, no matter what the cost.
Recently, Foley was a guest on SiriusXM’s Jim Norton and Sam Roberts, and in between plugging his new book Saint Mick, he shared a story of the time he got in a backstage yelling match with Vince McMahon so severe, it ended his professional relationship with WWE for three years.
It was 2008, and Foley was on the commentary team — and was apparently getting reamed out by McMahon on his headset during the broadcast. As he recalls:
“There was a female wrestler named Layla, and when I returned to WWE [in 2011], she was cowering, backing away — she was terrified of me. She said I was the meanest person she had ever seen based on one interaction she observed with me and Mr. McMahon [in 2008] where I did not take well to being cursed at on the headset. She just happened to be there when I just snapped [at McMahon] and said, ‘I don’t care who you are or how much you’re worth, you’re not gonna talk to me that way ever again.’ Then three years later, the same finger that was wagging in his face was dialing the phone and going, ‘Hey, can I come home?’ I left for three years.”
Following that incident, Foley left WWE to work for TNA until 2011. And according to Foley, he was brought back into the fold following a phone call with McMahon where he told him his true feelings:
“It had been a year and a half since we’d spoken, and I’d gotten a message on my phone that said, ‘I know you don’t like me, but I know you love this company.’ There was a time when some people were badmouthing the company, and he wanted me to weigh in on my feelings. I called him back and told him, ‘I like you.’ Deep down, I like him. I didn’t like that [commentator] job; it wasn’t the right job for me. I was a pat-on-the-back guy, not a kick-in-the-butt guy, so I didn’t deal well with that.”
The two were able to make nice, and since Foley returned, he’s been inducted into the WWE Hall Of Fame, played Santa Claus on Raw and even got his own reality show for the WWE Network. See? All’s well that ends well, as long as you tell your boss you like him.
