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Mick Foley on Off The Record
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I know this is old, but WWF.com recently put it up on their web site in full. It's in Media Format, just like many of the things that they have, so if you want to check that out, go to WWF.com. This is supposedly an uncut, unedited version. I don't live in Canada, and I don't get Off The Record, so I don't know if this is the same, or unedited. If it is, I apologize, but here it is...
Opening shots
There have been rumors of Mick Foley stepping down from wrestling, and he was on Off The Record. Michael talks about television at it's best where you go in and watch a guy's performance, and then come to watch Off The Record and find out things about a person you didn't know before. More than anything else with Mick Foley, there's the guy in the ring, and then there's the guy that is sitting with Michael Landsberg. Michael talks about how Mick Foley has left all kinds of broken bones, teeth and a lot of stuff. Fans admire that, but are Mick's fellow athletes good with that? Mick thanks Michael for the shameless plugs for his book, and he says he will continue to shamelessly plug it. Mick says they have this shocking announcement coming up later, and part of the reason the announcement is coming is because he isn't the same Mankind or Mick Foley he was 10 months ago. He has had matches in Skydome and Montreal, and they were embarrassing, yet still entertaining. Michael asks Mick about the guys he works with, and Mick has set the standard by doing everything he has done. Mick says the younger guys look up to that, and hopefully they know that when he got up after the things he does, it's too much for anyone.
Mick says the chair shots to the head, that many of them is probably too much of a price to pay when you start having trouble writing down numbers. Mick says he may have gone a little too far. Some of the older guys probably think that Mick is getting what he deserves. Michael says the audience wants more of the stuff that Mick has done, and that's going off of a cage. Mick says they can change what the fans want with their soap opera type entertainment. Mick says Steve went way above and beyond of what he had to do, and he took some pretty bad falls. He always went in there 100 percent, and didn't have to. Mick says no fan ever asked him if he was going to go off a higher cage. Mick says it doesn't bother him that he can't do the harsh stuff anymore, but sometimes it does. Mick says the fans are laughing along at what he has been doing as of late. Mick says he would like to get out before he goes too far. Mick says it would be best for people to remember Mick Foley the way he was.
Michael talks about Owen Hart, and Owen was close to Mick. Michael asks Mick if he would have wanted the show to go on. Mick says it's a tough call, and when Vince said that Owen would have wanted the show to go on, Mick says that was never addressed. The wrestlers never sat down with each other and talked about what they would do if someone were to die in the ring. Mick doesn't want to criticize anyone's call, but for him, he would have been more comfortable if life around the world would have stopped for a few minutes.
War stories
Michael and Mick Foley talk about the war between the WWF and WCW, and they talk about how the WWF lost Vince Russo and Ed Ferrera. Michael talks about how many feel that they were responsible for putting the WWF over. Michael asks Mick if it signifies the restart of the war between the WWF and WCW. Mick says it would be nice if it did, and Mick says when they started sinking down, it wasn't good. Mick says he liked it when everyone was doing great, but he liked it when his show was beating WCW's. Mick talks about how "This is your Life" did 5 times better than a wrestling match that went on during on WCW. Mick says he doesn't think that should be happening, and it would be better for the wrestling business in general if WCW were doing better.
Mick talks about how WCW seems to be doing things that the WWF has been doing. Michael asks Mick about the Jim Ross parody, and he says he doesn't think that nerve damage is something to make fun of. Mick says that it isn't funny that they are doing a parody of him, and it wouldn't be funny if they did a parody of Droz. Michael asks Mick what happens when his own company does something like that. Michael talks about the Bossman/Big Show feud, and Michael says that he was offended by that. Mick says that it bothered him a little, and The Big Show was upset at the funeral scene. Mick says his wife didn't like The Big Show's father dying scenario, but as soon as The Bossman came down the road with a speaker system, it was obvious that it was just a storyline, and he was free to enjoy it, because it wasn't a real death.
Michael talks to Mick about wrestlers who jump back and forth, and Dustin Rhodes went to WCW, and went on Nitro and said that Goldust sucked. Mick says that Dustin has to remember that Goldust is the most successful thing that he has done in his life, and he gave that speech in the WWF one time. Mick says that Goldust took Dustin Runnels out of the gutter and gave him a job and made him famous. The fact that it worked for 3 years is pretty impressive. He shouldn't go back and say that it ruined his career. WCW lost their biggest guy in Hulk Hogan, and he wouldn't lay down. Mick asks Michael if he thinks Hogan is gone. Michael says for now, and Mick tries to talk some sense into Michael.
Mick says there is no credibility in retirement now, and his dream was to have a loser must retire match, and to lose the match. Mick says that Sable's retirement lasted 8 days, Kevin Nash's retirement lasted 6 weeks. Vince McMahon's disappearance from RAW lasted only 2 months. Mick says there is no dignity in retirement anymore, because it's used as gimmicks. People won't be taking it as seriously as they would if they didn't do those things.
Retirement?
Michael talks about how Mick limped onto the set when he joined the show, and he put himself through a lot in his career. Michael says that by the time this show airs, Mick would have probably announced his retirement. Michael asks him why, and Mick says that he has been relying on humor too much, and he used to have a small list of things that he would be able to do, and little by little, the list would get smaller and smaller. Mick talks about taking more damage than anyone, and he took too many chair shots. Mick says that he is on the list of guys who shouldn't get hit with another chair as long as he lives. Mick says that even the elementary things are becoming hard to do. Mick talks about how his dad talked about Mickey Mantle, and he stayed one season too long. Mick says that next year would be his one season too long.
Michael says that the way wrestling has evolved, Mick could stay in wrestling as long as he wanted, because guys don't always wrestle anymore. Mick says that he wouldn't do a Hulk Hogan retirement, where he would know he would be back in 6 weeks. Would he say he would never be on the show again? No, he wouldn't say that. Mick says he is taylor made for a Commissioner, and as far as being a regular wrestling character, he is done. Michael talks about a guy like Stone Cold Steve Austin, and he has a disability that prevents him from wrestling the way he used to be able to. Austin has been able to maintain his persona by finding that area in the middle. Mick talks about The Rock and Sock Connection, and it's one of the most entertaining things in the history. Mick says they were doing 20 minute long skits, and he was still wrestling on the show. Mick says he spoke to Vince about it, and two things came to mind. When he saw his biography special on A&E, Vince knew he would be retiring. Mick says when he was finishing his book, he had this feeling that he did all he could do. Mick says he isn't willing to sit in front of the T.V. like a vegetable, and have people pity him by saying he should have gotten out sooner.
Michael talks about how wrestling doesn't have a Union, and they don't have agents, and he asks him if anyone is looking out for the wrestlers. Mick says not to bring out politics into the show, but Jesse Ventura is a believer of personal responsibility. Mick says he is making a lot of money, and he doesn't need anyone else to take care of him. Mick says he is at a position where he can pick and choose, but he isn't saying he is set for life. Michael says that Mick should be set for life, because he is working for a company that has a ton of money. Michael says that Mick should be taken care for life. Mick says that he has a job with the WWF for life if he wants to. Mick also mentions that Stone Cold Steve Austin also has that option. Mick says that he feels he is going to be taken care of, but he doesn't need to be.
Have a nice day!
The show ends, and Michael says that sports books suck, but Mick Foley's book doesn't suck. Michael asks him what makes the book special. Mick says that he wrote it himself, there was no special writer. He did it himself, and he says there may be a couple of errors in there, and he may have used the same word too many times. The show ends, and Mick tells Michael Landsberg to have a nice day.
Note on Mick Foley's retirement
Shortly after he was on Off The Record, WWF.com caught up with Mick Foley for an interview, and Mick said that the announcement of his retirement was premature. Mick Foley will not be retiring just yet, but I would expect him to do so sometime when austin and undertaker returns and tazz becomes main event material in wwf.
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