WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has announced that he will be stepping away from the company, citing a series of concerns that culminated in what he described as the “the final straw.”
In a statement posted on December 17, Foley said his decision was shaped by WWE’s continued ties to former U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside remarks Trump made following the death of filmmaker Rob Reiner that Foley found deeply insensitive.
“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country toward autocracy,” Foley wrote on social media. He confirmed that his remaining involvement with WWE will continue only until his contract expires in June and swears that he would only make appearances once Trump does not remain in office.
Foley’s departure lands heavily given his history with the company and the industry at-large. As one of the defining figures of WWE’s Attitude Era in the ‘90s, Foley helped reshape what a wrestling hero could look like. Moments like his fall from the Hell in a Cell structure in 1998 or the flaming table spot with Edge at WrestleMania 22 in 2006 became iconic moments in hardcore wrestling. Across personas like Cactus Jack, Mankind, and Dude Love, he showed different sides of a human being experiencing its extremes, making sports entertainment balance danger and emotional storytelling.
