Mick Foley on AEW: “The energy backstage reminds me of the way WWE felt during the Attitude Era”
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley made his debut with AEW at the Double or Nothing 2026 Buy-In show. In a post via Instagram, Foley commented on joining the company…
“Hey everybody, it’s the Hardcore Legend Mick Foley. I know it’s been a week since I made my debut on AEW, but I just wanted to spend a couple minutes thanking everybody involved for making it such a special night for me. Now, there’s nothing wrong with getting a nostalgia pop, and I’ve received plenty of those and they feel good, but the reaction I received in New York was, was different. It was a reaction that’s said, we’re glad you’re here, and that I could still make a difference. In no way am I here to throw stones at WWE.
I love the company. I always will. I will always be deeply appreciative for every opportunity they afforded me. But there’s something unique about seeing the owner of the company just so obviously happy and excited. Mr. McMahon had a different way of doing things, but it It wasn’t with that type of joy.
And it just seems like to me the AEW wrestlers are out there and they are playing to win because they— it is understood that failure is part of the process. I saw so many people. I have seen so many people over the years almost petrified to walk through that curtain because they didn’t know whether they get the thumbs up or the thumbs down, figuratively speaking. Tony Khan, Tony’s excited. Tony loves what he’s doing.
He’s happy to be there. And I think that type of enthusiasm makes me feel enthusiastic. After I did my in-ring promo, a couple of the wrestlers on the card said, hey, so I guess you’ll be taking off now. It’s like, what are we going to do, watch Friends reruns in my hotel room? Like, there’s a show.
And it wasn’t just a show. It was an amazing show. People were so excited. The energy backstage reminds me of the way WWE felt during the Attitude Era when we were all actively pulling for each other, but we also understood that striking out was part of the process of hitting monumental home runs. So, I am really glad to be in a place where, wrestlers are encouraged to swing for the fences, where it’s understood that not every hit’s gonna leave the park.
I’m excited about where this adventure is going to take me. I consider myself like a Swiss Army knife, and I can be used lot of different ways. And I’m just— I’m excited about the future and I’m excited about wrestling in a way that I haven’t been in a few years. And I want to thank AEW fans and the AEW product for helping me fall in love with professional wrestling all over again.”