Mick Foley Reveals Which Bumps & Moves He Regrets From His Career, His Issues With WWE: Unreal

During a recent interview with The Ariel Helwani Show, WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley spoke about the bumps he regrets taking and some of the riskier moves he regrets performing during his historic career. Foley specifically cited the unprotected chair shots as his biggest regret. He also pointed to his famous elbow drop, saying that he should’ve saved the move only for televised shows instead of performing the move at shows that weren’t being filmed.

Additionally, Foley shared his thoughts on WWE: Unreal, in light of his participation in the famous documentary, Beyond the Mat, which offered a candid look behind the curtain of wrestling, along with his books about his wrestling career. Below are some highlights:

Mick Foley on His Regrets Over Taking Unprotected Chair Shots and His Elbow Drops to the Floor at Non-Televised Shows

“Yeah, I started saying we don’t know as much about head injuries. So, you know, when I was coming in, you know, first of all, concussion was something you shook off, right? But it wasn’t even something. And unless you were knocked out, it wasn’t even considered a concussion, i, so i didn’t, i didn’t put my hands up to block chairs. Um, and that was a mistake. As I got older in WWE and started dealing with a lot of, um, everyday pain, just, just aching, right? Like, I didn’t take as many risks as people thought, but there was always a lot of impact in what I did. And it would be, you know, like the clothesline over the top rope would often end in a bruise of the thigh. Right? Because I hit that ring apron hard, and it’d be like, is it a really bad one? Is it like the charley horse? You can barely walk? No, not often, but it’s always going to be hurting. And, so, I treated my pain with late-night comfort food. And at a time when it really would have behooved me to go 280-250 [pounds], I went 280-310.

“It was, it was seemingly it was not affecting my matches at that point, but I also realized that when my knees were bad and I couldn’t do some of the things that I liked to do, that I was leading with my head more, and that I was taking chair shots at house shows, chair shots to the head, unprotected. I clearly wish I hadn’t done that. The other one, Ariel, is I shouldn’t have been dropping those elbows off the ring apron onto the concrete unless there was a TV camera on, and even then, you could argue I shouldn’t have been doing that. That was my big move. I thought people, this is where the Darby Allin philosophy comes in. I think everyone should see the best match that I have. And so it’s a kind of a catch-22 because I would say, yes, I wouldn’t have done those things. But it was doing those things that made me who I was, that got me where I went. But I still should have put my hand up when I saw metal objects traveling at high speed. So that’s going to be my final answer. Should have put my hand up.”

Mick Foley’s Thoughts on WWE: Unreal

“I know it’s difficult to have the guy who wrote the memoir that talked, uh, that brought people, uh, behind the curtain and who was in the documentary beyond the mat, that brought people behind the curtain to say, ‘hey, guys, they don’t have to stay here.’ like, we don’t have to have them behind the curtain 24/7. Like, let’s leave a little bit of the mystery. And I think, I mean, we’re a show that’s about the suspension of disbelief. Where I have an issue is where they’ll be promoting, uh, unreal on Raw or on SmackDown. And so, I literally saw, uh, a segment where Seth Rollins admitted he’d been feigning, I still don’t like to use the f-word, as in faking. He was feigning an injury, and then they cut to the live show, and they have a character with a knee injury that we’re supposed to now become emotionally invested in.

“After we saw that, another character had feigned his own injury. And I just seem to me like, I was in a movie called I am Santa Claus about a director who follows five real bearded Santa Clauses throughout the year and finds out life’s not always that jolly. And it’s a great movie, but they shouldn’t be advertising it. During Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer commercials. And when I see unreal being advertised during the show, it just strikes me as, it just strikes me as being somehow — … I think it’s a little too much. Too often. It’s there all the time. You don’t have to. You don’t even have to seek it out like you would have had to, um, with beyond the mat, like it’s there all the time. In my own opinion, and I know a lot of people share the opinion. It’s just a little too easy to get behind that curtain.

“You know, when it was my book, you had to, you had to read it, right? You had to invest some time when it was beyond the mat. You had to find beyond the mat, and you had to be of a certain type of fan who would enjoy that type of thing. And a lot of non-fans enjoyed it too. But now it’s a click of the button away, and it’s, it’s like watching a magic show on one network and then going immediately to another show where they explain everything they did. I just, yeah, I still believe in the magic of wrestling. And when I go out and do my one-man shows, I may explain how something was done, but the explanation is going to make people respect it even more. The backstage process is fascinating. I don’t mind glimpses, but the prolonged looks. I think it’s going to. I think it’s going to sting a little bit.”

Right before Mick Foley made his AEW debut at Double or Nothing, Tony Khan announced that Foley was officially signed to the company.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Ariel Helwani Show with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.