Mick Foley Says WWE Has Lost Its Magic Under Corporate Ownership
Mick Foley feels WWE has lost its magic.
Since Endeavor bought WWE and formed the TKO Group in 2023, fans have noticed several changes to how the company operate. In particular, the promotion’s focus on maximising their financial position has been in the spotlight, with higher ticket prices and more prominent advertising scattered throughout major shows. Now, one of WWE’s former names has questioned whether they still have the magic under TKO that they had for decades prior.
Speaking to Ariel Helwani, Mick Foley gave his view that WWE has lost its magic due to its cooperate ownership, saying matches from the past will stand the test of time better than matches from today.
“What I feel from watching the two shows is that AEW has that little bit of magic and WWE has kind of lost it. I think when you’re part of a corporation and the bottom line is everything, you take away from your mid-card by making it clear that what you’re selling is more important than the product in the ring. I have young fans who weren’t even born when I was wrestling, and they’ll come up to me and talk to me about matches. Now I can’t prove this, but I wonder if part of the reason younger audiences are drawn to matches from my era is because we called the matches. Jim Ross and Jerry Lawler were locked in on the matches. There weren’t so many things they had to go to that would take people out of that suspension of disbelief. That’s just a theory on my part, but I think 10, 20 years down the line, the matches that JR called, whether it was with The King or whether it was with Jim Cornette in WCW, they’ll stand the test of time, I think, better than the current matches in WWE because it seems like the matches are a means to an end instead of something to be enjoyed for themselves. So I just feel like at this point, AEW, the personal ownership shows, and a love and a feeling of magic that I don’t think the corporate ownership of WWE displays nearly as well.”
-Mick Foley
Foley himself announced that he’d be cutting ties with WWE in December 2025, expressing concerns over the company’s links to Donald Trump and the current administration, including how the President responded to the death of Rob Reiner. This, along with the government’s ongoing approach to immigration, led Foley to conclude that parting ways with WWE was right for him.
Nowadays, he’s part of the AEW team, coming in as a co-host of Double Or Nothing and immediately getting involved with the show’s main event by cutting an impassioned promo to Darby Allin before his title defence. After his first appearance, it was confirmed Foley is expected to make regular appearances for AEW moving forward. You can read more about that here.
As always, we’ll aim to provide any further updates on Mick Foley as soon as we hear more.
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