Mick Foley says he's holding off judgment.
Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon resigned from WWE and TKO in January 2024 after Janel Grant filed a lawsuit in which she alleged that she was the victim of sexual assault and trafficking. McMahon denied the allegations, but he is under federal investigation.
Speaking at Comic-Con Northern Ireland 2024 (via Monopoly Events), WWE Hall of Famers Mick Foley and Rikishi were both asked about their personal experiences with Vince McMahon, given the allegations and the upcoming Netflix docuseries about him. Foley emphasized that he liked McMahon, and he was choosing to appreciate him until he learned more.
"I genuinely liked him. My relationship was never the same with him after I left WWE and went to TNA for three years. But to this day, I’m still trying to find an address to write to him, just to thank him for taking a chance on me. I think all of us are a combination of good traits and bad traits, and you hope your good traits outweigh your bad traits, and it seems perhaps that Vince got it backwards there for a little while. But I’ve been there when he’s done good things. I’ve seen him do good things. I know I wanted, when I was writing books, I wanted to essentially do something like ‘Chicken Soup For The Wrestling Fan’s Soul,’ about some of these heartwarming moments. He was someone who did the right thing for the right reasons a lot of the time. I feel really bad that someone I care about got into something that seems pretty unsavory. I’m gonna hold off judgment until I see the [docuseries], but I think one thing that’s fortunate is whatever he did or did not do, I don’t think many of us are allowing that to mess with our memories. He was instrumental in creating some of those memories, so I’m choosing to appreciate him until I learn more about what may have gone down," Foley said.
Likewise, Rikishi expressed his gratitude and stated that he appreciated the McMahon family for what they did for him and all wrestlers. He said that he would like to keep his happy memories of the McMahon family.
"We have a long relationship with the McMahon family. Well over 75-plus years with this man. We’ve kind of grandfathered into the McMahons. Me personally, I thank him for the opportunity of giving a bunch of guys from the island of Samoa, this small place, to be able to give us a platform, to introduce our culture and our people to the world. If it wasn’t for the McMahons, then nobody would know who Afa and Sika was, nobody would know who Peter Maivia, Rikishi, all the way down to Roman Reigns to The Usos. So as far as the Fatu-Anoa’i clan, we’re forever McMahons in WWE. Since I’ve left the WWE, I’ve been underneath, a legend in that umbrella, with the family still in contact. They’ve given me another opportunity. I feel it’s the trust and the relationship of our families that’s given me the opportunity to help my business grow in Los Angeles with a wrestling school. I have nothing but respect for the McMahons, and when I say McMahons, I say all of them. What’s happening with him now, as far as the Netflix [series], I’ll make a decision when that comes out. But for now, I always believe in people having a second chance in life. There’s nobody in this arena that were perfect. We’re never perfect. It’s not made like that in this world for us. There’s always speed bumps for us to be able to learn from one another, each one teach one. At the end of the day, I would like to keep my happy memories of the McMahons, what they have done. They’ve really taken wrestling to another level. They have taken care of a lot of professional wrestlers, their families. So let’s think how far this man has reached out to everyone to be able to give them the lifestyle that possibly some of us could never achieve. So I want to thank them," Rikishi said.
Mick Foley previously commented on the allegations against Vince McMahon. Click here to see what he had to say.
Rikishi recently said that WWE was The Samoan Dynasty's home. Check out his comments here.
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