Mick Foley On His Love For Samoa Joe On Commentary, Chris Jericho Always Changing It Up & Rethinking The WWE Developmental Brand
Photo: Dominic DeAngelo
Mick Foley was the latest guest on The Wade Keller Pro Wrestling Podcast and the two veterans of the typewriter talked plenty of today’s current wrestling. One of the topics covered happened to be the misfortune of some of the younger talent getting put right in the mainstream limelight rather than how it used to be in the territory days of getting the “trial and error” aspect of developing their promo ability and ring work on the fringe of viewership. Mick made mention how talent in WWE could benefit if they established a new developmental brand to distinguish from NXT.
“I’m even thinking you know, re-thinking brand NXT as a third and equal brand along with RAW and SmackDown and rename the developmental aspect of it because there is a big difference between the men and women we see who are ready for primetime and those who need a little bit more seasoning.”
Later on, Mick talked about his kinship with Chris Jericho and how “Le Champion” has done a wonderful job at prolonging, adapting and reinventing.
“He’s not shy about changing it up. He’s really not. He has a knack for it,” Foley said. “I think I did a good job with reinventing myself, but he’s done it so much longer and better I think. So I always tell people, ‘Study Chris Jericho and follow Rip Rogers on Twitter if you want your best, those are the two quickest steps to getting a good wrestling education.'”
Another star Mick made note of is Samoa Joe and what made him stand out on commentary Monday night.
“At first it took me a minute or two to realize it was Joe. I love the guys who put over the action of the performers and please don’t ask me to name names, but I never was as high on the commentators who put such an emphasis on the punchlines, because at the end of the day it felt like they were trying to get themselves over, sometimes at the expense of what was going on in the ring and so I’ve always appreciated the guys like Joe who put the action and the performers first and I think he just comes across as being very credible, very knowledgeable and entertaining at the same time.”
(Transcription credit should go to @DominicDeAngelo of WrestleZone)
Listen to the interview below, but to get extra questions from Mick which include what two or three wrestlers he’s had the most fun working with, The Undertaker breaking character and future writing plans, sign up for Pro Wrestling Torch VIP.