During the latest edition of his “Grilling JR” podcast, Jim Ross commented on Vince McMahon not wanting to sign Mick Foley, and more. You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
On pushing for WWE to sign Mick Foley in 1996: “His first three attempts to get hired were not successful, and that was a result of what was perceived by upper management as less than impressive dark matches, tryouts, whatever you want to say, whatever term you want to use…..I knew Mick from watching him a lot in Dallas when working for the Von Erichs and others because the Von Erichs television came in Oklahoma on regular cable every Saturday night. So, I had a feel for the guy. And then, myself and others that had a vested interest in his success, we brought him to Atlanta to WCW, where I got to know him very well. You just saw a guy with high character. He had integrity. He was going to be on time. He was going to work his ass off, and he wasn’t popping pills. Mick was very conservative with his money. So, I knew the kind of character that he was, not a TV character, the human being.”
On Vince McMahon pushing back on the idea: “When I went to Vince. I had some ideas for us to consider, and I mentioned Mick. And he goes, ‘Oh, no, no, no, that ain’t going to work. He has tried out.’ So, he asked somebody. I don’t know who he asked. He might have asked Bruce [Prichard] or [Pat] Patterson or whoever the hell was there. ‘How many times he tried out here? Oh, three.’ So, I’m, thinking, ‘Well, maybe you geniuses made a mistake.’ I know that you’ve been in wrestling, and all of you have got a vested interest in the extreme knowledge that you have that is extremely higher than mine or anybody that I know. But I don’t get it.”
On pitching Foley as a top heel to work with The Undertaker: “I asked Vince, ‘If you want me to do this job, you’ve got to give me a chance to do the job.’ That was from the famous – I think I wrote it in Slobberknocker or maybe in Under the Black Hat, that, ‘You need to know, JR what it feels like to have a talent break your heart because you are really emotionally invested in this guy. You want to bring him in….you need to understand what it’s like to have a talent break your heart because he is not going to be successful.’ So he said, ‘What is your idea to do with him?’ I said, here’s the deal. We have a seven-foot babyface, and he ain’t turning to be a heel. He has already had that run, and you wouldn’t screw with that deal talking about Taker…..we needed a dancing partner for the Undertaker until we got somebody else ready, and we didn’t have anybody ready at that point in time. So, that was kind of the dialogue that went into that deal. I’m so glad that Vince acquiesced and saw a different light on Mick, and then he had that Hall of Fame run, and he’s been great ever since.”
(h/t – 411 Wrestling)
