— There are still some wrestling fans that look down upon Vince McMahon for straying away from “wrestling” and focusing on “sports entertainment”. During an interview to promote Wrestlemania 29, Mick Foley defends the WWE for making that switch in order to survive in business. Foley stated:
“I think internationally it’s more popular. There was that huge wave that I was fortunate to be a part of. I wasn’t at the top where Stone Cold and Austin were, but I was right below that top so I got to ride that wave. So that was a period where you go into an elementary school classroom and 10 out of 20 kids would be wearing wrestling shirts. Obviously WWE has had to react to MMA. For people who thought Mr. McMahon was crazy or horrible for talking about wrestling being entertainment, you have to think where wrestling would be now if they had kept trying to portray it as being the real deal when the real deal is on right after it.”
– Also during an interview to promote WrestleMania 29, Mick Foley was asked about Hulk Hogan. After providing some kind but brief words on The Immortal, the Hardcore Legend then listed off the five performers that he feels are the best draw in professional wrestling history. Foley said:
“You have Hogan, you have your class of five greatest drawing cards of all time. I’m putting it five randomly. Hogan’s definitely there, Rock, Austin, Andre and Bruno, as my top five. I think any one of those guys could argue why they were the top drawing card of their era.”