Mick Foley managed to have a very successful career in the professional wrestling business, and he rose to the top of the industry when he became WWE Champion. Eventually Foley went on to become a WWE Hall of Famer, but Vince McMahon wasn’t always sold on him.
Jim Ross has openly stated that Vince McMahon did not want to sign Mick Foley when he presented the idea, and that Vince only allowed JR to sign him because he thought he was going to fail, and he wanted Ross to find out the hard way.
During Mick Foley’s Biography on A&E the Chairman of the Board openly stated that before Foley joined WWE he didn’t think the future Hall of Famer had any talent.
“I thought it was kind of degrading to our product. I thought he didn’t have any talent. I thought it was déclassé,” Vince McMahon said.
McMahon also went on to say that at one point he thought WWE would never hire Mick Foley, but when the company finally did he was able to see the connection that Foley has with the fans.
“Mick always had that connection with the audience and I never really saw before he came here. I thought, ‘Boy, We’re never going to hire that guy,’ but he did. He had that connection and very few people have that.”
H/T Fightful
