Mick Foley Says AEW Does a Better Job of Making Wrestlers Meaningful Than WWE

Subhojeet Mukherjee 3 min read
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Mick Foley says AEW has become the wrestling show that keeps pulling him back, and one of the biggest reasons is how the company treats the entire roster instead of just a handful of top stars.

While speaking on The Mick and Kenny Show, Mick Foley admitted that after taking a break from following wrestling, he found himself connecting with AEW more than WWE.

“Have you seen when I—you know, I kind of, I took a break from wrestling for a while, right? And then I found the AEW show was speaking more to me than the WWE show.”

Foley said what immediately grabbed his attention wasn’t just the main-event scene. Instead, he was impressed by how much importance AEW gives to wrestlers throughout the card.

“And one thing I marvel at was like, ‘Wow, they really make the middle of the card meaningful.’”

That led him to ask Tony Khan how AEW manages to make so many different wrestlers feel like they have a purpose every week.

“When I started talking to Tony, I was like, ‘I don’t know how you do it, but everyone who goes out there plays a role, has a sense of importance,’ where elsewhere it’s like these 10 guys are where they are.”

While making it clear he wasn’t trying to knock WWE, Foley said he still believes AEW has done a better job of making almost everyone on the roster feel relevant. He added that the depth of the roster makes it believable that almost anyone could step into the world title picture.

“I don’t want to say an afterthought, and again, I don’t want to disparage—but I do think this company’s done a better job of making everyone meaningful. So, it’s such a deep roster, on any given night a guy can step up and battle for the AEW title. And I just—it’s a marvel.”

Foley also singled out AEW’s tag team division, saying dedicated tag teams are often overlooked elsewhere because two established singles stars can be thrown together and immediately treated as a bigger team. He believes AEW has taken the opposite approach by putting real value on established tag teams.

“There was always a feeling… no matter how good you get, they’re going to team up two singles guys who will be seen as the better tag team. Here it’s like, no, if you’re good and you’re a team, we respect that. We push that, and it’s every bit as important.”

Foley wasn’t talking about one wrestler or one storyline. His point was that AEW has built a show where far more of the roster feels important from week to week, and that’s ultimately what has kept him watching.

Do you agree with Mick Foley that AEW does a better job making its entire roster feel important, or do you prefer WWE’s approach? Let us know in the comments below.

This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.

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Subhojeet Mukherjee

Subhojeet Mukherjee

Subhojeet Mukherjee has covered pro wrestling for over 20 years, delivering trusted news and backstage updates to fans around the world.