Former world champion on Vince McMahon's "counter-productive" management of WWE commentators

Over the years, Vince McMahon has seemingly rubbed some of his performers the wrong way. One star who found it hard to work with him after he moved from the ring to the commentary table is Mick Foley.

After having not wrestled a singles match for well over a year, Foley began working as a commentator for Friday Night Smackdown in 2008. Despite his popularity among fans, the Hardcore legend only worked behind the desk from April to August of that year.

On his podcast, Foley is Pod, the former WWE Champion spoke about how McMahon micromanaging the commentators did not allow him to excel as an announcer.

"You try to learn from everything you do, and I hope Mr. McMahon learned from that experience. You know, you don’t need to ride your announcers so much. You don’t have to micromanage everything that they do. I think it’s counter-productive, especially when it comes to yelling. That’s not the way I perform best. I tried it, I think I did a pretty good job. I learned from it. I did not enjoy it," Foley said. [H/T EWrestling News]

Mick Foley recently returned to WWE programming as he was present at the 2023 Hall of Fame ceremony to induct long-time friend Stacy Keibler.

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Why did Vince McMahon return to WWE?

Earlier this year, McMahon returned to the company's board to facilitate the sale of WWE to Endeavor.

Before the sale, current WWE CEO Nick Khan wanted to ensure that Vince McMahon was returning for the right reasons. Khan recently shed light on his conversation with McMahon while speaking at Moffett Nathanson's Inaugural Technology, Media, and Telecom Conference.

"'Hey, just tell me is this real because there’s some scuttlebutt out there that maybe this is just your way to come back into your company,’ which again, he [McMahon] would have the right to do also, and he said, ‘No, I’m committed to it. I give you my word.'" [H/T eWrestlingNews]

On April 3, 2023, Vince McMahon appeared on CNBC, detailing WWE's merger with the UFC after the MMA promotion's parent company, Endeavor, bought the sports entertainment juggernaut.

What was your reaction to WWE merging with the UFC? Give us your thoughts in the comments section below.