Wrestling legend believes WWE would be 'foolish' not to consider Tony Khan and AEW as competition

Tony Khan has played a major role in the wrestling industry for nearly three years. While AEW has seen some criticism for not quite reaching WWE's heights, the company has been the second-biggest wrestling promotion in the world for an extended period now. Recently, Mick Foley cited that WWE would be foolish not to take AEW as stiff competition.

Foley is one of the most vocal veterans in the industry. His expansive experience and working with multiple notable names in the industry has made him a voice to be made note of. The Hall of Famer has never shied away from sharing his honest thoughts on happenings in the world of wrestling.

On a recent edition of Foley is pod the hardcore legend stated how Tony Khan's vision for All Elite Wrestling and approaching it as a fan is crucial to WWE and the industry as a whole:

"Much better It's better for AEW, it's better for WWE." (35:27 - 35:36)

He further recalled how his loyalty towards the Stamford-based company is questioned. Foley went on to say that he wants whatever is best for the promotion and that competition among brands is healthy:

"When people say 'are you your WWE loyalist?' I said, first and foremost, I'm for the boys. And when I say boys, I mean collectively, the men and the women I want what's best for the talent and ultimately, I do believe that what's best for the talent is best for the company. So, I love WWE, but I love the fact that there's a strong competition. If they're claiming it's not competition, they're fooling themselves." (3615 - 36:42)

Check out the entire interaction below:

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Tony Khan called out Eric Bischoff's comments against AEW as 'hypocritical'

All Elite Wrestling and Tony Khan have often borne witness to backlash from fans and veterans from the industry alike. Former RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff criticized the AEW President's match booking capabilities.

Recently on Busted Open Radio, the AEW President slammed Bischoff's comments, citing them to be contradictory to his WCW tenure:

"Frankly, I think the person who has been incendiary, contradictory, and hypocritical on this entire point is Eric Bischoff. If you watch Nitro, especially the good Nitros from 95 to 98, a lot of the quality of the show was lucha matches and things you didn't expect and there was a certain exquisite randomness to the card" (H/T Fightful)

Since it's inception, the Jacksonville-based promotion has procured multiple WWE talents. Khan also approached Hall of Famer Kurt Angle, who demanded a whopping seven-figure salary for approximately ten matches in the promotion. With their brash and somewhat hardcore, bloody wrestling style, many have wondered why Mick Foley did not sign with them.

Would you like to see the Hardcore legend in AEW? What are your thoughts on Tony Khan's leadership? Sound off in the comments!

While using quotes from this article, please add a H/T to Sportskeeda and credit Foley is Pod.