World Wrestling Entertainment hall of famer Mick Foley announced Tuesday that he’s severing his relationship with the company, specifically citing the close ties between WWE leadership and President Donald Trump.
“While I have been concerned about WWE‘s close relationship with Donald Trump for several months—especially in light of his administration’s ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants (and pretty much anyone who ‘looks like an immigrant’)—reading the President’s incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death is the final straw for me,” he wrote on Instagram.
President Donald Trump sits beside Education Secretary Linda McMahon, whose husband founded WWE.
Foley said he no longer wishes to “represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy,” noting that he won’t make appearances for the company as long as Trump is in office, nor will he renew his “Legends” contract with WWE which allows the organization to use his likeness in merchandise and video games.
The announcement comes a day after Trump made widely condemned comments on the death of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele, who were stabbed in their Los Angeles home.
Trump said, without evidence, that the couple was killed “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
Foley has been a mainstay of the wrestling world for decades where he has performed under his own name as well as in the guise of characters like Mankind, Dude Love, and Cactus Jack. Foley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013.
This isn’t the first time that Foley has been outspoken about his political views. In 2024, he endorsed Kamala Harris for president, saying that “real men respect strong women.”
Hulk Hogan speaks during the 2024 Republican National Convention.
There are extensive ties between Trump and WWE. Current Education Secretary Linda McMahon served as small business administrator in Trump’s first administration. She and her husband, WWE founder Vince McMahon, donated to elect Trump and other Republicans.
Current WWE Chief Content Officer Triple H, whose legal name is Paul Levesque, is McMahon’s son-in-law and appeared with Trump at the White House in July to announce the reinstatement of the presidential fitness test.
Hulk Hogan, who died in July, was a prominent supporter of Trump and spoke at the Republican National Convention. Trump previously appeared as a performer in WWE and is also in its hall of fame.
Trump has also been connected to the Ultimate Fighting Championship, even floating a possible fight at the White House. TKO Holdings is the parent company of both WWE and UFC.
Over his career, Foley has been involved in outrageous and even distasteful stunts as a pro wrestler, but Trump’s heartless and mean-spirited nature was clearly over the line.
