Mick Foley Says His Wife Was Not Welcomed Backstage In WWE

Mick Foley had a WWE Hall of Fame career, and he racked up a ton of stories along the way. Sadly, not all of those stories are the greatest to recollect.

During a recent episode of Foley is Pod, Mick Foley revealed that his wife didn’t receive the best treatment backstage in WWE at first. He recalled the first time that he ever brought his kids backstage to a WWE event, and his wife didn’t feel comfortable with the atmosphere.

“She didn’t feel completely comfortable, and that actually stems back to July of ‘96 when I brought my kids on the road, I think, for the second time. In fairness to WWE, when I brought them to Savannah Georgia, my kids cried for ninety minutes (laughs). I had the talk with them outside, they’re all dressed up, Dewey’s in his tie, Noelle’s in her dress. “You’re gonna be good for Daddy, right?” They went in there and had the fit where the mucus is coming out of the nose and you just can’t stop it.”

“But nonetheless, that had been a few weeks earlier, and now I’m bringing them to New England. I can’t remember if they were in Portland with me; but they were definitely there the next night in Bangor. The agent — and I don’t need to name the agent — may have been overplaying his hand by not allowing my family backstage. And ushered them into a bathroom with what appeared to be an open sewage line. And why I didn’t stand up right then and say “this doesn’t fly,” I don’t know. I was probably thinking, “I’ve only got a few months in this company, I’m getting a push, I don’t want to rock the boat.”

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There is an old rule of thumb that you don’t take your wife on the road, or bring her backstage. Mick Foley went on to talk about one year when his wife’s birthday just happened to fall on a day that WWE was in New York, but she was left alone all day, because even Jim Ross wouldn’t let her come around.

“It’s one thing to do that to me in July… but by November? Kind of a big deal. Working my fourth Pay-Per-View with the Undertaker. There’s an edict, ‘no wives backstage.’ So my wife is celebrating her birthday. We take a trip together to New York to celebrate. She’s by herself. She’s going to be going to the show by herself. The edict comes down, “no wives.” I appealed — even asked Jim Ross. I was told that was the rule. So now my wife’s on her own, all day.”

“And when I get to the show, I’m at the building at one. To me, there’s no reason why my wife can’t be there until six, and then find her seat. But that’s not the case. So if the edict is being followed by everyone, that’s one thing. But if you show up, and you see other wives? Girlfriends? A companion who’d, uh, known the wrestler for 24 hours or less? That’s a problem.”

This pattern eventually weighed on Mick Foley, and it eventually got him a bit angry. He went on to explain how he’s “more sensitive than most,” so this situation got to him.

“And now I see it, right or wrong, as a pattern. And I’m pissed. You can say, “you’re a professional, you have to put that to the side.” I’m more sensitive than most, I think that’s safe to say. And when you get that knot in your stomach? It’s a pretty good gauge that something’s wrong.”

WWE has changed a lot since 1996, and they have a much different corporate culture as well. Vince McMahon ran the show with an old-school mentality back in the day that simply doesn’t cut it with a modern day mindset. Mick Foley can look back now and see how it used to be, and it sounds like he still doesn’t appreciate it.

What’s your take on bringing your wife on the road? Sound off in the comments!