Skilled wrestling icon Mick Foley is ending his relationship with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) over the group’s ties to President Donald Trump.
The WWE Corridor of Famer made the announcement on social media Tuesday, citing Trump’s “incredibly cruel” response to the Dec. 14 killing of actor-director Rob Reiner and his spouse, Michele, because the “final straw for me.”
“I no longer wish to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy,” he wrote on Instagram. “Last night, I informed WWE talent relations that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office. Additionally, I will not be signing a new Legends deal when my current one expires in June.”
He went on to notice: “I love WWE, will always treasure my time with them, and I am deeply appreciative for all the opportunities they afforded me. But, in the words of Popeye the sailor, ‘I stands all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more.’”
Jerod Harris through Getty Photos
Foley, 60, glided by the personas Cactus Jack, Mankind and Dude Love all through his skilled wrestling profession. Upon retiring from the ring, he was inducted into the WWE Corridor of Fame in 2013 ― coincidentally, the identical 12 months as Trump, who was honored for his quite a few visitor appearances at televised WWE occasions.
HuffPost has reached out to WWE representatives for touch upon Foley’s resignation however didn’t instantly hear again.
Amongst these to precise their help, nonetheless, was former WWE supervisor Jim Cornette, who wrote that Foley had “just become my favorite person in the world” in a submit on X Tuesday afternoon.
The president’s decades-long connection to the WWE has been entrance and middle all through his second time period. Wrestling icon Hulk Hogan, who died in July, made a memorable look on the 2024 Republican Nationwide Conference, the place he hailed Trump as “a real American hero.” Earlier this 12 months, former WWE CEO Linda McMahon ― who’s the estranged spouse of former WWE chairman Vince McMahon ― was appointed Schooling Secretary.
Foley, in the meantime, has been an outspoken critic of Trump for years. Shortly earlier than the 2024 presidential election, he deemed Trump “an obvious con man who is only out for himself” in a blistering social media video whereas endorsing former Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.
He concluded his video with a message “directly” for Trump: “I made the decision not to call you a douche bag, even though you are one.”
Foley is only one of many public figures from either side of the political aisle who’ve expressed outrage following Trump’s feedback within the wake of the Reiners’ deaths Sunday. In a prolonged submit on his Fact Social platform, the president steered Reiner and his spouse had died by a “massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
