Mick Foley and Jon Moxley (Dean Ambrose at the time) were originally slated to have a match in WWE back in 2012. The symbolism of such a match would have been spectacular — a hardcore icon from years past passing the torch to a new-school hardcore performer.
However, plans for the match were dropped after Foley was unable to get clearance from medical personnel to actually participate. This followed Foley and Moxley having already put the wheels in motion, both in real life and across social media (Moxley further expands on this in his new book, Mox).
In an appearance on Busted Open Radio, Foley spoke about failing an impact test which resulted in the angle being halted.
“I did not fare well on the WWE impact test. I went to a neurologist independent of WWE and he told me I should never wrestle again. WWE’s neurologist said the exact same thing,” Foley revealed (h/t Wrestling Inc.). “This is something that I am so proud of, and it shows I am a wrestler to the end. When Robert Cantu, one of the most respected neurologists in the country tells me I should never wrestle again.
“I look him in the eye and say, ‘I can work an entire match around my left knee,’” Foley revealed. “He says, ‘Mr. Foley, you struck me as a very bright young man when I met you a couple of weeks ago. Since then I’ve been doing some research on you, you’ve got a lot to live for. If you think you can find another neurologist to clear you, then that’s up to you. But I am telling you, you should never wrestle again.’ That was the end of the Moxley angle.”
Foley Complimentary of Another AEW Star
Elsewhere in the interview, Foley talked about getting to meet another AEW star recently: Thunder Rosa.
“She strikes me as one of those really rare people who feels it every time she’s getting in the ring. I’d like to say I felt it every time. I didn’t,” Foley said. “Ric Flair did, Terry Funk did, and it’s a short list. But she’s someone that’s just like, lives, breathes wrestling. She’s such a super cool person.”
Foley continued, talking about Rosa’s drawing power, specifically in reference to a show in Texas.
“She got the biggest pop. I think it was a big reason why we had such a big house in San Antonio. We had almost 300 people on a Monday. By that time, the very high end for any of my shows, my shows are normally 150 to 200. Three years ago, I didn’t dare do a show on Monday because I thought, ‘I can’t compete with Raw.’ So she put some butts in seats and we had a good time,” Foley said.
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