By Chris Walters on October 20, 2004 at 2:20 PM EST

Thanks to Richard Trionfo for sending in the following:

This week on Between the Ropes, Fritz and Dickerman had an opportunity to talk to Hardcore Legend and Number One Bestseller Mick Foley to discuss his new children's book 'Tales from Wrescal Lane' as well as his thoughts on the current situation in the WWE, his work in Ring of Honor, his involvement in politics during the election season, and many other topics.

The interview began with talk of how Mick seems to be as busy now as he was when he was an active wrestler. Mick mentioned that he is working on a syndicated radio deal. The original discussions were for Jesse Ventura, but he was unavailable. Mick's name came up and based on his promos, despite not being aware of the business partner of the man who contacted him was not too high on Mick.

Talk moved on to 'Tales from Wrescal Lane' and Mick suggested that he had read the story to more than 10,000 children before the book was even published, and Mick figured that had to be a world record. Mick had said in an earlier interview that the failure for this book to be published was the biggest disappointment in his career. Mick said that he will be donating his proceeds to charity. Mick said that he did a commercial with the WWE for the book, but he hoped to be involved with recent WWE television. Right now, he does not expect to see Mick promoting the book on WWE television.

Mick was asked about the concept of Taboo Tuesday and whether he thought the voting would be legitimate. Mick was told that it would be legitimate, but since it is wrestling, some people are skeptical. Mick mentioned that his father would tell him about the Pro Wrestling Illustrated wrestler ratings. Mick said that the Yankees/Red Sox game would likely hurt pay per view buys. Mick said that he would be attending game six of the American League Championship Series. Mick was able to find a person with an extra ticket. Mick suggested that fans who take things too seriously and add alcohol can make some fans 'jerks'. Mick mentioned that he was in a bar watching a game, and fans went from telling Mick that he 'ruled' to 'sucking' in a few innings.

Mick was asked about a caller who discussed politics with him on Wrestling Observer Live, and he said that it was not the right time to discuss certain political issues. Talk moved on to how the political parties react differently to criticism about their 'candidates'. Mick said that it is unfortunate that some people let their politics get in the way of common sense at times.

Talk moved on to Randy Orton and his short title reign. Mick says that he thinks the WWE dropped the ball with Orton's title run. Mick felt that they pulled the trigger six months too soon. Mick liked the comments that Randy Orton made on Jimmy Kimmel's show and then Flair's reaction. Mick brought up the fact that Flair has been critical of hardcore wrestling, but he would probably be involved in a steel cage or falls count anywhere match later that night on Taboo Tuesday. Mick was asked why certain angles are done too quickly and whether it has to do with ratings or injuries. Mick felt that there was no interest in dealing with dissention in the ranks when Mick worked against Evolution.

Mick was asked about Pat Patterson and his decision to 'retire' from wrestling and how it will affect WWE. He said that Pat was a great person to be around, especially to hear him mangle the English language with his French Canadian accent. Mick did not have the same interaction as other wrestlers with Pat, but they all had good things to say about Pat's work in the matches and he thinks Pat will be missed.

The next issue discussed was Ring of Honor. Mick feels that there needs to be an alternative to WWE, and he feels that TNA is competition to WWE because it is on television. Mick would not have appeared on Ring of Honor if he thought it was going to be competition with the WWE. Mick talked to Vince about his appearance at Ring of Honor. He also talked to Gabe Sapolsky to let him know that he was not coming in to raid talent for Vince. Gabe told Mick that if someone got a chance to go to WWE it would be a good thing for Ring of Honor as well. Mick talked about how he was able to have fun to deal with the Ric Flair issue when he was with Ricky Steamboat. Mick was asked about having a match with Steamboat when Mick is healthy, and if Steamboat can do it he would like to get involved in the ring. He talked about seeing a one hour match recently at Ring of Honor between Samoa Joe and C.M. Punk, and he wants to be able to put on a good match no matter how long it is. It was suggested that a WCW match between him and Steamboat be aired if they cannot wrestle now. Mick said that at that time, Steamboat was working with an injury, and so was he. During his interaction with Steamboat at the Ring of Honor show, Ricky started to laugh, and some of the wrestlers apologized to Mick for wanting to laugh. He wanted the wrestlers to have fun, and it was not as if he was doing a really serious promo.

Mick also brought up that his first public comments about Ric Flair's autobiography were on his last appearance on Between the Ropes. Mick was glad that the interview occurred when he was not mad about Flair's comments. Mick's involvement with Ring of Honor started with the Straight Shooting interview he did. The interview is four and a half hours long, even though he agreed to do two hours. He talked about his work as commissioner, his involvement with WWE booking, and his comments about Flair, among other topics. Mick said that it is a good interview.

Mick was asked if he had been contacted by TNA, and he said that it is an alternative and he wishes them the best of luck. He thinks that being on television makes him a bit uneasy about working for TNA. He was contacted by Jerry Jarrett before TNA started, and he talked to Vince Russo last year. It was suggested that he could be enticed with a family vacation at Universal.

Mick was asked about whether it matters if wrestlers or fans talk about him being on the same level as a Ricky Steamboat, and he said that it is good to have that discussion. Mick talked about being compared to Dynamite Kid, Bruiser Brody, and Ric Flair and even if the comparison was negative he was honored just to be talked about with those wrestlers. He does not think it is important if people think that he was in the same league as those wrestlers, but there are some people who think it is important. Mick mentioned that in Terry Funk's upcoming biography there is talk about Foley being compared to Ric Flair. Mick feels that he has the respect of the people he has worked with in wrestling. He mentioned that he wrote the foreword to Edge's upcoming book and he thinks that he treated the wrestlers well when they were starting in the business. He thinks that is more important than being considered a great worker.

Mick was asked about Terry Funk's book and said that he wrote the foreword. He has not read the book yet, but he heard that Funk said some good things about him. Mick did say that he would probably read Terry's book before Terry reads Mick's book because if he waited for Funk to read his book, Mick would never read Terry's book. It was brought up that Terry read Tietam Brown in one day, but Mick said it was because Terry was considered for a role if a movie is made of the book.

Mick was asked about working with Edge since their books will be out at the same time, and maybe if Mick's book sells better than Edge's they could do something. Mick mentioned that wrestling fans will like his book just to see Farooq's helmet on Stephanie's yard sale table. Mick read a line from the book that deals with Mick carrying Al. Mick said that there were no digs on Test in the book, but he talked to Test recently and he is doing well.

Between the Ropes can be heard Wednesday nights from 10:00 p.m. to 12:00 midnight on 740 the Team in Orlando, Florida. Check out www.betweentheropes.com to listen to the live stream of the show every Wednesday night. Archives of recent interviews can also be found at www.betweentheropes.com.

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