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MICK FOLEY COMPARES SAYS WWE 'CREATIVE POOL IS STAGNANT', COMPARES TODAY'S WWE STARS TO ATTITUDE ERA TALENTS AND MORE

By Mike Johnson on 2015-11-30 11:22:34
WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley once again wrote about the current state of the WWE product today on his Facebook page, noting that tonight's Raw may be his last as a viewer if WWE continues to refuse to utilize their current roster. Foley noted that WWE was in a similar situation in 1997, until Vince McMahon made a major admission.

"Wrestling historians can argue about when the ‪#‎AttitudeEra‬ in wrestling officially began, " Foley wrote. "But for me, it will always be at a meeting called by Mr McMahon in the Spring of 1997, where he admitted that what had worked for them for so long in the past (I interpreted that to mean one-dimensional characters that tended to be job-related) was no longer working, and that if they were going to survive, the wrestlers themselves were going to have to step up, and help create those dimensions that would establish the emotional bond between the wrestlers and the fans - part of the lifeblood of professional wrestling."

In comparing today's roster to the roster the company employed during the Attitude Era and the Monday Night War, Foley noted, "Today's WWE Superstars (I'm including the women here, since the term "Diva" had its time, and that time is done) are at a distinct disadvantage in some ways. They can't flip birds, and use the colorful language. They can't bleed - even when the situation seems ripe for it. Man, Roman Reigns's life would be so much easier if he could survive vicious assaults the way guys in my era did. But all the blood, the language and the violence paled in comparison to the real secret weapon of the Attitude Era; the FREEDOM TO CREATE...THE FREEDOM TO TRY...THE FREEDOM TO FAIL - the idea that going down swinging (I hope I'm not losing you guys in all the non-baseball playing countries) was almost as important as hitting the ball out of the park - as long as you took your best swings. There's a difference between playing to win, and playing not to lose: one breeds confidence, the other breeds fear. It's the difference between cutting the type of promos Stone Cold Steve Austin and Dwayne The Rock Johnson gave, and the cookie-cutter approach all too often employed these days by WWE creative. One style allowed for creativity and emotion. The other calls for memorization and recitation."

Foley wrote that he has offered to drive to WWE HQ, without seeking payment, to explain to WWE what he feels the issues are, but they have yet to take him up on the offer.

Foley also noted that one of his favorite current talents recently pitched an idea to Foley for a potential return. Foley doubted it would ever get approved by WWE, noting the idea, "would allow me to dig in deep, and swing for the fences - and in the process, maybe advance a few of the super-talented but underutilized athletes on the roster. I would love to do it....but I doubt it's going to happen. After all, I might want to do something crazy like go out there without a script, and try to create some real emotion - in other words, the type of thing that saved WWE in the late 90's."

Foley closed out writing that the WWE talent pool, "has never been deeper, But the creative flow is stagnant...and it's been stinking for a while."

To read the complete Facebook post, click here.

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