10 Times WWE Were OBSESSED With Pointless Power

4. WWE Commissioner Mick Foley (2001)

Hidden inside a promo that incinerated the state of things just before 2001's Survivor Series, Commissioner Mick Foley's last kayfabe act in the second version of the role he'd once made beloved was to consolidate the titles that had flooded the product by virtue of WCW's presence on the show since the summer. It was all he managed of note at the time.

Stunt-casted in the wake of William Regal's aforementioned heel turn weeks earlier, Foley getting his old gig back was for a one night pop rather than to try and revive the good old days, and he was clearly fuming about it weeks later.

Taking the ring during the go-home Raw, the former WWE Champion picked apart the pointlessness of his position in a must-watch parting shot at Vince McMahon and the organisation at large. It rather chillingly foreshadowed the long term state of things to come.

Cutting out the fun and cutting through all he hated about the show, he said; "I wasn't...needed on the programme. Why put Mick Foley on the show in Long Island, we wouldn't want to entertain people, would we? I show up Thursday night for SmackDown, the Meadowlands in New Jersey, and I'm told that I wasn't needed on the programme. Well, maybe I'm not needed on the programme but the programme sure as hell needs something and more Championship belts is not it."

 
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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett