Mick Foley Calls Payout To WrestleMania Performers ‘A Slap In The Face’

WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley has taken on plenty of roles during his time with the company. Unforgettable characters like Cactus Jack, Dude Love, and Mankind were presented to WWE audiences throughout his career. Foley also worked on-screen as management at times, even playing WWE Commissioner from 2000-01.

Though his role as commissioner was just for storyline purposes, Foley did use his influence to try and help three tag teams gain a bigger payday for their match at SummerSlam 2000. Those three teams just happened to be three of the greatest ever, however, in Edge & Christian, The Hardy Boyz, and The Dudley Boyz.

"I was still one of the guys. They fully understood that I wasn't the commissioner, I'm not actually [in the] office, and I said, 'How bad was it?' and when they said $10,000, I was like, 'You got $10,000 for that?' Foley said during an episode of "Foley is Pod." "So I went to Jim [Ross, Head of Talent Relations at the time] on their behalf and petitioned for more money.

"When I brought up how much we had heard Undertaker made, he goes, 'Undertaker's a tenured veteran,' and I said 'Be that as it may, the match with and Boss Man was thrown together like that [snaps his fingers]. It was not a good match.'

"It felt like a slap in the face to those guys, getting paid that little, and they did get bumped up from there."

Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon has always been known for having a unique way of handling things and Foley believes that was no different in this scenario.

"... As a guy who strives to have talent reaching for the brass ring, I think he wanted it known that only when you got that brass ring could you make that kind of pay-per-view main event money."

Since starting his own podcast, Matt Hardy has been very vocal about his pay during these years, stating numerous times that the three teams were underpaid for their memorable performances. Hardy detailed that he, his brother, and The Dudley Boyz received $7,500 for their Tag Team Tables match at Royal Rumble 2000 and $10,000 for their iconic Tag Team Ladder Match with Edge and Christian at No Mercy 1999.

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Foley is Pod with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.