Wrestling legend Mick Foley says he’s cutting ties with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) over its “close relationship” with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Foley, 60, made the announcement in a post on Instagram, citing Trump’s comments about the murders of director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner as the “final straw.”
Reiner and his wife were found dead in their home on Dec. 14. The couple’s 32-year-old son, Nick Reiner, was arrested on a murder charge and is being held without bail.
On Tuesday, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s office announced it was filing charges against Nick with two counts of first-degree murder. If convicted, he could face life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
“While I have been concerned about WWE’s close relationship with Donald Trump for several months — especially in light of his administration’s ongoing cruel and inhumane treatment of immigrants (and pretty much anyone who ‘looks like an immigrant’) — reading the President’s incredibly cruel comments in the wake of Rob Reiner’s death is the final straw for me,” Foley wrote.
Foley, who wrestled under his name and the personas Cactus Jack, Dude Love and Mankind, said he no longer wishes “to represent a company that coddles a man so seemingly void of compassion as he marches our country towards autocracy.”
“Last night, I informed @WWE talent relations that I would not be making any appearances for the company as long as this man remains in office,” Foley continued. “Additionally, I will not be signing a new Legends deal when my current one expires in June. I love WWE, will always treasure my time with them, and I am deeply appreciative for all the opportunities they afforded me.”
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“But, in the words of Popeye the sailor, ‘I stands all I can stands, and I can’t stands no more,’” Foley concluded his post.
Foley was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2013, one year after retiring from wrestling. He made his WWE debut in 1996 as Mankind before taking on the ring persona of Dude Love in 1997. Cactus Jack returned to the ring in 1997 as well and Foley fought as all three personas during the 1998 Royal Rumble.
Foley has continued to maintain his affiliation with the WWE following his retirement. He worked as the Raw general manager from 2016 to 2017 and has made numerous appearances on WWE Raw.
WWE has not responded to Foley’s announcement as of this writing.
Trump posted on Truth Social about the “very sad” incident in Hollywood while referring to Reiner as “a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star.”
Trump said that Reiner and his wife died “reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS.”
“He was known to have driven people CRAZY by his raging obsession of President Donald J. Trump, with his obvious paranoia reaching new heights as the Trump Administration surpassed all goals and expectations of greatness, and with the Golden Age of America upon us, perhaps like never before. May Rob and Michele rest in peace,” Trump wrote.
Trump has a long association with professional wrestling and some of its top officials, including the husband and wife duo of Vince and Linda McMahon, the founders of World Wrestling Entertainment. Linda McMahon served Trump in both of his administrations and is currently the education secretary after heading up the Small Business Administration in his first term.
In 2013, Trump was inducted into the celebrity wing of WWE’s Hall of Fame. He has also hosted WrestleMania events at Trump Plaza in Atlantic City, N.J., in 1988 and 1989. And then, most famously, there was a mock “Battle of the Billionaires” in 2007 when he body-slammed and then shaved the head of WWE boss Vince McMahon.
— With files from The Associated Press
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