By Jason Powell

TNA star Mick Foley was the subject of a special Geek Week Live interview on Tuesday. Foley indicated during the interview that he's not planning to re-sign with TNA when his contract expires next year. "I love the idea of having a part-time job that pays well," Foley said. "TNA has been a real blessing in that sense. I would rather be motivated, but it's still nice in this economy to have a job like that.

"That will expire in eight or nine months. The chances of that relationship continuing are probably not that good. Once you have Hulk Hogan as the face of your company, there's no need for me. And one of the challenges they have on their show, and I understand completely, is there's only so much room for the non-wrestling talker every week, and I had a lot of time to do that for a year and a half.

"I don't know if wrestling is going to play a role at all. Who knows? Part of my life will always be involved in wrestling. I don't see myself at the Motor City Comic Con or doing many indys." Foley added that he expects to get the WWE Hall of Fame call at some point.

Foley expressed disappointment with the company for not airing the footage of his appearance at the Jon Stewart "Rally For Sanity." He felt it would have made the company and himself appear relevant. "I've been beating myself up and it's frustrating because I can't seem to get the decision makers in TNA to realize that it is a big deal to show me in front of 250,000 fans at the Jon Stewart rally and to show the reaction of the crowd," Foley said.

Foley also vented about his frustration with the TNA chain of command structure. "What I'm getting when I ask these questions is a lot of what WCW was," Foley said. "With WWE, we knew that's who you talk to, and so it's very frustrating. I will eventually throw up my hands and just say, 'Okay, I'll walk to the mailbox every two weeks.' I'll do that or I'll go on the show and do something I don't believe in, but you saw the difference (during his match with Ric Flair because he was emotionally invested)."

Foley said he can't wrestle often because he's getting hurt too easily and "it's not worth the extra tenth of a rating point." He continued to vent about the company cutting packages on his various appearances, as well as a video package on his feud with Ric Flair that was supposed to air prior to their latest match. He was complimentary of Jeff Hardy's heel turn, yet was also critical of doing too many turns out of nowhere.

Foley said his main complaint about TNA has been that they don't allow the wrestlers to wrestle more. He said he likes the idea of TNA Reaction being the talking show that airs after Impact. He also said he feels there's a place for occasional squash matches in pro wrestling today. You can watch the full interview below or head to GeekWeek.com if the video doesn't play on your mobile device.

Powell's POV: A fun interview. Foley was very open regarding his frustration with aspects of TNA, but he came across as being more honest with is takes than bitter. Host Jeff Katz has a pro wrestling background, and his co-host Rich Marincic follows the industry as well, so they know the business and lead Foley through a long conversation regarding a number of interesting topics.

One of the ideas that came up during the interview was to turn Xplosion into a show similar to WWF Superstars in that it would feature squash matches and air on Saturday mornings. I love the idea because it could potentially get younger fans to watch the show and would not require a lot of extra storyline work from TNA creative. Katz also sounded off on his belief that TNA should do more online streaming, get in Red Box, and Netflix streaming. Excellent points.

Foley is not contractually free to take part in the WWE Hall of Fame or WrestleMania this year, but it sounds like there's a good chance he'll be contractually free for the 2012 versions of those events. Overall, a highly recommended interview.


Watch live video from GeekWeek on Justin.tv


Watch live video from GeekWeek on Justin.tv

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