Mick Foley Makes His Pick For 2023 Royal Rumble Winner

Mick Foley has never won a Royal Rumble, but entering a single Rumble in three different personas means that there is a particular understanding of the match that the former WWE Champion possesses. On the latest episode of "Foley Is Pod," Mick made his preferential winner known.

"I would be absolutely fine with Cody Rhodes winning that Rumble, and going on to face the opponent of his choice," Foley said, noting the Herculean performance that Rhodes put on in a Hell In A Cell match against Seth Rollins, all while his pectoral muscle was torn from the bone. Conrad Thompson and Foley compared Rhodes's win over Seth Rollins to Curt Schilling's "bloody sock game," the 2004 American League Championship game in which the Red Sox pitcher won the game on a broken ankle, leading to the aforementioned crimson sock, for which Foley was in attendance. Thompson then pushed Foley further, asking him to state his pick for the Rumble unequivocally. 

"Barring a surprise by Steve [Austin] or Dwayne ["The Rock" Johnson], I'm going with Cody," Foley said, standing firm in his initial pick. Foley notes that WWE has recently done a better job keeping the Rumble from getting predictable. "We know going in that even though there's a ton of people, there's about 5 or 6 people that could win, but I think it's that suspension of disbelief that by and large WWE does a really good job of making something really special. I'm picking Cody to win." Thompson later brought up the possibility of fan-favorite Sami Zayn overshadowing Rhodes in the Rumble, but Foley isn't worried.

"There's so much you can do with Sami in the Rumble with all the pieces revolving around him. Solo [Sikoa] and The Usos, there's quite a bit you can do there. I would love to see Sami [win.]"