BUFFALO, N.Y. — On the same day WWE held its annual Hell in a Cell event, hardcore wrestling legend Mick Foley was in Buffalo, helping to raise money for Tops mass shooting victims.
The WWE Hall of Famer's visit to Nietzsche's in Allentown on Sunday night was sold out, with 100 percent of the ticket sales and merchandise proceeds going to the 5/14 Survivors Fund.
"I just felt helpless," said Foley, whose family has connections from Buffalo to Albany. "I see these 10 people senselessly killed, and I wanted to be able to do something."
That fund provides financial assistance to families of the 10 victims who were killed in the May 14 mass shooting at the Jefferson Avenue Tops grocery store, and to people who were directly impacted by the shooting.
Tickets ranged in price from $30 to $75. Foley said from tickets alone, they expected to raise close to $9,000, before any merchandise and auction items are added to the total.
"I just want the people here to know they're not forgotten," Foley said. "Within two days, this terrible tragedy was largely... it was no longer being talked about, and this community is going to be struggling for a long time."
A return to Buffalo is not out of the question.
"I would like to come back, when I do have a little more time, and meet the survivors and see what I can do with them," Foley said. "Just try to make a really tough time... just try to put some smiles on some faces."
Foley said he first reached out to Helium Comedy Club, which didn't have an open date on such short notice. He then emailed Nietzsche's, which quickly responded "within five minutes." A date was set not long after that.
Foley is currently on tour, celebrating the 20th anniversary of his best-selling book, "Have a Nice Day!: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks."
Foley was at the Niagara Falls Comic Con in Ontario this weekend, and he will be in Cuba at 7 p.m. Monday at the Palmer Opera House as his tour continues to cross the state.
On Sunday night, though, it was all about Buffalo and the 10 people killed, the three who were wounded, and the scars left on community.
"The community has raised almost $2 million already, so the $10,000 or $11,000 I raise, it's like a drop in the bucket, but it's really not," Foley said.