Mickie James recently opened up about how close she came to debuting in WWE under a completely different ring name — and how a last-minute decision by Vince McMahon allowed her to use her real name instead.
Appearing on Insight with Chris Van Vliet, the multi-time women’s champion reflected on her early WWE days and the unusual path that led to her keeping her real name on-screen.
“Even getting that opportunity to be able to use my real name, that’s a whole other story,” James said. “And when I actually debuted in WWE, because I was Alexis Laree.”
Before joining WWE, James had wrestled under the name Alexis Laree, a name she created herself and used during her time in OVW and TNA’s The Gathering stable. However, that name didn’t make it past Vince McMahon when she was preparing for her main roster debut as the obsessed fan of Trish Stratus in late 2005.
“I was Alexis Laree in OVW. I just love the name Alexis and Laree is my legit middle name, so that’s how that name came about,” James explained. “But I’m about to debut this crazy stalker character, and Vince is like, ‘What’s her name? Alexis Laree? I don’t like that name. It sounds like a stripper name.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, guess it does, doesn’t it? Yeah, okay.’”
Asked for alternatives, James quickly suggested her real name.
“He’s like, ‘Well, got anything else? Got any other names?’ And I was like, ‘Uh, Mickie James?’ [He said] ‘I love it,’” she recalled. “I didn’t say, Oh, it’s my real name. I was like, oh, okay, great. So I was able, and probably one of the last few people, to actually be able to use their real name. I was able to use my real name. Wow, crazy. And how grateful I am for that.”
James would go on to become one of the most successful women in WWE history, winning multiple championships and earning a Hall of Fame–worthy legacy — all under her real name.
