Mickie James has revealed that she initially wasn’t interested in returning to WWE for the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble, admitting that she was still angry about how her previous run with the company ended.
James made a historic appearance in the match while reigning as TNA Knockouts Champion, with WWE acknowledging the championship and allowing her to bring the title with her.
Speaking with Ben Veal of Wrestling Life Online, James described the appearance as validating and credited several people, including Vince McMahon and then-TNA executive Scott D’Amore, with making the crossover possible. “It was very [validating] and a huge thanks to everyone, to Vince [McMahon], honestly to Scott D’Amore, even Johnny Ace at the time,” James said. “It took a lot. I don’t think people realize, understand what it took for that moment to happen.”
James had been released by WWE in 2021 and subsequently criticized the company after her belongings were sent to her in a trash bag. She admitted those feelings were still fresh when she was approached about returning for the Royal Rumble. “Even when I was first asked to come in, I was still angry, I was still upset,” she continued. “And I kind of noted it at first. I was like, ‘I’m not interested or whatever.’”
Rather than immediately rejecting the opportunity, James took time to consider what the appearance could mean. She ultimately decided that if she returned, she wanted WWE’s audience to see the “Hardcore Country” version of Mickie James that she had established outside the company. “And thank God Scott didn’t go back or I didn’t just say, ‘No thank you’ straight out of the gate because I really had to think back and sit and pray on it and think about it,” James said. “I’d always wanted to do and be Hardcore Country in WWE. I kind of pitched it, never got to, tried to present it. Didn’t really understand what it was.”
James made it clear that she wasn’t interested in simply recreating her previous WWE presentation. “I was, at that point, my ego I suppose among other things, but I was like, if I’m going to do this, I’m not going to be happy skippy, bell-bottomy Mickie James coming out to some Toni Basil ripoff song,” she said. “I’m going to be Hardcore Country because that’s who I am now.”
Elsewhere in the interview, James reflected on a frightening moment from her 2007 Falls Count Anywhere match against Melina for the WWE Women’s Championship on Raw.
James landed awkwardly while attempting a hurricanrana and initially feared that she had broken her neck. “I don’t think people realize this but not only did I probably have a serious concussion but I couldn’t turn my head,” James said. “I didn’t break my neck. I pretty much lawn darted myself and I had severe whiplash and I couldn’t turn. I had to turn like this for three weeks. It was gnarly.”
The situation became even more concerning when James attempted to stand. “And it was scary because it was the first time where I went to go stand up and I collapsed,” she continued. “I thought that I broke my neck. I really did. And it was just a freak thing.”
James explained that she and Melina had performed the sequence numerous times before without a problem, illustrating how unexpectedly injuries can occur in professional wrestling. “Melina and I had done that a thousand times and she kind of slipped and it was just weird,” James said. “We had done that same thing at live events and just freak accidents happen.”
She noted that some of the injuries throughout her career have occurred during seemingly routine moments. “And it’s always on the stupidest,” she continued. “I’ve literally separated my shoulder on a pie face, I’ve sprained my ankle getting thrown out of the ring. It’s always on the things that you’ve done and you’re so comfortable and you’re like, ‘Oh, this will be fine,’ and it was not fine.”
Despite the frightening landing, James still looks back fondly on the match and the creativity involved in taking her rivalry with Melina throughout the arena. “It was not fine because that whole match was so amazing and so cool and so unique,” James said. “Even the way when we fought backstage to incorporate different women and talents and scenes and the fight over the couch and the whole couch flips over and then there’s hairspray in the eyes. It was madness.”
