Former WWE Women’s Chamopion Mickie James recently spoke with WWE.com to promote her match with Asuka at NXT Takeover: Toronto. Here are the highlights.
WWE.COM: What does it mean to you to come back to a women’s division that’s grown so much since you left in 2010?
JAMES: It’s incredible. I’ve watched it from a distance. It’s something that I’ve always hoped for, for the women of the industry. I started as a wrestler, as a fan of wrestling and wanting to be a wrestler, I strived really hard to have a really great match, not just for women, just trying to kill it and have the best match on the card. But now, to see that come to fruition and see what women’s wrestling is, is a great thing. To come back to that and be a part of something that I hoped for, for so long, for the wrestling business, is amazing. I’m grateful.
WWE.COM: How did this opportunity come about?
JAMES: I was sitting in the airport in Orlando, Florida, on my way to the UK, where I’ve been for almost a month now. I got the call from WWE and they asked me if I was interested. I know who Asuka is, I’ve seen her work in Japan and NXT. She is incredibly talented. It’s cool to see someone come up and make an impact. I think for her, it’s even harder, because there’s the language barrier. But she’s this mystical kind of person. For them to even consider me to come back and face her and, hopefully, tear the house down, is pretty awesome. It made me feel like a million bucks. I want to go in there and take it to the next level and give the people everything that they want and more.
WWE.COM: When you see Asuka in the ring, what’s the first impression you have of her?
JAMES: I think she’s fascinating. She has such an amazing presence. That’s one of those things you can’t teach people. Then, she gets it done in the ring. I know she had her own promotion in Japan and was very successful, so successful that she didn’t necessarily need come to WWE. But she’s smart enough to recognize that if she wanted to be the kind of star she wanted to be, like a household name, she had to come to WWE. I feel like she’s the complete package now, as a performer, artist and wrestler.
