Mickie James was the Impact Knockouts Champion when she competed in last year’s WWE Women’s Royal Rumble. It was an unprecedented occurrence for a current non-WWE talent, though James has a long history with WWE. So could it happen again?
Speaking with Steve Fall of “The Ten Count” podcast, James discussed the possibility of competing in the Rumble, facing Charlotte Flair, and a lot more.
You can check out some highlights from the podcast below:
Possibly facing Charlotte Flair: “I guess — you know, last year I would’ve told you, ‘Absolutely not, we can’t see that.’ But this year I go, ‘Anything is possible.’ It took a lot of magic to make that Royal Rumble happen. And the fact that it was — I mean, it was so special. I still get chill bumps every time I watch that entrance, and I’m fighting with my jacket because it got stuck, and I forgot to turn around to show the backing because it was so awesome… I just go, ‘God it was so perfect.’ It was so amazing, and it would be hard to recreate, it would be hard to top. In that sense, the only way to top it would be to win the Royal Rumble and then maybe go on and challenge Charlotte Flair, title versus title, whatever the case may be.
“I’m obviously honored that she would say that. I’ve obviously said a lot of times that one of the only people I never really got to -— aside from in the Rumble, standing across the ring from, was Charlotte Flair my whole time there. We were always – I got moved to Raw, she went to SmackDown, you know.”
Not having a real ‘last singles run’ in WWE: “The thing is, I didn’t have a lot of singles stories, or a singles run really at all at WWE when I was there. Because I was partnered with Alexa [Bliss]. And I had a blast. So fun, still had WrestleMania moments and you know, her versus Nia [Jax], and I was out there, and different things.
“But I still I guess, hungered and wanted that one final Mickie James WWE moment on WWE television, you know? And I always wanted to be able to present Hardcore Country to the WWE audience because it was something that they’d never seen, and I thought that it was something that, you know, it got over huge when we first did it in TNA at the time, Impact Wrestling. And the fans really got behind it it, really resonated with a lot of a lot of people. Especially middle America, like there’s a lot of us that are just down-home, good people that have strong family ties and strong family roots, regardless of of color or gender or ethnicity, or any of that… I really wanted to show her to the WWE audience, and I never had the opportunity. And then unfolded this Royal Rumble opportunity, where I literally had got to do it all in one moment and it was so special. And I still get emotional about it.”
James will challenge Jordynne Grace for the Impact Knockouts Championship at January 13th’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view event. If James does not win the match, then she must retire from in-ring competition.
