Mickie James thought her ‘unique’ spot would be met with praise backstage at WrestleMania 22, but that was not the case at all.
At the April 2006 pay-per-view event, James defeated Trish Stratus to win her first WWE Women’s Championship after debuting the previous year.
The finish of the match saw Mickie grab Trish by the crotch before licking her fingers in the shape of a ‘V’ throwing the Canadian off her game so Mickie could hit the ‘Mick Kick.’
On a recent edition of the “Ring The Belle” podcast, James recalled the response backstage after the match, which wasn’t what she’d hoped. She said,
“It was not approved. I asked if I could lick my finger. In the moment, it felt like this was the right choice for everything, to me. I honestly thought I was going to come back and get high-fives.
“I felt horrible. After this super huge high moment, I just felt so defeated. I was like, ‘Yeah, I didn’t read the room right at all.'”
While she felt defeated at the time, James added that given the response of fans, she feels she made the right choice on the night to do the spot.
James has claimed in previous interviews that Vince McMahon screamed at her after the match as he had not approved the crotch spot for the show.
The feud between Mickie and Trish, which played on themes of stalking, continued to the following Backlash pay-per-view event, where Trish challenged the new champion.
An injury during that match would end their feud abruptly and Trish would opt to retire from full-time in-ring competition later that year.