Michelle McCool has opened up about the one storyline that she was involved with in WWE that had her apologising before the cameras had rolled.
The wrestling business is littered with storylines and angles that on reflection – and even at the time – were in very poor taste.
In 2009 Michelle McCool and her then tag team partner Layla began a storyline with Mickie James where they bullied James and made fun of her weight, labelling her ‘Piggy James.’ The IMPACT Wrestling star defeated McCool for the WWE Women’s Championship at the Royal Rumble in 2010.
Twelve years later at the 2022 Royal Rumble, the two women resumed hostilities in the women’s Royal Rumble match with Mickie James eliminating McCool.
Speaking to Mickie James on GAW TV Michelle McCool reflected on the controversial storyline and says it couldn’t have worked with anybody else but James in her role:
“That storyline wouldn’t have worked had it been with anybody else other than you. The emotions were real at times. I tried to tell people, I would come up to you and apologize beforehand. I’m like, ‘This is hurtful. Like, this is legit, makes me cringe,’ which is why it did work … You were the ultimate professional.”
“I haven’t watched it back. It really did hurt my heart going through that … That is not my character … It was really an internal struggle for me.”