Mickie James has grand plans for her all-female NWA Empowerrr event, saying she wants to unite the wrestling business behind this new era of women’s wrestling.
James was recently released from her WWE contract after her second stint with the company. Her release made headlines when she revealed that her belongings had been returned by the company inside a trash bag. Moving on from that episode James has announced she is planning to put an all-female wrestling show in conjunction with the NWA.
Speaking on GAW TV, the former WWE Women’s and TNA Knockouts Champion explained more about what she wanted to do with that event.
James explained:
“I’m building a brand. Billy Corgan has been kind enough to work with me and partner with me with the NWA brand. The beautiful thing is no more golden handcuffs for Mickie James. I don’t need or want a contract. I have an opportunity to build something fresh, new, and exciting. A place where – when you were in the Indies, all you needed was that one chance or that one person who believed in you – I was so excited when I got that chance to debut on Ring of Honor and when Jeff Jarrett called me to go in for TNA pay-per-views. ‘This is my chance.'”
“Out of all that, it led to my next chapter and developed me. How cool is it for females to sit and learn under the tutelage of the women who have been there and done that? I want to change the way we look at women’s wrestling in a real aspect, no more novelty bullsh*t. #MoneyGrabs. The real respect women deserve and that the women before us deserve. Now that we’re getting it, it’s an opportunity for us to step back and we’re in it to win it. I want this to be all-inclusive and all-embracing. The only way it’ll be successful is for all of us to come together for one purpose. I’m sick of the men always running the table and ‘good ol’ boys.’ The business has evolved and wrestling has always been 10-20 years late to the party. That’s over.”
James says she’s reaching out across companies for talent to appear on the show. WWE EVP Triple H said on a recent media call that ignoring contractual demands would however be “bad business.”
Mickie James explained:
“I’m reaching out. I’m calling in favors, I’m calling in friends. You know I’m calling you [Victoria]. I think there’s a way to do good business across all the brands. I want to unite and do something f*cking magical. There’s a huge opportunity to get some diamonds in the rough. A few people who haven’t quite had the chance to really breakout. I look at the division now and it’s so thick and vast. Even women that I wouldn’t mind tangling up with. In every company. Deonna [Purrazzo] is killing it at IMPACT, Britt [Baker] is killing it at AEW. Maria [Kanellis] with Women of Honor. There seems to be an energy around the women. It’s time to do something magical and lift everyone up.”
WWE’s only all-female event was held in October 2018 as they presented WWE Evolution. In the main event of that show, then-Raw Women’s Champion and MMA icon ‘Rowdy’ Ronda Rousey defeated Nikki Bella.