Mickie James has discussed having her creative pitches overlooked time and again in the last few years of her run in WWE.
James was talking about her time in WWE which came to an end in April 2021. Mickie James was part of a host of talent releases made by the company which included Samoa Joe and The IIconics.
Speaking on GAW TV with Lisa Marie Varon AKA Victoria and So Cal Val, the six-time WWE Women’s Champion shed light on her last few years with the company.
James said:
“Over the last two years with getting switched to SmackDown and not getting used. I never debuted on TV, I tore my ACL. I kept feeling these things of ‘we want you to retire. We want you to be an agent.’ It was what they wanted for me. It wasn’t that I wasn’t grateful for those opportunities, but at the same time, I see the agents and what they have to go through. They don’t get any of the praise or thanks that they deserve. They deal with a lot of crap. I don’t know if I could personally handle that. I’m too much of a creative person. Ideas that I had, they fell on deaf ears. If I fight for something, it’s what I genuinely believe. I have tons of ideas, not all of them are great, but if I think it’s great, I’ll promote it.”
James then explained how she had pitched a show for the WWE Network that was very similar to what she is doing now:
“Two or three years ago, I pitched a show similar to [GAW] with two or three girls on a panel and similar concept. ‘Who are you wearing? what are you drinking? what’s going on in pop culture?’ [I pitched it] for the Network and I might as well have been talking to [my dog]. [I pitched] a game show idea. I wasn’t even the star. If I’m going to be working behind the scenes, this is how my brain operates.”
Mickie James also revealed that she had an idea to do an all-female WWE brand after the WWE Evolution pay-per-view. But this also was never going to make it to fruition.
James then recalled:
“Anything I’ve pitched, they weren’t into it. I wanted to find a balance in between. There was this moment where I said, ‘What if we do an all-female brand?’ If I could help lead up that and have an awesome team of women. […] We have the talent, tools, and facilities. It would really help all the girls who are not getting television time. This one person says to me, ‘They’re never going to do it. Ever. Women’s wrestling doesn’t make money. WWE Evolution was the lowest-rated PPV ever in WWE. I get what you’re trying to do, but I don’t understand why you’re fighting so hard for it. You should play the cards you’re dealt and see if there’s a way to incorporate that within a show rather than fight for it to be its own show.'”
“I just realized that every decision they do, a lot of it is business and how it falls in line with business. I’m just disappointed as a whole with being made to feel old with Depends and a walker and the whole ageism thing. I think we missed out on a lot of moments, whether it was me tying Trish’s record and Charlotte tied that and beat me or the Chelsea Green angle [working on Twitter]. I originally pitched [that angle] for Liv [Morgan in 2019] because I love Liv. There have been several moments we could have done and should’ve done that we missed the boat on.”
James and the also released Chelsea Green had in recent weeks been teasing forming a team on social media. However, that never came to anything on WWE television.
Mickie James was at the centre of controversy following her WWE exit. James posted a picture of her belongings returned to her by WWE in a trash bag. She has since issued a final statement on that matter.