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A WWE legend took part in a very controversial storyline nearly 16 years ago. She recently revealed she hated it.
In 2009, then WWE Women's Champion Michelle McCool and her LayCool partner, Layla, feuded with Mickie James. The storyline saw LayCool make fun of James' weight, dubbing her "Piggy James." The seemingly bullying nature of the angle did not sit well with many fans. In a recent interview with Chris Van Vliet on INSIGHT, McCool opened up about how she honestly felt about participating in the controversial storyline.
The 45-year-old claimed she hated the angle and kept apologizing to James for what the company wanted her and Layla to say. Meanwhile, she gave credit to her former on-screen rival for putting LayCool on the map:
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"I give credit to this day, and I said this to somebody the other day, and I said it to her. But the whole Piggy James storyline, me at heart hated it, just because of what it was. You're bullying somebody, supposedly that they're supposedly overweight, and that has never been me. Every week I'd go up to her, 'Mickie, I'm so sorry. This is what they want us to say.' Complete professional. Not once did she try to change things, which often girls did. Not once. She's like, 'No, it's good. It's cool.' She knew that took two to tango. She knew what her role was. She knew what our role was, and she really, I think, put us on the map with that storyline." [H/T: chrisvanvliet.com]
Former WWE Chairman Vince McMahon came up with the controversial storyline, says Layla
In an interview on the They Made Their Way to the Ring podcast last October, former WWE Women's Champion Layla addressed the "Piggy James" controversial storyline.
The 47-year-old disclosed that the angle was the idea of former chairman Vince McMahon, claiming she and Michelle McCool received significant heat because of it:
"The first name, which was Mickie James, is very controversial, so I'm not even going to say it. Mickie James....Vince actually came up with that. We had nothing to do with that. We got a lot of heat for it. That wasn't our creation at all," she said. [H/T: Fightful]
Mickie James defeated McCool at Royal Rumble 2010 to capture the Women's Championship. However, she lost the title again to the former one-half of LayCool about a month later.
