WWE News: Mickie James reveals backstage reaction to her Royal Rumble moment with Trish Stratus

What’s the story?

On an edition of Lillian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast, Mickie James opened up on a myriad of topics.

James spoke about her return to WWE after a long hiatus from the promotion, working with the current generation of talent, wrestling in the Women’s Royal Rumble Match as well as her iconic reunion in the aforementioned match with old friend/rival Trish Stratus.

In case you didn’t know…

Mickie James made her professional wrestling debut back in 1999, and performed in the WWE from 2003-10.

James then wrestled in several other notable promotions such as Impact Wrestling and Chikara, before returning to the WWE in 2016.

The heart of the matter

Mickie James asserted that returning to the WWE and working with today’s talent has been a great experience for her, as they do indeed pay heed to her opinions & advice, given her near-20 year experience in the pro-wrestling industry. James added that she comes from a gimmick-heavy era of wrestling, whereas today’s pro-wrestlers focus more on the in-ring aspect of the sport.

Expounding upon the same, James explained that she believes in according significant importance to the entertainment aspect of pro-wrestling, and tries to merge that aspect with today’s theory of placing more importance on the in-ring performances. James continued that the Women’s Royal Rumble Match is an experience that she and the other participants will always cherish, and if she wasn’t laser-focused/in the zone for her performance, she’d have probably been in tears before the match. James also recalled her face-off with Trish Stratus in the match—

“I have goosebumps just thinking about it. If you watch my face, I was hoping and praying that the people will remember (our rivalry) and react and give us a little bit of love, and the way that they erupted the way they did, I had this genuine, like I couldn’t wipe that stupid smile off of my face; I am from ear to ear with that smile on my face.”

“The amount of love that I got afterward, which I hope Trish (Stratus) did too on social media; even coming back, from Fit (Finlay), and even Windham (Bray Wyatt) pulled us aside and said how much of an amazing moment it was and how awesome it was. That makes you feel good, and it was like, hey, they do remember, (and) it was such a special time that we were able to make together and then to come back and go full circle and kind of recreate that moment it was just incredible.”

What’s next?

Mickie James presently performs for the WWE’s RAW brand and is prominently featured in the red brand’s Women’s Division.

Mickie James, Mandy Rose, Sonya Deville, Bayley, Sasha Banks and Alexa Bliss compete in the first-ever Women’s Elimination Chamber Match with Bliss’ RAW Women’s Championship on the line, at the Elimination Chamber PPV on February 25th.

Author’s take

When it’s all said and done, Mickie James will most definitely go down as one of the greatest female talents to have ever graced the squared circle.

James’ words about the entertainment factor being just as important, if not more, than the in-ring matches, rings true in this day and age where most experts & hardcore fans seem to place excessive focus on the ‘wrestling’ aspect of pro-wrestling.