Mickie James recently spoke with Scott Fishman of The Miami Herald to promote her appearance at Queens of Combat in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on November 30th, where she will wrestle her first match since giving birth on September 25th. Mickie will face Tessa Blanchard that night. The full interview is available at this link. Below are some highlights:
Returning to the ring:
“I had a pretty intense delivery. I expected to already be back in the gym to at least start the road to getting fit. I was just cleared a few days ago to return to the gym, and even then, it’s in the sense of taking it easy and easing my way into it. I’m a little apprehensive and nervous about actually physically ready to return. I have made that commitment now, so I don’t want to back out of it. It really only gives me less than four weeks to get back into a reasonable amount of shape and hopefully be ready. I’m going to take it as a learning thing. It’s the first time I would be in the ring since February. I was still wrestling before I found out. I was one-and-a-half or two months pregnant when I found out. I had no idea. I was pretty much in the best shape I had been in since I would say when I first debuted in WWE. I was training pretty hard at that point because I was trying to get back in to it.”
Recently getting advice from Trish Stratus:
“She has been awesome, called and given me advice. I had talked to her when I had a signing and had to wrestle, but ended up refereeing because I knew at that point. It was a show I had taken in Toronto. So I saw her that day and talked to her about it. I was terrified. What do you do? This is going to change my whole life. I thought, ‘Am I not going to be able to do anything else or what I want to do? Am I going to be a good mom?’ She was really helpful in that sense. We talk back-and-forth on the phone. She is awesome to give advice. Since she has been at it a year, I have been able to pick her brain. She has been there and has been able to give me advice from her recent experience with it.”
Which Divas impressed her at the WWE Performance Center last year:
“Paige was one who stood out to me at that point. Paige wasn’t on TV then. Sasha Banks stood out. She had tons of personality. I thought she was really good in a sense I liked her sass and personality. That’s what really gets me is your facials and personality. You can teach anybody wrestling moves, hopefully if they have an athletic bone in their body. However, the ones that are going to make money and be different are the ones with personality. Alexa Bliss, I don’t think she was wrestling coming in. That was shocking to me because it stands against everything I believe in is to get a job as a non-wrestler and learn to wrestle in developmental. To me, it’s so backwards. For her, I guess because she was an athlete and she picked it up quickly. Her personality shined through. She has such a vibrant and alive personality. She really grew on me. Maybe it’s because she was little and reminded me of myself. Bayley was really good. I heard about her before I got there from shows I had done in California. I kind of had an idea of who she was, but that was kind of the first time I had seen a lot of her. Obviously, Emma and the girls they are bringing along now I had heard a bunch about. The two that stood out to me the most were Paige and Sasha. I would say Alexa, too. I’d say she has a whole lot to learn before [she is called up]. Eva Marie was there working out. Ashley Fliehr [Charlotte] unfortunately was injured at the time I went down there, so I didn’t get to see her work at all. It was a shame because I really wanted to see her, but I’ve seen her since then. She is awesome.”
A possible return to WWE:
“It’s something I’m really interested in. I’d have to revisit that whole thing…Things have changed since then. I think, ‘I’m better than 90 percent of the talent on TV now. Why am I going to step to the side to just train the future?’ I’m not ready to do that, and I’m not trying to be arrogant and self-absorbed. I can see how it can come off that way, but it’s the truth. You look at least 75 percent or at least 80 percent on TV now. I know in my heart of hearts that I can draw more money than them and that I am better than them. I can put more asses in the seats than them. Why would I want to step aside? This is an ego thing, obviously. It’s about knowing your worth and your talent as well. Why would I step aside to allow them to continue to be on top when you know you not only deserve to be there, but you deserve to be the best or one of the best. That is where my mind was over a year ago when I was first considering this whole thing. I was real intense about it. Obviously, now I have more than myself to think about. My position on it has changed in a sense that it’s not about just me anymore.”
