Mickie James Details Bringing TNA Knockouts Championship To Women’s Royal Rumble Match In 2022

Mickie James talks about bringing the TNA Knockouts Championship to WWE during the Royal Rumble match.

During the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble, Mickie James came out as the TNA Knockouts Champion. This was a surprising moment for many fans because James wasn’t part of the WWE roster at that time.

Speaking with Ben Veal of Wrestling Life Online, James talked about this moment.

“I don’t think people realize, understand what it took for that moment to happen. Even when I was first asked to come in, I was still angry, I was still upset. I kind of noted it at first I was like, ‘I’m not interested or whatever.’ Thank God, Scott didn’t go back or I didn’t just say, ‘No thank you’ straight out of the gate. Because I really had to think back, pray on it and think about it. I’d always wanted to do and be hardcore country in WWE. I kind of pitched it, never tried to present it. They didn’t really understand what it was. At that point, my ego I suppose among other things, I was like, if I’m going to do this, I’m not going to be happy skippy, bellbottomy Mickie James coming out to some Tony Basil ripoff song. I’m going to be hardcore country because that’s who I am now. I said, ‘Every time I come back TNA’s treated me so well.’ But I was Knockouts World Champion at the time, and I’m like, ‘If I’m going to do it, I want to be Hardcore Country Mickie James. I want to come out to my own music, and I want to come out with the Knockouts World Championship.’ If we can do that, then I’m interested.”

James also said that WWE initially agreed to this but later tried to back away from it.

“There was a moment that I thought it wasn’t going to happen even that day. I’m always like, ‘I don’t believe it until it’s actually happening in real life,’ because everything can change. … Even kind of leading up to there, there was this moment where they were like, we don’t think we want you to come out with the belt. Because Charlotte’s coming out with the belt. It’s the first time a champion has ever entered the thing. We don’t want to take away from the fact that she’s the champion coming out with her belt and you’re coming out with a TNA belt. That’s not even our belt. I was like, ‘It was part of the deal.’ I’m either coming out with the belt or I’m not coming out. It’s part of the deal. We already agreed to that, and I’m sticking to it.”

Mickie James entered the match as the 22nd entrant and scored one elimination before getting thrown out of the ring by Lita.

Elsewhere in the interview, she talked about almost quitting WWE before her debut. Fans can read her full comments here.

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