The following are highlights from a recent RVA Magazine interview with former TNA Knockout and WWE Diva Mickie James:
On her TNA Impact Wrestling status: “I can’t really speak on my status right now. Honestly though, I’m not technically under contract with them right now. As far as TNA itself, I wasn’t at the last TV so I can’t speak on that. The company is in the midst of change obviously and that process of changing over.”
On recent changes and pay issues in TNA: “They’ve gone live on the road and they just brought in this new head of talent [John Gaburick] who was with WWE for twenty years or so. I feel like there’s good energy around it, but in the midst of change, people get scared and there’s a bit of that as well. It’s hard to really say. There were rumors and speculation about late paychecks, but my paycheck was never late. It’s not untrue though; I do know that was an issue with some of the people.”
On how the WWE Divas division has changed over the years: “Honestly, when I came in, there was still that Golden Era of Women’s wrestling for WWE. There was Trish [Stratus] and Lita there to legitimately pass that torch of credibility. They were genuine wrestling athletes. They weren’t just characters or beautiful women. They could go in there, wrestle like the men, kick serious ass, and hold that spot. I was very fortunate to have that coming in and be in that transitional phase. As they were leaving, it was myself, Melina, Beth Phoenix; all the girls that kind of grew up on the Indy scene. We all kind of came in that same way, that grass roots kind of way. We fought and clawed our way up the Indy scene to try and make a name for ourselves and build credibility just so WWE would take a look at us in the first place.”
On the WWE Total Divas reality show: “I don’t think that there’s anyone there who legitimately has had that torch passed to them in a way so that’s the main difference to me. There are obviously legit wrestlers like Nattie and I think Alicia Fox is great. I think it’d be great for someone to come in and take that division to a whole new level. I’m not sitting here burying those girls though because obviously they’re on TV, doing a great job, and they have the Divas reality show. I think that show is awesome because it’s giving depth to those characters that you wouldn’t necessarily know anything about other than they are great wrestlers. You don’t know anything about their personal lives and it’s kind of opening that door to get people more emotional invested into them. But yeah, I think having someone pass the torch would be great for those girls.”
Check out the complete interview online at RVAMag.com.
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