Mickie James appeared on Busted Open satellite radio with hosts Dave Lagreca, Doug Mortman, and Mike Riker. The show typically airs on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays on Sirius 92 and XM 208 from 2pm to 4pm EST. Below are highlights from the interview:
Mickie on being mentioned by Trish Stratus at the WWE Hall of Fame:
“I was honored that she did that and she’s far too kind and generous and the fact that she would even think to put other people in her HOF speech says a lot about her as a person. That’s just the type of person she is. I’m really grateful that she would even recognize me and females that were a lot like Lita and Molly and Jacquelyn. She’s just a great person. I think that she totally deserved to be the youngest person, to be a female, what a representation for the women in the industry.”
Mickie on being a part of the Golden Age for women’s wrestling:
“It was incredible. To be at WrestleMania and to have that type of reaction. The fans were completely split. I thought I was going to get booed out of the building and then when it was mixed, I mean Chicago was a crazy crowd anyway, it was insane. To be able to work beside some of these people that as I was coming in and breaking into the business, these people I was like, ‘I don’t want to be just like them, I want to be the Mickie James version of that type of stardom and make my mark in the industry right alongside them.’ To be able to do that with some of those people was amazing and it was definitely an honor. Lita, I worked with her for her final match. She was one of those people, like I was working the indie’s in front of 150 people, she’d be standing backstage in North Carolina, she was cool like that. She would just show up sometimes and she would pull me aside afterwards and be like, ‘this was cool; this was great; please don’t ever do this again.’ So then being able to go out there and work beside her and along with her and wrestle in final match, that was awesome.”
Mickie on the state of women’s wrestling:
“I think it’s ever changing. Just like this business it’s ever changing. And it goes through fluctuations of ‘we want more model-y types’ then they realize that wrestling fans love wrestling and they want the girls that can go in there and go just as hard as the guys. So it’ll go back and the wrestling part will become a main focus. It’s a constant roller coaster and right now I feel like it is that fine balance. I feel like, for me, as a wrestling fan myself, you have to have those characters, male and female, that are more personality, that are the eye candy, that are the mouthpieces and then you need to have those people that get it done in the ring and that are the serious competitors and athletes and then you have to have that balance of people that are meshed in between. That’s what fills out the show and makes it entertainment.”
Mickie on managing her dual music and wrestling schedule:
“I like the 250 days a year. I do. I love being on the road. I sit at home too long and I start to go a bit stir crazy. I love being home, I see my family, I ride my horses, I do all that stuff, but more than 4 days at home and my foot starts shaking. I’m like, ‘Ok, I need to be doing something, I need to get on the road, I need to be busy, I need to do something.’ It kind of worked out perfectly because they’ve [TNA] been very supportive and helping along with the album. They’re actually going to release the album as well and Hardcore Country is a bonus track on the album. So Dixie and TNA have been absolutely awesome as far as working with me and the music. Because of the lighter schedule, it has given me that ample time to really take those days I would have off and fully focus on my music, where I didn’t necessarily have that before.”
Mickie on TNA doing likewise with Jeff Hardy:
“His album came out and it doing really well, right? It’s more of a different style I don’t know. Jeff is an amazing individual. His art, he’s just so talented on so many levels and I feel like there’s not a whole lot of people that have that connection that is just being super loved no matter what. I could never see Jeff Hardy as a bad guy, because I just want to hug him. He’s an awesome person and super multi-talented.”
Mickie on the second show of the back-to-back’s and leaving Orlando:
“I think it is tough. It’s tough because they are exhausted. They have seen a full show with one heck of a main event, whether it’s a cage match or Sting and Hogan and all this stuff, they’ve already seen a solid 2 hour show filled with stars and promos and now they’re going to have to sit through another 2 hour show, which I’m sure that they love, but your energy through 4 hours of solid show time is exhausting and so it’s a little more difficult sometimes to get them in the second show but they come back. Being on the road and having an audience like that is so much better. I love Universal, we had a great time there in Orlando and it was a fun city to go to, but the crowd, even on television, you can see it.
Mickie on Brooke Hogan:
“I think she’s done a fabulous job. As far as telling the story and the story with Bully and her dad, pretty awesome, right? I think that a lot of people when she first stepped in were like, just because I know wrestling fans and people behind the scenes, people are cynical, they were like, ‘oh, she’s here, dad’s here, wah, wah,’ but she’s owned it. She’s totally owned it and she’s powerful, strong and I know she’s working on her album as well right now and she’s doing a lot of recording in Nashville so I’m excited to hear what her new stuff is going to sound like. I think she’s done a fabulous job coming in with the Knockouts and taking over that stuff and then doing the storyline with Bully and then her dad.”
