Mickie James was a guest on Oral Sessions with Renee Paquette this week and talked about the topic of ageism in wrestling and how she was treated towards the end of her run in WWE. Mickie said it’s not as much of an issue with men as it is for women, then explained how she was just doing her job but the unfortunate part of it all was that she didn’t feel valued. Pointing to a specific storyline from 2017 where Alexa Bliss gave her a box of adult diapers and a walker to poke fun at her age, James said a real payoff never materialized and she feels like her tenure should be a good thing instead of joked about.
“For women, it is different. I was what, 38 when I had diapers and a walker delivered to me? And it’s funny and it’s television, and I did it because that is my employer and we’re doing a job and they’re like, ‘OK this is the storyline we have…’” James explained, “so you try to make everything that you have gold. If that’s what you’re given, you’re like ‘OK’ and if it was gonna pay off, it was gonna pay off in the end. The thing is, it never really paid off and that was the unfortunate thing.”
“Even being asked to almost—not being asked to retire, but to move into a different role without having [closure]. And I’m going like, ‘I’m only 38 or 39 and some of the other girls are my same age and I know I’ve been on television for 20 years’ or whatever it is,” James noted, “but I feel like that should be a good thing.”
Mickie also addressed her accolades in the wrestling business and knows being a “Legend” is meant to be an accomplishment, but still wishes she had some kind of defining moment in that time instead of just being in the mix.
“I know they called me a Legend and put me in that area in the sense of that—or six-time Women’s Champion, they always promoted that—but I wish there would’ve been a real moment of going after the championship, or this one moment that was really a defining thing in that run, that’s it. And it was cool and I had such an amazing time working with Alexa and doing all that stuff, even with [Alicia Fox] and all that, but I always felt like I was a middle player,” James said, “which is fun and you’re in the locker room and you’re apart of the whole thing but you’re not the thing.”
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