Mickie James Says She Opened The Door For Top WWE Star's Return
On a recent episode of WWE The Bump, newly crowned "SmackDown" Women's Champion Charlotte Flair spoke about the dream matches she'd like to have, naming a match against Impact Wrestling's Mickie James as one of them. James commented on the potential inter-promotional dream match during an interview with Steve Fall on the WrestlingNewsCo YouTube channel. After wrestling in the women's Royal Rumble match in WWE last year while she was the Impact Knockouts World Champion, James wouldn't rule out the possibility.
"Last year I would've told you absolutely not, we can't see that," James said. "But this year I go, anything is possible. It took a lot of magic to make that Royal Rumble [appearance] happen. It was so special, I still get chill bumps every time I watch that entrance. It was so amazing and it would be hard to recreate and top; the only way to top it would be to win the Royal Rumble and then maybe go on and challenge Charlotte Flair, title versus title, whatever the case may be.
"I'm obviously honored that she would say that. One of the only people I never really got to — besides in the Rumble — one of the people I never got to stand across the ring from was Charlotte Flair my whole time there. I got moved to 'Raw,' she went to 'SmackDown,' and I was aligned with Alexa [Bliss] a lot."
James said she still gets emotional when reflecting on the Rumble, noting how appearing on a WWE show as her "Hardcore Country" persona from Impact opened the door for others in the wrestling industry to do the same.
"It opened up doors for a Cody Rhodes to come back, which people didn't expect, and be the 'American Nightmare,'" James said. "There are different things and now the opportunities that can happen at this year's Royal Rumble or moving forward, onto WrestleMania, the options are endless because you now know that door has opened for other talent and cross-promotion stuff. To be the one to kick that door open and to do it as a woman and showcase the Impact Knockout' World Championship on WWE television and have that put over."
James currently has her hands full in terms of wrestling matches, as she is putting her career on the line against Impact Knockouts World Champion Jordynne Grace at Impact Hard to Kill on January 13