Mickie James Recalls Feeling Nostalgic Following CM Punk's WWE Raw Promo

Last Monday, CM Punk returned to the very venue that he infamously walked out of nearly a decade ago – the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse (fka Quicken Loans Arena) in Cleveland, Ohio. That isn't Punk's only tie to the city, though, as this same building also hosted his WWE debut in July 2005, where he, and Mickie James, were to be pushed as an on-screen pairing. Unfortunately, WWE officials didn't seem to be keen on continuing forward with the angle afterward, and as a result, Punk and James' appearance never made it to the air. Following Punk's reference to their unceremonious WWE debuts during his promo on "WWE Raw," James looked back on her early memories with "The Second City Saint," whom she had also previously worked with in Ring of Honor and TNA Wrestling. 

"Punk even texted me after the show going like, 'Hey, PS, I mentioned you tonight,' because my timeline may have started blowing up or whatever. And I was like, 'Oh, that's cool.' It was pretty nostalgic because that was the arena that we were we debuted or supposed to debut," James said on "Busted Open Radio." "It's crazy, I feel like, because Punk and I have come up in the business together in Ring of Honor to TNA with The Gathering and then OVW. We've just known each other for so long, and even when we debuted that day, we were both so excited and just hopeful and all the things. Then it didn't obviously go through, but then you go like, God, what if that had been the start of Mickie James and CM Punk and our wrestling careers? How different our careers may have ended [up]."

While James was initially disappointed in seeing their main roster call-ups halted, she later came to view this move as a blessing in disguise. After being sent back to WWE's developmental territory of OVW for a few more months, James returned to WWE's main roster in October 2005 — setting the stage for her long-term feud with WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus.

If you use quotes in this article, please credit "Busted Open Radio" and provide an h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.