WWE Hall Of Famer Eric Bischoff Reacts To OVW Hiring Mickie James
Last week, Ohio Valley Wrestling confirmed a new hiring in their creative department in the form of 25-year veteran Mickie James. After returning to OVW at the Nightmare Rumble event on January 6, James was officially brought aboard as OVW's new Creative Director and Head of Female Talent. In addition, James will serve as Executive Producer for all OVW wrestling shows, and will also help spearhead a television series focused on female empowerment in professional wrestling. On a recent episode of "83 Weeks," former WCW President Eric Bischoff weighed in with his thoughts on James joining OVW.
"Mickie's been around the industry for a long time at very high levels, working in smaller companies like TNA, so she's got a wide breadth of experience and she brings a lot to the table," Bischoff said. "Certainly, [she's] got a lot of passion for the business. One of the things when I first read, was the opportunities that come with this. Given what OVW has done with the 'Wrestlers' on Netflix, last I heard at least there was discussion about another season. Bringing someone like Mickie in from a woman's point of view, because I can tell you with 100% certainty based on 100% on experience, and not my intuition or good instinct, that when you're selling shows, especially to a platform like Netflix or anywhere, you need that female component. You need a balanced cast of characters ... [Mickie is] telegenic. She's great on camera, she's got great talent. She's experienced. She's got equity, and it opens the door up demographically to make that Netflix project even more successful, so I'm here for it."
Outside of her contributions toward OVW's women's division, James is also gearing up to host another all-women's wrestling event in April. This year's showcase — entitled H.E.R — will take place in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia as a part of Starrcast Downunder. H.E.R. comes on the heels of the Empowerr event, which James helped coordinate under the NWA banner in 2021.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "83 Weeks" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.