WWE's Mickie James Recalls Stalker Storyline, Friendship With Trish Stratus & Lita

Mickie James is considered to be one of the trailblazers for women of her generation of pro wrestling, and while she eventually went on to define her gimmick and wrestling style, her introduction to WWE fans was as a Trish Stratus-obsessed stalker. While sitting down for an interview on "Insight with Chris Van Vliet," James looked back at this era of her career and recounted how the story piqued Vince McMahon's interest, and was meant to be between her and Lita instead of Stratus. 

"I was friends with Lita, and I felt that she was really a mentor to me in a lot of ways," she explained, adding that Lita would support her at indie shows by watching her matches and giving her advice that she still applies to wrestling today. "She looked out for me, and fought for me, even in getting my job." 

The former TNA Knockouts Champion noted that their relationship was why she originally felt more comfortable going with Lita instead.

"I asked her if it was okay if I pitched it with her in mind," she recalled, noting that Lita was on board originally, and that the story was originally meant to be an 18-week angle between the two of them. "I was taking acting classes in OVW and doing all that stuff on the side, to just kind of get my range down. So, I pitched it with Amy [Lita], and then they loved it, and they really liked the idea."

In the end it would be Vince McMahon who changed the storyline to include Trish Stratus instead, even though he loved the angle and Michael P. Hayes backed Mickie James in pitching it to him. 

"I literally waited outside of his office after the show," she recalled. "I did exactly what Michael told me to do, and was like: 'Mickie James from OVW, and I heard you read my storyline idea. And I heard you really liked it, and I just want you to know that I wrote her, I know her, she is me, and there's no one that can play that character like me.'"

James admitted that despite trying her best to be confident in her pitch, she felt very intimidated but McMahon was impressed by her boldness in pitching directly to him. 

"And then I walked out, and I wanted to throw up, and yeah... And that was that, and I didn't hear anything back for like six months, and I was like: 'Oh, God! What did I do?'" she recalled. However, she was eventually called into office and told that they were bringing her storyline onto television after all. "He's like 'Yeah, but we're going to do it with Trish.' And I was like [gasp], I didn't know Trish... I'd met her, and she was always pleasant and she was always amazing...Never really had a full conversation with it."

James was taken by how Stratus never wavered.

"The way she embraced it and embraced me? We're still best friends," James said.

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "Insight with Chris Van Vliet" and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.