Former WWE Star Layla Says She Has No Regrets About Infamous 'Piggy James' Storyline

Mickie James' entry into WWE had her adopt a controversial stalker gimmick, where she was openly obsessed with Trish Stratus. As part of that ongoing saga, the "Piggy James" rivalry involving Michelle McCool and Layla is often criticized for playing on James' real struggles with weight gain, but in a recent interview, Layla expressed no regret for the storyline.

"When we first started, I honestly thought it was just going to be a one-off promo and a quick match," Layla claimed during an interview on "Sportshadow Wrestling." "We would always apologize and make it clear. 'Like, this is not me, please. I want to make a good storyline.' And I have to give Mickie credit because Mickie did amazing in that. She kept her head up; she made it."

"LayCool was supposed to be mean girls, right? We're the mean girls, we were mean girls!" she pointed out, before admitting that people were mad about the angle, and she genuinely felt pushback from the audience. "Women were screaming at us! They wanted to beat us up, they're, like, throwing things at us and stuff like that!" 

Layla further admitted that the story itself was mean, especially because James was nowhere near the weight they teased she was, but the angle got people talking in the wrestling world. "It showed that Mickie – you could [overcome] your bullies! Now, she beat us, she shut us up. If it would have been the other way, then I'd have been like, 'Okay, that's wrong.' ... So as controversial as it was – maybe in this era it wouldn't fly – but for when it happened? I have no regrets for it."

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