Mickie James Wanted To Quit WWE Before Pitching Stalker Debut With Trish Stratus

Mickie James is considered by most to be one of the biggest stars of her generation, and her WWE debut was her memorable stalker angle with Trish Stratus. However, James' OVW days were not perfect, and the ideas leading up to her debut had the future champion considering stepping away from WWE instead of jumping to the main roster.

Looking back at the angle, James took ownership of pitching the story during an interview with the "Wrestling Life Online," adding that she was supposed to be called up on five other occasions, but disliked the storylines given to her, especially being brought in as "Vicki Adams" to manage CM Punk. 

"I kept going like, 'Where does this Vicki Adams keep coming from on my Wikipedia? Can somebody delete that? I don't know who she is?' but I guess that was the name they used when I was supposed to debut with him," she bemoaned.

After that, James admits she was at a crossroads with WWE, and after going home at one stage, she found herself in a place where she'd watched many people go through OVW and make it on TV while she wasn't getting her break. 

"I just had this real moment of like, maybe this isn't the journey for me? Because I chose wrestling, and did all the sacrifices and finally got the job, and now I feel like I'm not who they're looking for..." she recalled.

Mickie James recalled talking to Tommy Dreamer, telling him that she's considering quitting and has been watching all her friends get fired, and while she had no backup plan, she noticed that every female getting called up wasn't even a wrestler. 

"They don't want wrestlers, so I was like, 'Maybe I'm in the wrong place, maybe I'm doing the wrong thing,'" she recalled, adding that she had done acting and modelling classes to be more of a 'Diva,' but was ready to quit.

James then went home and had a lengthy talk with her mother, and while she was never the biggest fan of wrestling, she convinced her she was about to make a terrible mistake. In the days following, she began her pitch for the stalker character, drawing inspiration from the film "Single White Female" and Sensational Sherry. 

"I came up with this kind of superfan, and it was based off of fans that I had seen in my own life," she explained, also adding that she took further inspiration from the "Selena" biopic starring Jennifer Lopez, which portrayed the real story of Selena Quintanilla-Pérez, who was murdered by a crazed fan.

She then recalled that her original pitch was for Lita to be the superfan, and claimed the storyline was originally going to be 18 weeks long. James also praised Trish Stratus for being so open to the story, and credited her for the success of the angle. She then took the pitch to Michael Hayes, who urged her to talk to Vince McMahon, but claims there was a long period of silence. 

"I'm like, 'Oh man, I'm surely on the next cuts,'" she recalled, adding that she only found out the details of her debut the night of "RAW."

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