Mickie James Reflects On “Trash Bag Incident” And WWE Release

The announcement of Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James' as an entrant for the upcoming WWE Women's Royal Rumble surprised many. During a Friday appearance on The Ariel Helwani Show, Mickie discussed her initial feelings about the infamous "trash bag incident" and the storm it created on social media after her release.

"So it was a weird day anyway. I was walking out the door to go do a photoshoot for my single my music single I had coming out," James stated. "So I was literally in one of the boxes, I actually got two boxes, but when one of the boxes had a arrived so I just kind of brought it in I was like, oh this is my stuff can I use any of this for my shoot like a jacket, because my jackets are in a drawer and stuff, so I wonder if there's anything in there. So then I open it, and it's in a trash bag, and I see it, and I'm like of course, whatever.

"Personally, I wasn't as offended as the rest of the world was offended, just because I feel like it does suck and it is very, um, the symbology of it all, you know, even when you think about like, professionally or however you feel personally how you've been professionally booked, or any of those things, all those things aside, like that bit alone is kind of like already on a low.

"I posted it as a sarcastic, [my sense of humor is sarcastic, like oh this is pretty on par guys, thanks] and then left and went to do whatever, and then I look down, and my phone is blown up, and I missed all these calls, important calls from Stephanie to Hunter to Johnny to um Vince. And I called Vince back that day, and he personally apologized to me, we had a whole conversation, so there was a lot of it."

When asked about her release in April of last year, Mickie noted that she wasn't all too shocked and that there wasn't much left for her to do after her return from injury. She also mentioned that she carried little if any resentment after her release from the company.

"Yes and no," Mickie James stated. "I'm never shocked by anything, you know? I feel like we're kind of dispensable and that nobody is untouchable in that realm, you know? I think I was in a different place between agenting commentary, coming back from my ACL injury. I could just feel there really wasn't enough, you know, you have that [we have that nothing for you kind of thing] there really wasn't enough on television for them to justify keeping me around if I wasn't completely just going to do an agent behind the scene type of role, you know like I just felt like that was kind of where I was coming out of like that Wrestlemania.

"I kind of felt not the writing on the wall, but like I need to make a decision on what's going to be my next step. Either I'm going to have to make a decision, or it's going to be made for me, and I just kind of prayed about it and I was like all right help me make it for me kind of thing, and it was ironic around then Johnny called me like the next day about, yeah."

Towards the latter half of the podcast, James was asked if she carried any resentment after her release from the company, to which she refused to view it in that light, calling it more so a "heartbreak" and that at time of her absence, she watched very little of the product, but that it's changed as of late.

"I think anyone's heartbroken, you know the locker room is your family," Mickie James lamented. "Those are your friends, your family, those people you've been traveling with for the last x amount of years. And there's obviously some of those relationships that, even from that separation alone, are going to get cut off. And I think watching the product immediately is always kind of, I'll watch it now, but I wasn't watching it for a couple of months, you know, I want to support my friends, I love my friends, so I want to keep up on what they're doing and stuff, so uh I don't resent it now."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Ariel Helwani show with a h/t to WrestlingINC for the transcription.