Following #TrashBagGate, Mickie James has been talking a lot about her negative experiences working for WWE. However, her latest comments could (and should) send shockwaves through the wrestling world.
While she wasn't booked for this year's WrestleMania, James was on hand during the weekend. That led to her speaking to unnamed WWE officials about her in-ring future, and she even pitched an all-female WWE show (which would have definitely given her a platform to compete on).
"There was an eye-opening experience at WrestleMania weekend," she says in the video below. "Over the weekend, I was trying to figure out where I’m going to fit in. Anything I’ve pitched, they weren’t into it. There was this moment where I said, ‘What if we do an all-female brand?’ There’s different shows we could do within it, and if I could head up that and we have an awesome team of women that we could lean on...we have the talent, tools, and facilities. It could have really helped a lot of girls who are not getting TV time."
"And as this one person says to me, ‘They’re never going to do it. Ever. Women’s wrestling doesn’t really make money. WWE Evolution was the lowest-rated PPV ever in WWE history. This person said, ‘I get what you’re trying to do, but I don’t understand why you’re fighting so hard for it.’ I was told to play the cards I’ve been dealt and see if there’s a way to incorporate that within a different show rather than fight for it to be its own show."
"That’s when I realized that even though they do some amazing things, every decision they make is based on business and how it falls in line with business," James concluded. "I’m just disappointed as a whole with being made to feel old with Depends and a Walker and the whole ageism thing. I think we missed out on a lot of moments."
That's a very interesting note about the Evolution PPV, and it might explain why we've never had another of those. Clearly, women's wrestling still has a long way in WWE before it's taken seriously, and even if that show did underwhelm, it really shouldn't matter now the Peacock deal is more about content than anything else.
Check out Mickie's comments in full below: