"I had a lack of confidence in myself" – Mickie James on second stint with WWE

Mickie James in the women's Royal Rumble match this year

Former RAW Superstar Mickie James recently disclosed that she was low on confidence amidst her second run with WWE.

The five-time women's champion etched her name on history by opening the forbidden door at the Royal Rumble this year by entering a WWE ring with the IMPACT Knockouts World Champion. She lasted nearly 12 minutes in the match before being eliminated by former arch-nemesis Lita.

In a recent interaction on the Throwing Down podcast with Renee and Miesha, Mickie James claimed that she lost her confidence while figuring out what was favorable to her as a performer:

“Now I’m sitting in a different seat and more in my own power of trying to figure out what works for me and what I want to do. I lost my confidence. It’s surprising for me to say that, but I feel like towards the end (of WWE), I had a lack of confidence in myself and who I was as a performer, almost like I forgot all this other cool stuff I did and how much it meant to a lot of people." [H/T Wrestling Headlines]

The former Divas Champion added that she had some of the best matches of her career during her second run. She was unsure about her future in wrestling and wanted to focus on spreading awareness of women's wrestling:

"To be able to go away, even the way that I did, and then do all of this stuff, it’s been wild. I’ve had some of my best matches of my career. Honestly, I wasn’t even considering whether I wanted to wrestle after I left. It was more about raising the awareness for women’s wrestling. Everything else was kind of icing on the cake.” [H/T Wrestling Headlines]

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The former women's champion is currently associated with IMPACT Wrestling, where she is in her fourth reign as IMPACT Knockouts World Champion. In January this year, the former WWE Superstar defended her title against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas Deathmatch.

Mickie James on the industry's evolved perspective on motherhood

James is a mother of one and has broken down industry barriers. She cited a change in the industry's perspective on superstars who happen to be mothers.

On the Mother's Day Special of Throwing Down podcast with Renee and Miesha, James talked about how the wrestling industry's views on superstars with children have changed:

"I think it was a mentality because I think that people, they would view the women as like okay, well they have kids, they should be at home or so. Then they perhaps thought that it might affect their push or affect something because they've had other priorities, as they should. Whereas now I feel like it's a lot more open to that, you know, to moms being back and being on television." (15:28 - 15:51)

Mickie James is one of the few mothers who actively participated in in-ring activities and even in the Women's Royal Rumble this year, along with Ronda Rousey, Becky Lynch, Michelle McCool, and Tamina.

While using quotes from this article, please add a H/T to Sportskeeda and credit the Throwing Down podcast.