"You have to dig deep to find [it]" - Mickie James says censored non-PG moment with major legend got her in trouble in WWE
Mickie James was involved in multiple controversial storylines during her two WWE stints. She recently revealed that she was legitimately in trouble after doing an unapproved non-PG moment with a massive legend nearly 18 years ago.
Trish Stratus and James had a storyline in which the latter played an obsessed fan of Stratus. She tried to turn their friendship into a romance, but the WWE Hall of Famer turned her down. James later turned on her mentor and challenged her for the Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22.
During the match, Stratus was about to hit her opponent with the Stratusfaction when the latter surprisingly grabbed her crotch area. James made a non-PG gesture with her hand, which afterward she disclosed, got her in trouble backstage. The moment was also later erased from WWE videos.
In a recent interview with Ring The Belle, the wrestling legend revealed that although she somewhat pitched the idea of making the 'V' gesture, it was not approved. Nevertheless, she made it anyway because it made sense to her and that at times one had to "dig in deep" to make the right call.
"Yeah, you have to dig deep to find [it] these days. It was not approved. I pitched it in a sense. [...] Cuz I knew I was doing this moment thing [grabbing Stratus' crotch] where I'm like, 'Oh, this would be really cool,' like, I felt like this would be something. In the moment, it felt like this [doing the V gesture] was the right choice. [For the storyline, yeah.] For everything. To me," she said.
James stated that she expected to receive a positive reaction when she returned backstage, as fans in attendance had reacted well to the non-PG segment. However, that was not what happened.
"And I honestly thought I was gonna come back and be like, I was gonna get high-fived, a raise maybe, you know. It was not. That was not the reaction I got. And I felt horrible. Like, after this super huge high moment, I came and I was like just felt so defeated. I was like, 'Oh, yeah, I didn't read the room right on that one at all,'" she added. [14:01 - 15:01]
Watch the video below for her comments:
Mickie James addressed why her on-screen romance with huge WWE star didn't work
In 2008, Mickie James and John Cena teased having an on-screen romance. The two were also romantically involved in real life at the time. However, the storyline was soon dropped.
In her interview with Ring The Belle, James disclosed that she had no idea where that storyline was heading. Meanwhile, the multi-time former WWE Women's Champion felt that she and Cena had very little on-camera chemistry.
"I don't really know where that was supposed to go or where it wasn't supposed to go. But, I think, obviously, like we were talking or whatever at the time anyway so, I feel like it was one of those things. I mean, that was a well-known thing, right? That was one of those things of like, 'Hey, we'll try this on air. I don't know that we actually had any on-camera chemistry. You know, when I watched back, I go like, 'Emm...' [You don't feel it?] I didn't, yeah. It felt uncomfortable. It felt like it came off; I don't know that it came off on camera as natural," she said.
Mickie James was released from the Stamford-based company nearly three years ago. It would be interesting to see if the 44-year-old legend will ever return to WWE.
If you use any quotes from this article, please credit Ring The Belle and embed the video, with an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.