Tag: Mickie James

WWE Announcers Were Not Allowed To Say Impact Wrestling Or Knockouts During Royal Rumble

In case you haven’t heard, wrestling has a forbidden door and apparently, it’s wide open. AEW wrestlers are competing in New Japan, Impact stars are showing up in WWE, and pretty much everyone is appearing for GCW. The most shocking of all was that middle one. Mickie James returning to WWE for one night only even though she is currently the Impact Knockouts World Champion.

James made an appearance in the women’s Royal Rumble and even though she isn’t a WWE Superstar, she had quite a good showing. She was even allowed to wear her Knockouts Title to the ring. However, eagle-eyed fans might have noticed the bottom third referred to the championship as the Impact Women’s Title. Not what it’s called, and this was no accident.

During a recent episode of Fightful’s Grapsody, which you can check out below, Will Washington reveals a few of the words WWE’s announcers were not allowed to say when discussing James during the Rumble. The big one was the ability to say Impact, but not Impact Wrestling. Not a slight on the rival wrestling company, but rather the hang-up Vince McMahon has with the word wrestling. It’s sports entertainment.

The title being given an entirely different name is also linked to words WWE didn’t want said on the air. Knockouts was one, and world was another. Unclear what WWE’s problem is with the word knockouts. Perhaps it doesn’t want fans to think wrestlers might get legitimately knocked out. As for the word world, maybe since its own Women’s Titles don’t have the word world in them, McMahon feared fans would think the Knockouts Title would be thought of as better than by more casual fans.

The ban on those words for Royal Rumble also extended to the social media team. As for the announcers, dodging words and phrases McMahon doesn’t like being said on his TV shows is an almost untraversable minefield at this point. The longer the list gets, the more respect we should all have for Michael Cole. The man gets a lot of stick from fans, but to be doing that job as long as he has with McMahon constantly in his ear, he deserves more credit than he gets.

Source: TheSportster

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James Announced For WWE’s Royal Rumble

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James will compete in the upcoming 2022 WWE women’s Royal Rumble match.

Mickie James is about to walk through the forbidden door … and straight into the 2022 women’s Royal Rumble match.

During this week’s edition of WWE SmackDown Charlotte Flair revealed the names of several women who are set to compete in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match — including Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James, who was released by WWE in April of last year.

But it gets weirder … on top of announcing that Mickie would be in the Rumble, Impact Wrestling was actually mentioned on air. At one point, SmackDown color commentator Pat McAfee referred to Mickie as “the Impact Knockouts Champion.”

Soon after, both WWE and Impact referenced one another in tweets announcing Mickie’s participation in the Rumble, while Impact’s EVP Scott D’Amore congratulated WWE for finally walking through the forbidden door.

The other participants announced for the women’s Royal Rumble match are as follows:

Charlotte Flair, Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Nikki Bella, Brie Bella, Shotzi, Natalya, Michelle McCool, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Queen Zelina Vega, Tamina Snuka, Kelly Kelly, Aliyah, Summer Rae, Naomi, Shayna Baszler, and Lita. The match will feature 30 competitors in total meaning there are still 11 more participants to be announced.

As you might recall, Mickie James was released by WWE back in April, allegedly due to budget cuts necessitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mickie James returned to Impact after a six-year absence during the company’s Slammiversary pay-per-view back in July. Her relationship with the company first began way back in 2002 when it was called TNA. She signed for WWE in 2003 but returned to Impact in 2010. The legend kicked off her fourth reign as Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion with a win over Deonna Purrazzo at Bound For Glory last October.

The 2022 Royal Rumble Premium Live Event will take place on Saturday, January 29, 2022, at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

Source: TheSportster

Deonna Purrazzo’s Opponent (Melina) For NWA Empower Revealed On Impact

Impact Wrestling’s Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will defend her championship against former ex-WWE Superstar Melina at NWA Empower on Saturday, August 28.

Last night, on Impact Wrestling, Purrazzo and Matthew Rehwoldt came to the ring to celebrate their King and Queen Tournament victory from Homecoming. Just as Purrazzo was listing off her accolades since joining Impact, Mickie James came down to the ring and brought a contract in hand. Several weeks ago, James and Purrazzo made a handshake agreement that Purrazzo would attend NWA Empower later this month. James wanted to make it official.

Before “The Virtuosa” signed on the dotted line, she wanted to know who exactly her opponent was going to be. Lucky for Purrazzo, James brought Melina with her to the Impact Zone. As Purrazzo and Melina signed their half the contract, Melina guaranteed she’ll win the title the same way Purrazzo won her’s the first time around- in her first title request against Jordynne Grace at Slammiversary last year.

Melina made her NWA debut in November 2019. One month later, at Into The Fire, she made her in-ring debut teaming with Marti Belle. They took on and lost to former NWA Women’s Champion Allysin Kay and ODB. Since then, she has teamed with another former NWA Women’s Champion and current AEW star, Thunder Rosa, and recently fought against Kylie Rae back in June.

Currently, Purrazzo is on her second reign as the Knockouts Champion. Her first reign came at Slammiversary of last year against Jordynne Grace. This was the first title opportunity she received after making her first appearance with the company last summer. She lost the title to Su Yung at Bound For Glory last October but made up for it when she beat Yung at Turning Point to regain the title back. Purrazzo’s last title defense was against Thunder Rosa at Slammiversary.

Before she meets Melina, Purrazzo will face Faby Apache in a Champion versus Champion match for both the AAA Reina de Reinas and Impact Knockouts Championship at Triplemanía XXIX next Saturday. This could change the landscape of who faces Melina in a few weeks.

Below is the updated card for NWA Empower:

NWA Women’s World Championship:

Kamille (c) vs. AEW’s Lelya Hirsch

NWA Women’s World Tag Team Championship (Vacant):

TBA vs. TBA

Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship:

Deonna Purrazzo or Faby Apache (c) vs. Melina

Chelsea Green vs. TBA (NWA Women’s Invitational Cup Finals)

NWA Empower will be available exclusively on Saturday, August 28, on FITE TV.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mickie James To Wrestle On The NWA 73rd Anniversary PPV

Mickie James will return to the ring on the NWA 73rd Anniversary pay-per-view in August.

The NWA recently announced that James had joined the company and will be executive producing the all-women’s NWA Empower pay-per-view on Saturday, August 28 from the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis. She has said she will not wrestle that night. It was believed that Mickie would wrestle at the NWA 73rd Anniversary pay-per-view the next night, at the same venue, and now that has been confirmed.

James hosted an Instagram Live video this week to announce the return to the ring. She noted that she is looking for an opponent, and wants fans to share potential opponents with NWA owner Billy Corgan.

James also talked about the Empower pay-per-view, noting that she is still looking for unsigned women’s wrestlers to send in their tapes and promos to mickiejamesproject@gmail.com if they’d like to potentially work the show.

James was released from her WWE contract back in mid-April along with other budget cuts, and will become a free agent after Wednesday, July 14 when her 90-day non-compete expires. James has not wrestled since the 30-Woman Royal Rumble Match back in January. Before that, her last singles match was the loss to Zelina Vega on the September 1, 2020 RAW.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mickie James Joins NWA, All-Women’s PPV Announced For August

Mickie James has officially joined the NWA, which has announced their first all-women’s PPV. Tuesday’s episode of NWA Powerrr saw Billy Corgan announce that the first all-women’s show, NWA In Power, will take place on August 28th in St. Louis, Missouri. James, who made her debut on yesterday’s show, will be the executive producer for the PPV. In addition, August 29th will be the date for the NWA’s 73rd Anniversary show which will also be in St. Louis.

James was released from WWE in April as part of the cuts that saw Samoa Joe, The IIconics, Chelsea Green and others released. The NWA Women’s division includes new NWA Women’s Champion Kamille along with former champions Serena Deeb and Thunder Rosa, the newly-signed Kylie Rae, Melina, and Taryn Terrell.

Source: 411Mania

Mickie James Out Of Action Due To Broken Nose Suffered On WWE RAW

WWE Superstar Mickie James will be out of action for several weeks after suffering a broken nose.

“I had my nose broken recently in match so I can’t wrestle for a few weeks,” James said while appearing on her YouTube channel, GAW TV (h/t to WrestlingNews.co for the transcription).

James noted that the controversial finish to her Raw Women’s Championship match against Asuka – during an episode of Monday Night Raw on September 14 – was actually not “a swerve” and the result of her breaking her nose. The finish saw the referee call for the bell even though Mickie never tapped out to the Asuka Lock.

Interestingly, Mickie wrestled the following week on Raw against Zelina Vega because she wasn’t still aware of the severity of the injury.

“What had happened was, after the swelling went down [after the Asuka match injury], I noticed that this whole side of my nose was completely caved in.

“I go to the doctor [and he says] I broke my nose,” said Mickie.

Mickie explained that her cartilage was dislocated from her nasal cavity and therefore had to be relocated.

The former six-time WWE Women’s Champion has been off WWE TV since that match against Vega. As noted before, she is among the first pool of WWE superstars who are eligible for tonight’s WWE Draft on Friday Night SmackDown. The second pool of wrestlers will be drafted on Monday’s edition of Raw.

Source: Wrestling Inc.

Mickie James Was Medically Cleared To Return Before Pandemic Hit, Still Has Big Plans For Comeback

We haven’t seen Mickie James in a WWE ring for over a year, but it turns out she was just weeks away from returning before COVID-19 struck.

James, who tore her ACL during a house show last year, had apparently been medically cleared and was close to making a comeback. “The doc had already cleared me, so I was literally just getting that last two weeks to get cleared to come back to in-ring action and everything got shut down,” she told Chris Van Vliet in a new interview. “So, I went home and I just haven’t been back since.”

For the time being, James is fine with staying away from the Performance Center. “Theres no need to take that risk of going there if I’m not doing anything,” she explained. “I would rather bide my time and wait for the perfect opportunity.”

When she does return, James has some (mostly tongue-in-cheek) goals in mind. “I’m going to go in and take all the championships,” she said. “I’m going to be my own tag team partner and I’m going to go in there and take those championships first, and then I’m going to take both of the women’s championships at the same time.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Mickie James Releases New Song To Benefit National Child Abuse Awareness Month (Video)

WWE Superstar Mickie James is using her voice to help raise money and awareness during National Child Abuse Awareness Month.

Mickie’s new “With The Love of a Child” single features youth advocate & YouTube star Rosevelt Sings (Rosevelt Rawls), and benefits the “#5TooMany Campaign” for Childhelp. Childhelp is the world’s oldest and largest non-profit group dedicated to helping victims of child abuse and neglect.

Courtesy of Mickie’s YouTube channel, above is a behind-the-scenes look at the new single. The song features The Holy Saints Children’s Choir of Tuscaloosa. The lyrics can be found in the description of the YouTube video seen above. The song was written by Mickie and Sean Gasaway, and released by Firewater Records.

Mickie tweeted on the song and wrote, “So excited to share this special behind the scenes look at the making of “With the Love of a Child” with the lovely ?@RoseveltSings please continue to help us reach our goal https://5toomany.com & continue to spread the love! [red heart emoji] #5toomany”

The WWE announcement on the new campaign noted that fans can help the cause by doing the following:

* Download “With The Love of a Child” for free on music platforms
* Take a photo with a heart in hand and post to social media
* Tag five friends to do the same
* #5TooMany and #RoseveltsChallenge
* Donate $5 to help meet the challenge at 5TooMany.com

All money raised with the campaign will go toward Childhelp’s mission during National Child Abuse Awareness Month.

Mickie James Undergoes Successful Knee Surgery

Following an ACL injury that took her out of action last month, Mickie James has successfully undergone surgery to repair her knee.

Mickie’s husband Nick Aldis shared an update on Tuesday saying: “Surgery was a complete success. I’m sure when she’s feeling up to it she’ll share more. Thank you all!”

James was injured during a match against Carmella. She’s unsure of how long she’ll be out of action … but expects it to be “awhile.”

Source: Pro Wrestling Sheet

Mickie James Confirms Injury And Surgery

Mickie James has confirmed that she will need to undergo surgery for a torn ACL.

Mickie suffered the apparent knee injury at last Saturday’s WWE live event in Waco, Texas, during a singles loss to Carmella that ended abruptly after James went down. F4Wonline.com now confirms that Mickie was injured during the match. F4Wonline.com then confirmed that Mickie was out of action with the knee injury as the injury was listed on WWE’s internal injury report the next night in College Station, TX, where she was replaced by Zelina Vega. James was checked on by a WWE trainer at ringside on Saturday, but did leave on her own with minor assistance.

In an update, Mickie confirmed on Instagram Live today that she underwent an MRI this week and that’s where it was determined that she suffered an ACL injury.

“I don’t know how long I’m gonna be out. I don’t know when I’m gonna have to get surgery, but it’s gonna be awhile,” Mickie said in the video. (H/T Pro Wrestling Sheet)

There’s no word yet on when Mickie will be back in action, but we will keep you updated.

As seen below, James is still scheduled for appear at the CMA Fest in Nashville this weekend and has added a second appearance for her fans.

Source: Wrestling Inc.