Ex-WWE Star Confirms Retirement Status
One former WWE star has explained that they are definitely not retired from the ring despite not competing since October 2023.
The last time Mickie James laced up her boots in anger was in October 2023 at IMPACT Wrestling Bound for Glory when Trinity defeated her to retain the Knockouts World Championship. That was so long ago – in wrestling terms – that IMPACT Wrestling is now known as TNA and Trinity is again known as Naomi after she re-joined WWE.
Speaking to WrestleZone, Mickie James discussed her current hiatus from the ring and explained why she’s taken time out but she also confirmed that she’s anything but retired as an active competitor:
I also haven’t been in the ring since my match with Trinity. I want to be able to deliver because I’ve been so busy. I’m putting [HER] together, I’ve been working with OVW behind the scenes with their women’s division and stuff. I’m working on how to cultivate that and do some cool things there. Obviously, I have the Last Match musical around the corner. I mom so hard on the daily. So I hope I’m ready for this match.
I think it’s been crazy because I had this whole resurgence of my career after a time where I was questioning my value or my worth as a performer. So it’s been exciting. I am not retired. I think that’s everything is balance, right, and I do have a lot on my plate right now. I knew we were planning [HER] in Australia, I knew I’m a co-producer with the Last Match musical, and I’m so grateful to be a part of that.
Mickie James Says Husband’s WWE Role Changed Things
Mickie James then explained how her husband Nick Aldis taking a job with WWE has changed her outlook recently but she has plenty of irons in the fire:
So when they offered the role of the mother, Nick [Aldis] wasn’t with WWE, so a lot of changes have been happening. Obviously, because of that, we’ve had to make a lot of changes. I thought it was important for our family that I was home more, for Donovan.
Nick gladly took that role when I was on the road full-time, and it was just a lot trying to balance everything, trying to get ready for this and do that and Donovan’s schedule and everything else, so I decided to take a backseat for a minute, as far as my in-ring, trying to hustle every two weeks and go out for these four-day trips. It became a lot.
So I still take bookings, and I still do signings here and there. Obviously, my focus has been on these projects for right now. Just while we were trying to balance out what this new landscape looked right. I am open to wrestling. I love wrestling. But also I’ve got a lot of cool stuff on the horizon that I’ve been doing or have been working on or have already done and it hasn’t been released yet, or TBD stuff.
I’m really excited about the OVW position and that stuff, to help their women’s division and try to culture content, female-led content for that brand. It’s been awesome. I go up almost every Thursday for TV and then back with production. Finding my ways to still keep my feet wet in wrestling because I love it so much, but also still be just more present here, for right now. It’s been a lot. It’s been different shoes to wear. It’s been an adjustment.