Vince McMahon Yelled At Female Star For “Crass” WrestleMania Moment

Vince McMahon didn’t love a famous WrestleMania moment.

After signing with WWE in 2003, Mickie James made her main roster debut in October 2005 as Trish Stratus’ biggest fan. This fandom quickly evolved into an obsession that made Stratus uncomfortable.

As the months passed and things got creepier, James showed no sign of moving on, and the continued rejection set up a match at WrestleMania 22.

At the spectacular in Chicago, James got the win to claim her first WWE Women’s Championship win. However, the match is more often remembered for James grabbing Stratus’s crotch during the action before turning to the crowd and flicking her tongue between her fingers.

During a new interview with Chris Van Vliet, Mickie James looked back at the infamous spot, lifting the lid on how it came together.

“(The backstage reaction) was not good. I mean, the people loved it. The reaction, in my opinion, I made the right choice, in my humble opinion. Not what I expected.

So I had asked Steve Keirn. Steve Keirn was our agent. I had asked Steve Keirn, ‘Can I lick my finger?’ Because we had already had the crotch grab spot. We’re gonna do it. So we knew we were going to do the vag grab.

You think about the whole story. I have pretended to be Trish. I have accused her boyfriend of terrible crimes. I have kidnapped Ashley Massaro, I have stalked her in the shower, her home. I have done many things, tried to kiss her numerous occasions, but access denied.

So we’re at WrestleMania, and I’m like, all the things that we’ve done to lead to this and they want this moment. I’m like, okay. I felt like that’s what anybody would have done in that moment, after all that. Finally, you got, I don’t know, I’m not going to go there. That’s a little too crass, even for me. But I also thought, you know. So I had asked if I could lick my finger. Clearly, that’s not what I did.

He was like, ‘Lick your finger?’ I was like, Well, yeah, I mean, I’m grabbing (her), wouldn’t I (do it)? I’ve been trying to get my hands on her, you know, forever. This would be my dream come true, right? And he’s like, ‘I will see.’ I went away, and he comes back, and he goes, ‘Yeah, okay, I think you can lick your fingers.’ Fine, whatever. Sorry, Steve Keirn.

So that’s not what I did, and I did this actually, I think it was more like this. It was a double, so they made sure they saw it, because my hands aren’t big enough, obviously.”

Vince McMahon Was Unimpressed

While the shocking moment got the desired reaction from the crowd, it didn’t go down nearly as well backstage.

When heading backstage after the match, James expected to be embraced by a jubilant Vince McMahon, but the reality was much different. The veteran went on to recall being yelled by McMahon who let her know in no uncertain terms that he hated the “crass” gesture.

I thought in my heart and in my soul, I honestly believed I was going to walk back through that curtain, and I had never received a high five. I’d seen other women get high fives from Vince and thumbs up and all these things.

I got a thumbs up before. I got a few thumbs up. I thought I was going to get the biggest hug of a lifetime, and fist bumps, maybe even a hoist on a shoulder and out the door, something for being so brilliant.

It’s not what happened at all. Go back through the curtain and Vince is p**sed. He’s like, ‘That was crass! Do you know what we’re gonna have to do? How much money it’s gonna cost to edit that and to pull it from everything? We’re a publicly traded company! What are you thinking?’

So if you can imagine the high of a lifetime and then walking through and just shanked right through the curtain, I was like, Oh. But clearly he didn’t hate me too much, because I still was the champion, so maybe deep down he really loved it.”

Following WrestleMania, James continued to battle Stratus, first beating her at Backlash, before fighting over the Women’s Championship on two more occasions on Raw. James eventually lost the gold to Lita on August 14 but she won it back at Survivor Series in the final match of the latter’s full-time career.

At Bound For Glory, Mickie James was inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame by Victoria, aka Tara. James is yet to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, although fans have called for her to be honored for several years.

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All quotes courtesy of chrisvanvliet.com