Wwe Diva
Mickie James Wrestling Career
Alexis
Laree made her professional debut in the summer of 1999 as a ring valet
for KYDA Pro Wrestling in Manassas, Virginia. She started out managing
some of the most popular stars in the promotion such as Steve Corino and
Tommy Dreamer, but eventually found herself being drawn into feuds with
other wrestlers and their valets and managers. Eventually Laree chose to
step into the ring as a wrestler herself. Although most of Laree's
matches have been against women, some of her most memorable matches
would be against men. She scored her first big win in a match against
Sean Lei. One of the most highly acclaimed matches she has participated
in was in June 2003 for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling as a member of
The Gathering. She teamed with Julio Dinero against NWA World
Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett in a 2-on-1 Clockwork Orange House of
Fun match. This match pits competitors inside a steel cage adorned with
weapons of various types. Laree's career has gone through many
promotions. In late 1999 she expanded out to other promotions including
all-female promotions Beautiful Babes of Wrestling (BBOW) and
Professional Girl Wrestling Association (PGWA). She probably made her
largest impact wrestling for Maryland Championship Wrestling, where she
engaged in several long-running feuds.
In January 2001 Laree made her debut appearance for two new women's
promotions, Dangerous Women of Wrestling (DWOW) and Women's Extreme
Wrestling (WEW). Both promotions worked together to promote women's
wrestling with a hardcore edge, and WEW had regular monthly pay-per-view
matches. Laree's feuds from here include matches against "Prime Time"
Amy Lee, Dee-Dee Venturi, a re-ignition of her feud with Candie from MCW,
and the start of a new series of feuds with "Simply Luscious" Ronnie
Stephens. Her matches against Stephens stretched to many independent
promotions in the northeast. She had a kayfabe sister called Valentina
Laree as part of an angle during her indie days.
Wwe Diva
Mickie James' WWE Achievements
October 2003
would mark a new calling for Laree, however. After appearing
on several PPVs for NWA-TNA, she caught the attention of
World Wrestling Entertainment. She was signed to a
developmental contract and immediately sent to Ohio Valley
Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky to begin training.
In early 2004 she started making television appearances for
the OVW promotion, being regularly included in storylines
including feuds with Jillian Hall, Melina, Trudi Denucci,
Nikita Fink, Passion, Shaniqua, Melissa Coates, Ms. Blu,
Beth Phoenix, & Shelly.
In summer 2005 she and CM Punk were reunited for the first
time since The Gathering, Laree and CM Punk were literally
briefly reunited as a new team in WWE, with James serving as
Punk's valet for a taping of WWE HEAT in Cleveland, Ohio on
July 25, 2005. The match was not aired, for conflicting
reasons and plans to team the two together and bring them up
to TV were abandoned. Prior to this, she also briefly
appeared on television for Memphis Wrestling on April, 2005.
Laree made her debut on the main roster during the October
10, 2005 episode of WWE RAW under her real name: Mickie
James, and was billed as an obsessed fan of Trish Stratus
coming to her and Ashley's rescue following an attack on
them by Victoria. In her first televised match a week later
— a tag team match with Ashley Massaro and Stratus against
Victoria, Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson — ended with
James being pinned by Victoria. Several weeks later at Taboo
Tuesday 2005, James helped Stratus in a "Fulfill Your
Fantasy" Diva battle royal for the WWE Women's Championship,
by eliminating herself as she eliminated Victoria.
On the December 12, 2005 edition RAW Mickie James defeated
Victoria after hitting her with her "Mickie DT" to receive a
match against Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship at
New Years Revolution.
In the ensuing weeks. James developed a lesbian crush on
Trish Stratus, frequently getting her into various
compromising situations, such as talking with her beneath a
mistletoe and interrupting her shower. Following her pinfall
loss to Stratus for the WWE Women's Championship, James
commented that it "felt like silk" when her skin touched
Stratus's.
Hints at James' heel turn began after she attacked fan
favorite Ashley Massaro during a tag-team match. She also
claimed to be a victim of an unwanted advance by Stratus'
boyfriend, Jack, and provocatively licked an oversized
photograph of a lingerie-clad Stratus on television. Stratus
confronted James and asked that they "maintain their space."
On the March 18 WWE Saturday Night's Main Event, James
completed her heel turn by attacking Stratus after a tag
team match; the two shook hands as though they were parting
ways, but James attempted to hug and kiss her partner. James
attacked after Stratus pushed her away. James would continue
to play mind games with Stratus for several weeks stating
that even though "I [James] admired Trish for so long" at
WrestleMania she had two goals, to take the WWE Women's
Championship and also to see Trish's destruction.
At WrestleMania 22, James defeated Trish Stratus following a
Mick Kick. James became the first Diva to win the Women's
Championship on her WrestleMania debut since Wendi Richter
at the very first WrestleMania. During the match, despite
the fact that James was the heel, the fans frequently
cheered for her, and booed Stratus whenever she hit an
offensive move.
When James came down to the ring, she had her hair dyed
blonde, wearing Stratus' wrestling outfit and came down to
the ring with a theme music that began like Stratus' own.
Stratus responded by dressing and acting like James in an
attempt to play mind games with her rival. James was
disqualified in her WWE Women's Championship match vs.
Stratus at Backlash 2006.
On May 1, 2006 edition of RAW, following James' attack on
Maria, an unknown woman confronted James and attacked her.
The woman — later revealed as Beth Phoenix — attacked James
on RAW for several weeks, repeatedly shouting "I won't let
you get away with what you did." This feud was cut short
after Phoenix injured her jaw in a match against Victoria
On August 14, 2006 edition of RAW, Lita defeated Mickie to
become the three-time WWE Women's Champion, ending her four
month reign as Women's Champion. Both women were heels but
Mickie's homestate crowd supported her and booed Lita. |
