Mickie James Is Ready To ‘Shine A Light On Women’s Wrestling’ With NWA Empowerrr
Photo Credit: WWE
Former 6-time WWE Women’s Champion, Mickie James recently announced that she is set to be the executive producer of NWA’s all-women’s pay-per-view on August 28th. Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, James opened up about her new role with the NWA:
“It’s a really cool space. Obviously, it means I am in charge and a co-promoter or whatever you want to call it with Billy [Corgan]. The fact that Billy believes in me enough to give me the NWA umbrella to kind of build this thing, which was something I kind of wanted to do for a long time. I think we have the potential to do some really cool stuff there and I’m just grateful to be able to shine a light on women’s wrestling. I—we do a lot of that but we have so many shows out there that it’s really cool. I know I am not a pioneer there has been a ton of women’s wrestling shows. But for television women’s wrestling, it’s a different space. I’m very excited.”
Mickie James has expressed a vision to shine a light on women’s wrestling for a while, even pitching an all-women’s show to WWE during her tenure there. That proposal was ultimately shot down, but now with the freedom and proper channels, James is finally making that vision a reality. NWA’s “EMPOWERRR” is slated for Saturday, August 28th at the Chase Park Plaza.
No official matches or talent have been announced so far for the event, but James did provide some insight into whether or not she plans to compete in the ring at the pay-per-view:
“I’m not a mark, I’m not going to sit there and book myself on top of my own show. Who does that? Everybody does that don’t they? That’s how wrestling works. I don’t have any intention of working on the show. I’ll probably come out and say hello, but I really want to focus on the show. I want this show to be a success, and I’m going to be in Gorilla on the headset running and talking. I can’t perform that job to the best of my abilities and be out there wrestling at the same time. I just feel like it blurs the lines. I’m not saying I won’t wrestle. And I am an independent contractor, I can show up anywhere and do all kinds of things. I can still wrestle and I’m pretty good at it.”
RELATED: Mickie James On Working With NWA: It’s An Opportunity To Build Women’s Wrestling The Right Way
James went on to discuss being released from WWE, other frustrations, receiving her belongings in a trash bag and more. The full interview with Mickie James and Chris Van Vliet can be viewed below.