Exclusive interview: Mickie James talks about Royal Rumble, forbidden door and more

In an exclusive interview with FanSided’s Daily DDT, Mickie James talks about her appearance in the Royal Rumble and Forbidden Door and much more.

Exclusive interview: Mickie James talks about defending championship at No Surrender

Former WWE superstar and current Impact Wrestling Knockout World Champion Mickie James made a surprise appearance in the Royal Rumble in St. Louis this year.

This was a surprise, especially when it was announced because WWE rarely works with competition, but this time they did. She even came out to her Impact Wrestling theme and with her title belt.

"“Yes, it was awesome,” James said. “It was so awesome, and I think it was awesome on different levels. It was awesome because it was magical and it was groundbreaking and it hadn’t been done in this generation, this modern era of wrestling, it had not been done,” Mickie said. “It was unforeseeable. People just didn’t believe it, even a possibility.”"

The moment Mickie was announced for the Royal Rumble really sent shockwaves through the wrestling community. It was as if a double-take happened across social media the second Corey Graves mentioned the IMPACT Knockouts Championship on that live episode of Monday Niight Raw.

"“And we had talked about it, but then there was a lot of doubt or a fair amount of doubt as they’re never going to let her walk out there as Hardcore Country. They’re never going to let bring the championship out there. They’re never going to recognize the Impact Knockouts Championship. That’s just something they don’t do,” Mickie said. “And they did all of it, and they did all of it multiple times. And I think proving people wrong and showing that things are a possibility, and then now, to open up this idea and this gateway of these other dream matches for men and for women.”"

The Forbidden Door opening in the WWE was something from a time past, but James was happy to break through the door and believes it is a game-changer all the way.

"James continued: “They didn’t see that as a possibility before. Now they can actually go, “Actually, this could be a feasible thing. This could actually happen.” It would take a lot for it to happen, but it doesn’t mean it can’t happen or it wouldn’t happen. It’s a game changer. I think it’s a game changer all the way around, and to be the person entrusted to do that and to be able to make that happen, but also to do it for women’s wrestling, it was awesome. It’s awesome.”"

James said there were a lot of conversations for her to appear in the Royal Rumble. Head of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis reached out to Impact Wrestling’s Executive Vice President, and Executive Producer Scott D’Amore to see how Impact feels about then, D’Amore then talked to James about it.

Laurinaitis then talked with James about appearing, and she talked about what was important for her: To show up as Hardcore Country.

"“I had wanted to try to morph into Hardcore Country on WWE, and it never happened,” she said. “And I think it’s because they didn’t really understand or get the character. So it was going to be an opportunity for me, at least one time to present Hardcore Country/Mickie James to the WWE audience, and to be able to go out there."

James didn’t want to get too excited about the Royal Rumble appearance too quickly when things were in the works, as you know, in WWE, things can change within the last minute.

"James would continue: “Any of those things, from that side of it too. So it had interesting conversations happening in the wrestling business from the fans, from the hardcore fans, the smarter fans, if you will, to the wrestlers and to the people backstage, of going like, “Holy s***, I can’t believe this is happening,” or, “I wonder if it’s going to go through, because nobody really knows. And I didn’t want to celebrate leading up to it. I wasn’t super celebrating because of the fact that this is wrestling and anything could happen and I could’ve gotten to Gorilla, and they could have accidentally played the wrong music or they could’ve changed their mind about the belt. So I’m not going to celebrate. I’m going to stay in my moment and just pray about it and just hope everything goes perfectly. And I think to be able to open that moment with Michelle, who was my last feud in WWE in 2010, in that run with that whole storyline, with the Mickie James storyline. So to open that whole thing with Michelle and then to put a button on it with Lita, who I love so, so much, and who’s been massively influential in my career, but I also retired her at Survivor Series. It was these two bookends on two different stories. And it was great, and I felt like I did hopefully a good moment justice, the Knockouts division justice, the championship justice. And I had a lot of sparkles on, so I know I looked awesome. One regret, one massive regret is that I had this jacket, my jacket, that was beautiful. It’s one of the most beautiful jackets I’ve ever had made and I never once spun around so you could see the glory of the back of it. Other than that, it was great.”"

It sounds like Mickie James appearing at the Royal Rumble was a huge success for all parties involved.

Opening the Forbidden Door in the WWE never really seemed possible, until James walked through the door at the Royal Rumble.

After the Royal Rumble, and seeing James walking through the door, it left some fans wondering: Is it possible we can see the Forbidden Door be open again for Mickie James in WWE?

"“You never know. You really never know. I can say that now, and it’s actually the truth.”"

Mickie James defends her Impact Wrestling Knockout World Championship against Tasha Steelz at No Surrender on Feb. 19th.