Mickie James

Mickie James
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Mickie James[1] Alexis Laree[2] Princess Alexis[3] Queen Alexis[3] Superball[4] Vicki Adams[4]
Billed height	5 ft 4 in (1.63 m)[1]
Billed weight	124 lb (56 kg/8.9 st)[1]
Born	August 31, 1979 (1979-08-31) (age 30)[5] Montpelier, Virginia[6]
Resides	Aylett, Virginia[6]
Billed from	Richmond, Virginia[1]
Trained by	Extreme Championship Wrestling Funking Conservatory[7][8] KYDA Pro Training School[5] OVW[9]
Debut	1999[5]

Mickie Laree James^[5][10] (born August 31, 1979) is an American professional wrestler signed to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) appearing on its Raw brand.^[1]

James began her professional wrestling career in 1999 as a valet on the independent circuit, where she was known under the name Alexis Laree.^[9] She trained in several camps to improve her wrestling abilities before working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in June 2002, where she gained national attention.^[9][11] After only a few appearances, she joined a stable called The Gathering and was written into angles with the group. She is also the only woman to be involved in Clockwork Orange House of Fun matches.^[12]

James appeared in WWE in October 2005 and was placed in a storyline with Trish Stratus, in which James' gimmick was that of Stratus' biggest fan turned obsessed stalker, an angle which lasted almost a year.^[2][9][13] She received a push, and she won her first WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22, a title she has held a total of four times.^[14]

Outside of wrestling, James has received her associate of arts degree in business administration and is studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree in operations management.^[15] She also grew up on a farm and has an interest in horses, owning three Morgan horses and riding since she was 11 years old.^[1][16]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 2.1 Early career 2.2 Total Nonstop Action Wrestling 2.3 Ohio Valley Wrestling 2.4 World Wrestling Entertainment 2.4.1 2005–2006 2.4.2 2007–present 3 Personal life 4 In wrestling 5 Championships and accomplishments 6 Notes 7 External links

Early life

James was raised on a farm with her sister Latoya in Montpelier, Virginia.^[15][16] She is of Native American heritage.^[17] As a child, she watched weekend horse shows.^[6][15] James started riding horses when she was eleven years old after her grandmother bought her a horse.^[1] James was also a fan of professional wrestling and used to watch it with her father.^[6] Her favorite wrestlers were Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat, Ric Flair. She posed nude in the May 2000 issue of Leg Show magazine.^[18]

Career

Early career

After a suggestion from a friend, James attended a professional wrestling school in the Washington, D.C. area.^[19] She made her professional debut on the independent circuit in 1999 as a valet for KYDA Pro Wrestling under the ring name Alexis Laree, a name created as the result of a combination of her stage name from when she was a dancer and her middle name.^[9][10][20] As Laree, she managed several male wrestlers, including managing Tommy Dreamer to win the KYDA Pro Heavyweight Championship.^[12][21] In March, she wrestled in her first match, an intergender tag team match with Jake Damian against American Mike Brown and Candie.^[12] She trained to improve her wrestling abilities by attending training camps such as the Funking Conservatory, a workshop run by Dory Funk, Jr., and an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) dojo. She also started competing for Maryland Championship Wrestling, where she trained at camps run by Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton.^[9][12] Due to the low salary of the independent shows, James supplemented her income by working as a waitress at an Olive Garden restaurant.^[6][9]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

While working in Ring of Honor for a year, James also debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the company's second ever weekly pay-per-view under her Alexis Laree gimmick as a participant in a lingerie battle royal.^[11][22] She was not prominently featured until March 26, 2003, when she teamed with Amazing Red as part of his feud against Kid Kash—the X Division Champion—and Trinity.^[9][23] Weeks later, she became the first member of the Gathering, a stable led by Raven in his feud against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett.^[9] On April 16, Laree became the first (and thus far, only) woman to compete in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match after the Gathering challenged and defeated Jarrett.^[12][24] She continued to wrestle with the stable when they feuded with the Disciples of The New Church, taking part in an angle with Father James Mitchell kayfabe burning her with a fireball and wrestling in another Clockwork Orange House of Fun match before leaving the company.^[25][26][27]

Ohio Valley Wrestling

After two years of sending tapes and making phone calls, as well as wrestling a tryout match with Dawn Marie, James was signed to a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment, who sent her to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), their farm territory, in August.^{[5][6][9][12][20]} Still using the Alexis Laree name, she began making television appearances for OVW on January 29, 2004 and competed in several tag team matches throughout the year.^[28][29] She also won a Halloween Costume Contest on October 30 and defeated Jillian Hall in a $1,000 match on November 12.^[5][30]

On May 17, 2005, Laree was placed into a tournament for the OVW Television Championship. She was booked to go over Mike Mondo in the first round, only to lose to Blaster Lashley in the next one.^[28][31] She began a feud with Beth Phoenix on July 20 after Phoenix interrupted Laree during an interview, setting up a match on July 29 which Laree lost.^[28][29] Their angle continued into September, with Shelly Martinez being added to the storyline to side with Phoenix against Laree. On October 12, she appeared in OVW under her real name and finished the year on the losing end of matches against Martinez and Jillian Hall.^[28]

World Wrestling Entertainment

2005–2006

James debuted in WWE on the October 10 2005 episode of Raw, continuing to use her real name, under the gimmick of WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus' biggest fan.^{[2][5][32][33]} The angle had the two WWE Divas competing together in tag team matches, with James' character becoming increasingly obsessed with Stratus.^[34][35][36] The storyline included a Halloween Costume Contest in which James was dressed like Stratus and helped Stratus retain the Women's Championship in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday by eliminating herself and Victoria at the same time.^[37][38][39] She even began utilizing Stratus' signature finishing moves as her own during matches. James became the number one contender for the Women's Title on December 12 by defeating Victoria in a match to determine who would face Stratus at New Year's Revolution.^[40] Subsequently, the storyline between James and Stratus developed into a lesbian angle after James initiated an intimate kiss with Stratus under a sprig of mistletoe and complimented Stratus on her breasts.^[2][13][41] In the championship match at the pay-per-view, James jobbed to Stratus but continued to be enamored of her the next night on Raw, and she confessed her love for Stratus at the Royal Rumble.^{[5][13][42][43]}

On March 6 2006 the storyline had Stratus confront James, telling her that they needed time apart from each other.^[2][13][44] The duo teamed together at the March 18, 2006 edition of Saturday Night's Main Event to defeat Candice Michelle and Victoria. After the match, James agreed to honor Stratus' wishes and attempted to kiss her. After Stratus pushed her away, James' character made a complete heel turn by attacking Stratus in the ring and later vowing to destroy her.^{[2][13][45][46]} The two women wrestled each other at WrestleMania 22, where James was booked to win the match to claim her first reign as Women's Champion.^[47] During the match, despite the fact that James was playing the heel character, the fans frequently cheered James and booed Stratus whenever Stratus hit an offensive maneuver.^[48][49] The angle ended at Backlash during a rematch after Stratus legitimately dislocated her shoulder when James threw her out of the ring.^[50][51] James dropped the Women's Title on August 14 to Lita after Lita hit James with the title belt while Lita's on-screen boyfriend Edge distracted the referee, resulting in a face turn for James' on-screen persona.^[52] After the Women's Championship was vacated due to the legitimate retirement of Trish Stratus, James entered a tournament to determine the new champion.^[53] She defeated Victoria and Melina in the qualifying rounds before making it to the finals at Cyber Sunday, where she lost to Lita.^{[51][53][54][55]} The two Divas wrestled in a series of matches where Lita kayfabe chose the stipulations, all of which involved hindering James' wrestling ability.^[56] The storyline feud ended at Survivor Series, where James defeated Lita to win her second Women's Championship.^[57]

2007–present

An angle was created between James and Melina, beginning on January 29 2007 when Melina became the number one contender for the Women's Title.^[58][59] Following a successful title defense on February 5,^[60] James teamed with Super Crazy in a mixed tag team match against Melina and Johnny Nitro. After Melina pinned James for the victory, she challenged her to a rematch for the title.^[61] James dropped the Women's Championship to Melina on February 19 and, in continuation of their storyline feud, failed to regain the title during the first ever Women's Falls Count Anywhere match in WWE history.^[62][63] Near the end of the match, James fell from the turnbuckle and landed on her neck but was not seriously injured.^[64]

The scripted feud between James and Melina continued on April 2 when James interrupted and attacked Melina during a photo op on Raw.^[65] At a house show in Paris, France on April 24, James won her third Women's Championship during a Triple Threat Match that also involved Victoria. Since James pinned Victoria, however, and not Melina, Jonathan Coachman announced that a rematch would take place immediately. James dropped the title back to Melina, giving her the shortest Women’s Championship reign in WWE history.^[66]

On the November 26 edition of Raw, James defeated Melina in a number one contenders match for Beth Phoenix's Women's Championship,^[67] setting up a title match between the two at Armageddon, a match in which Phoenix successfully defended her Women's title. On the April 14, 2008 edition of Raw, held in London, James defeated Phoenix to win her fourth Women's Championship. Phoenix got a rematch on the May 5 edition of Raw, but James retained her title. At SummerSlam in a Winners Take All tag team match she lost Women's Championship to Phoenix. On November 11 she had another shot to the Women's Championship against Phoenix, but she failed to capture it after the distraction of Santino Marella and being hit into the turnbuckle.

Personal life

James owns three Morgan horses named Rhapsody, Bunny and Casanova.^[16] After she has finished her wrestling career, James plans to own a farm and be an equine trainer.^[1] James also owns a dog named Butch.^[68]

She was previously engaged to WWE Superstar Ken Doane, better known by his ring name "Kenny Dykstra".^[64][69][70] She was previously in a relationship with Adam Birch,better known by his ring name "Joey Mercury".^[71] James has two tattoos: an Asian symbol meaning 'love' on her ankle and a dragon that wraps around it.^[72][73]

On April 13, 2008, James, along with Layla, Melina and Kelly Kelly, appeared in an episode of Celebrity Fit Club Boot Camp.^[74] On September 5 of that same year, James appeared on the USA Network show Psych, playing a roller derby girl called Rita "Lethal Weapon" Westwood.^[75]

James, along with Mr. Kennedy and Josh Matthews, represented WWE at the 2008 Republican National Convention in an effort to persuade fans to register to vote in the 2008 Presidential election.^[76]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves

• Long Kiss Goodnight^[77] (Reverse roundhouse kick preceded by a kiss) - Late 2007
• Mickie-DT^[77][78] (WWE) / Laree DDT^[4][12] (Independent circuit) (Jumping standing tornado DDT or a jumping DDT)
• Mick Kick^[79][80] (Roundhouse kick) - 2005-2006 during her feud with Trish Stratus
• Stratusfaction^[79] (Springboard bulldog) – 2005–2006; Used during her feud with Trish Stratus

• Signature moves

• Arm trap neckbreaker
• Baseball slide through the opponent's legs
• Bridging cradle suplex
• Diving crossbody
• Mick-a-rana^[40] (Back elbow from the corner, followed by rope-aided twisting headscissors)
• Missile dropkick
• One-handed cartwheel followed by monkey flip as a reversal
• Running neckbreaker
• Snapmare into a baseball slide to the face
• Spinning sole kick to the midsection, followed by a front kick to the face and chest and finished with a spinning back kick to the head
• Thesz press followed by multiple punches,^[81] sometimes from the top rope
• Wheelbarrow reversal into a victory roll
• Single Leg Boston Crab

• Wrestlers managed

A.J. Styles Chris Cage[28] CM Punk[82] Joey Matthews[20]

Julio Dinero[20] Steve Corino Tommy Dreamer[20] Trish Stratus

• Nicknames

• Psycho^[83]
• The Psychotic Diva

• Entrance themes

• "Girlfriend" (TNA)
• "Just a Girl" by No Doubt (OVW)
• "Ice Breaker" while in (WWE).^[84]
• Her current theme song is titled "Obsession" and is featured on WWE The Music, Vol. 7.^[85][86] During her feud with Trish Stratus, James used Stratus' theme song, "Time to Rock & Roll" by Lil' Kim, with an altered video sequence.^[87] After the feud finished, she returned to her "Obsession" theme.

Championships and accomplishments

• CyberSpace Wrestling Federation
  • CSWF Women's Championship (1 time)^[3]

• Delaware Championship Wrestling
  • DCW Women's Championship (1 time)^[3]

• Impact Championship Wrestling
  • ICW Super Juniors Championship (1 time)^[88]

• Premier Wrestling Federation
  • PWF Universal Women's Championship (1 time)^[3]

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked her # 4 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2008.^[89]

• Southern Championship Wrestling
  • SCW Diva Championship (1 time)^[3]

• Ultimate Championship Wrestling
  • UCW Women's Championship (1 time)^[3]

• Ultimate Wrestling Federation
  • UWF Women's Championship (2 times)^[3]

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Women's Championship (4 times)^[14]

Notes

External links

• WWE profile
• Mickie James at the Internet Movie Database
• Mickie James at Online World of Wrestling
• Mickie James on WWE Fan Nation

World Wrestling Entertainment employees Raw Batista • Beth Phoenix • Candice Michelle • Charlie Haas • Chris Jericho • CM Punk • Cody Rhodes • D-Lo Brown • Dolph Ziggler • Goldust • Hardcore Holly • Jamie Noble • JBL • Jerry Lawler • Jillian Hall • Jim Duggan • John Cena • JTG • Kane • Katie Lea Burchill • Kelly Kelly • Kofi Kingston • Layla • Lilian Garcia • Manu • Melina • Michael Cole • Mickie James • Mike Knox • Paul Burchill • Randy Orton • Rey Mysterio • Ron Simmons • Santino Marella • Shad • Shawn Michaels • Sim Snuka • Ted DiBiase • Val Venis • William Regal SmackDown Big Show • The Brian Kendrick • Brie Bella • Carlito • Curt Hawkins • D.H. Smith • Edge • Eve Torres • Ezekiel Jackson • Festus • The Great Khali • Hurricane Helms • Jeff Hardy • Jesse • Jim Ross • Jimmy Wang Yang • Justin Roberts • Kizarny • Kung Fu Naki • Maria • Maryse • Michelle McCool • Montel Vontavious Porter • Mr. Kennedy • Natalya • Nikki Bella • Primo • R-Truth • Ranjin Singh • Ryan Braddock • Scotty Goldman • Shelton Benjamin • Tazz • Triple H • Umaga • The Undertaker • Vickie Guerrero • Victoria • Vladimir Kozlov • Zack Ryder ECW Alicia Fox • Bam Neely • The Boogeyman • Chavo Guerrero • DJ Gabriel • Evan Bourne • Finlay • Gavin Spears • Hornswoggle • Jack Swagger • John Morrison • Mark Henry • Matt Hardy • Matt Striker • The Miz • Ricky Ortiz • Theodore Long • Tiffany • Todd Grisham • Tommy Dreamer • Tony Atlas • Tony Chimel

Persondata
NAME	James, Mickie
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Laree, Alexis; Superball; Adams, Vicki; Queen Alexis; Princess Alexis
SHORT DESCRIPTION	Professional wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH	August 31, 1979
PLACE OF BIRTH	Montpelier, Virginia
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH