Mickie James Calls Out Industry Inconsistencies Over Age & Gender

Speaking recently on WrestlingNewsCo’s Ten Count, Impact’s Mickie James expressed her opinions on the double standard for men and women in the modern wrestling era (per Wrestling Inc). She explained the differences seen in how female performers are viewed and treated in contrast to their male-identified counterparts and what she intends and hopes for her (and the industry’s) future. You can read a few highlights and watch the complete interview below.

On her reaction when asked if her “Last Rodeo” is meant to highlight her performance capacity at age 43: “I think I’ve been very vocal about my feelings towards that. Especially when you look at it in [terms of] women versus men, I hate to separate us in that way, but sometimes you really have to [so as] to look at the inequalities sometimes along the way. Or just even how it’s viewed. There will be male champions who are well in[to] their 50s, and nobody blinks an eye. Nobody says anything. As they shouldn’t, because their career speaks for themselves, [so does] their work. I would never take that away from them. If you are a badass, and you can go out there and make those people react and care about what you’re doing out there, it doesn’t matter what your age is.”

On how things have changed since her debut: “On television, even when I first debuted, it would be like most women at that time – even today – would have a five, seven-year run on television, tops, and then it was [the] next chapter. It was making babies, next career moves, and it was very rare that a woman would stay in the wrestling business, stay doing things behind the scenes. Now we’re seeing doors like that open more. Like, Gail Kim is the head of the Knockouts [division in IMPACT Wrestling], Beth Phoenix transitioned and started doing more stuff on commentary, but also helping mold the talent at ‘NXT,’ Maria {Kanellis-Bennett] heading up Ring of Honor’s women’s division. Even when I got to do Empowerrr for [the] NWA, those were all really monumental movements, because … when I came in, there weren’t a lot of women leaders, because they had already been phased out. They had already been ‘next chaptered.’ So there weren’t a lot of women to learn from.”

On the sources of learning when she began vs. what is available now: “I only learned from mostly men. And I’m very grateful for that, because I learned a lot, obviously, from them. But now that there’s so many women, and women who have made history, and done remarkable things for the business, there for this new generation, to truly learn how to make money as a female in this business, because it IS different. It’s really, really cool, and so I think that there’s more opportunities available for women, and a lot of companies are seeing that, and opening up those doors. [But for] a lot of people, it was seven years on TV and then that was it, and I just didn’t want – I love wrestling. At that point, you’ve dedicated your whole adult life to chasing this dream, and it was frustrating to me that it was such a short-lived dream, and then you’re forced to think about something else when you don’t love anything else like you love this. And they all tell you, ‘You should do what you love until the day you die. If you’re doing what you love, then it’s not work.'”

On what she hopes to communicate with her “Last Rodeo” series: “So I’ve tried to stay in wrestling and stay relevant, but at the same time, this ‘Last Rodeo’ was a test to myself, because you hear it, and you see it, social media, especially, can be extremely toxic. I would see [comments like], ‘It’s time for Mickie to pass the torch and let this new generation shine.’ […] So it ticks you [off], it kind of goes, ‘Ugh.’ So you see and you hear these things, and I’m like, ‘But … I can still go with the best of them and be a household name, and I’m a legend, and I’m only 43 years old this year. So most men are just [hitting] their strides in their 40s; most men are just becoming champions, sometimes for the first time in their 40s. So why is it so different?”