Mickie James On The Piggie James Feud Being Hard For Everyone, The Feud Being Empowering

Speaking with Ring the Belle, Mickie James looked back on the infamous “Piggie James” feud with LayCool and how she feels it was ultimately very empowering for people. The very polarizing feud saw Michelle McCool and Layla mocking James’ appearance, naming her “Piggie James” in a bullying storyline. James ultimately turned the tables on the two and ultimately proved victorious, capturing her fifth WWE Women’s Championship.

Talking about the feud, James recalled that it was hard for her and everyone else in it and talked about how she felt it was ultimately a powerful storyline with a positive message. Highlights and the full video are below:

On the segment where she turned the tables on LayCool: “I think that was a real empowering moment. You know, you take stories that I think the people were really like, there were levels of both sides whether they loved the storyline, or they hated the storyline. And having to be in that storyline and play that character? I’m a professional, you know, I do my job. But I felt like all I could really do was take it, and make it gold. That’s all you can do in those situations.

“And I think that I had an opportunity to really grab onto those people who were in those positions of really feeling empathy for those people. Because we’ve all been picked on, we’ve all been bullied. We’ve all had these moments where we felt down about ourselves based on someone else’s opinion of you, and not of your own love for yourself. So I think that was a way to really help empower a whole new generation to be like, ‘It doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about you, it only matters what you think, and what you say.”

On it meant to her to go through the storyline: “You know, it was hard at the moment. And I think it was hard for everyone in order to do it. There would be times I was like, ‘Ooh, I think this might be a little too far.’ But I will say, the end goal was to get Michelle and Layla over as monster heels and as the big heels out of the group. And I think it was very successful in that retrospect. And I think that for a generation of people especially now with like #SpeakingOut and anti-bullying and all of these things, it’s given people the power of their voice. Because words are so powerful .. I think it just gave everyone that power to be okay with themselves, and okay with using their voice. And to speak on what they believe in, and what they believe is their truth. And that’s a powerful thing.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Ring the Belle with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.