You just have to be true to yourself and do what you love to do.
Mickie James
I've been fortunate enough to really work with amazing people and have incredible people lead me along the way.
I've been doing this close to 19 years now, and I always dreamed of being in the WWE.
I've learned to not have expectations. If you don't expect things from anyone, you can't get let down.
You can have a lot of fun playing a bad girl.
I had pretty much accepted the fact I was going to be a stay-at-home mom and do my other adventures in life. I thought coming back to the WWE was out of the cards for me.
The most significant thing is to always stay true to yourself. What brought you to where you are will continue to separate you. The thing is to be different.
I wanted to help my sister, Latoya, because she's an awesome cook. She's one of the best culinary people I've ever met. She makes awesome cakes, so I was thinking about starting a little coffee shop cafe where she could sell them. I want to open a little, small, mom-and-pop place, but she can also do catering, too.
I've had to put horses down on the farm before, and it's very, very sad.
My mom is my best friend. She's been my biggest supporter through everything.
I really think that some of the best heels are also those people that can really get reactions as babyfaces, too.
It kills me to watch bad wrestling; I can't do it.
I want to keep bettering myself.
I wanted to be one of the best in the business, whether it was male or female.
I spent two and a half years in Louisville, and I loved it.
I don't really look at myself as a mentor.
I'm a big fan of Snoop Dogg - he was super-hot when I was in high school - but I also listen to a lot of Tim McGraw.
I am very much a perfectionist, so if I were to turn heel, I'd want to be the nastiest girls out there, where the people hated me.
I could never see Jeff Hardy as a bad guy, because I just want to hug him. He's an awesome person and super multi-talented.
I have known Kofi for such a long time. We were in developmental together in Louisville.
There was a match in Alaska that I had with Beth Phoenix at a house show where we had a standing ovation from Ric Flair, Triple H, John Cena, and Arn Anderson. I got to work with her so much that we knew each other's body language. Got a standing ovation from the entire locker room. It was amazing.
I don't really follow MMA.
Do I want music, or do I want wrestling? I wanted both.
The indie shows are tons of fun. And for the fans, having that up close and personal experience is so different to watching wrestling on television at home.
I would really love to win one of the men's championships and throw a complete curve ball, like, out of nowhere.
I was fortunate enough to be able to keep my real name and build a whole bio around Mickie James.
To be inducted into the Hall of Fame is a huge honor for any one person in this industry. It not only gives you credibility as the mark you made in the pages of history to the fans, but notoriety for the path you paved for everyone who followed in your footsteps.
I'm an artist, a performer... There's an art to what we do to the wrestling... I don't want to really fight anybody.
When people have a passion and desire, it burns through and shows.
As a heel, you get to make twists and turns that really sell that character so that you can get that genuine kind of heat from people that want to hate you.
I got into wrestling to be a WWE superstar - that was my goal.
I came from the independent scene, and I've wrestled in front of a crowd of four people in a car lot in 104 degrees in Fayetteville, North Carolina.
I didn't want to be Trish Stratus, I didn't want to be Lita, but I wanted to be on their level and to be seen in people's eyes at that level.
I can't say that I never will or would go back to the WWE. I honestly never intended on leaving until I retired. However we don't choose our destiny. We just live it.
Sasha Banks stood out. She had tons of personality. I thought she was really good in a sense. I liked her sass and personality.
I love art, painting, and drawing and studying art, like Rembrandt and Van Gogh.
I would love to work with Charlotte Flair.
I had the desire to be the best in the world.
I know who Asuka is, I've seen her work in Japan and NXT. She is incredibly talented.
I'm going in with the mentality that I'm going to win. If you don't go in there thinking that, you've already beat yourself.
I started at a small school in Virginia, and I learned how to wrestle - at least take falls - in a boxing ring.
WrestleMania was one of my greatest matches in my career.
With my second album, eOne Music really wanted me to rock it up a little bit.
I always focus on what is next in my career.
I wanted to start a family, but it wasn't something that I was going to take a break to do.
You can teach anybody wrestling moves, hopefully, if they have an athletic bone in their body. However, the ones that are going to make money and be different are the ones with personality.
I was honored to be part of the movement in the mid-2000s, and it was definitely a transitional period of women's wrestling because, you know, Lita and Trish were putting on incredible matches and main eventing even before I came up and debuted.
I'm very proud; I have such loyal fans, and they would follow me to the ends of the Earth, and that's an amazing, amazing thing.
I was always writing - whether it's ideas, poems, whatever - because we spent so much time in the car traveling from city to city.
Wrestling will always be a part of me and a part of my life. I just love it too much.
