Mickie James knows it’ll be a great match no matter who she ends up facing at NWA 73, but right now she’s primarily focused on making sure NWA Empowerrr is as special as possible.
Mickie James recently spoke with WrestleZone about her dual roles as producer and performer with the National Wrestling Alliance. James will not only produce the NWA Empowerrr women’s event, but she’ll also compete at NWA 73 against a yet-to-be-named opponent.
James talked about how much she is trying to balance the two roles she’s taking on this summer, explaining that it’s important for her to give producing more attention since Empowerrr is more of a risk. She said that while she is looking forward to getting back in the ring, she’s really focused on trying to create something magical with her women’s pay-per-view event.
“I felt like it was important that I didn’t take a match until after this pay-per-view because I’m very passionate and I’m putting all my energy, I’m taking a risk on this pay-per-view and I’m so thankful for Billy [Corgan] to give the opportunity to take the risk and do this. And I think it’s going to be massively successful and I hope that there’s so much more stuff, and I do believe that there will be so much more stuff to come out of it. And for me, I’ve done so much in wrestling and I love wrestling so much. And I do, I miss actually performing and wrestling,” James said. “But I do think that is important for me to look at it from this standpoint, from that executive producer standpoint and not blur those lines in the midst of going into this pay-per-view, to be able to create a show that I really want to create and not kind of wear two hats.”
James said it meant a lot for Corgan to lend her the NWA umbrella and partner with her for the event, so having her first match back in an NWA ring made sense. She said he shares her vision of what they could do with women’s wrestling and she’s starting to think about how it will all look, but producing is still her main focus.
“I felt like it was only like it was almost like a [way] to say thank you and ‘I will wrestle first for you’ in that space of what that is. So now, it’s a matter of I do need to be thinking about what she looks like,” she noted, “like what exactly that is. Because I haven’t really been taking wrestling bookings outside, I haven’t taken any wrestling bookings as far as to perform in the ring. I’ve taken signings and appearances and stuff like that [but not wrestling.]”
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Last month, James announced she was looking for an opponent for her in-ring return, and wanted fans to tell NWA owner Billy Corgan who she should face. Plenty of suggestions have been made by fans and the seeds have also been planted for an eventual showdown with Deonna Purrazzo, but James is still without a dance partner for NWA 73. Asked if she’s at least narrowed down the list of potential names, James said there’s plenty of people she’d like to work with, but she’s leaving that final decision up to Corgan.
“I’ve given Billy an idea, a list of some people I would like to face. Obviously some of the women in the NWA roster, I’d really look forward to facing. Obviously Serena [Deeb], Thunder Rosa, I think Jennacide is doing great now, Kylie Rae just came on so I’d love to have a match with her. But there’s a lot of women who aren’t there who I would love to have a match with,” she explained, “but honestly, I’m leaving that in Billy’s hands. I trust that he will make the right decision for an awesome opponent for me and one he thinks that will put on a great match for NWA 73 and I trust him with whoever that’s gonna be.”
While James’ opponent has not been named as of yet, several other names have been confirmed as appearing on the event card. Chelsea Green, Tootie Lynn and Jamie Senegal (with Pollo Del Mar) have been confirmed for the Invitational, and IMPACT Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo will also wrestle at the show.
