Just a few days ahead of her return to WWE in the women’s Royal Rumble, Knockouts Champion Mickie James will deliver a “State of the Knockouts” address on Thursday’s Impact Wrestling.
In recent weeks, James has been building toward an eventual clash with top contender Tasha Steelz after she won the first-ever women’s Ultimate X match at this month’s Hard to Kill.
After losing to Josh Alexander at Hard to Kill, JONAH will look for his second straight win when he faces Johnny Swinger.
Also announced for the show: Chris Bey vs. Jake Something in a clash of X-Division talents and Blake Christian vs. Laredo Kid on the Before The Impact pre-show match.
The new additions join the already announced Knockouts Tag Team title match between champions The IInspiration and The Influence. However, it will be Kaleb with a K filling in for Tenille Dashwood to team with Madison Rayne.
This was originally slated for Hard to Kill, but was postponed after one of the champions came in close contact with someone that had COVID-19.
Here’s a look at the lineup:
Knockouts Tag Team Champions The IInspiration vs. The Influence title match
Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James’ upcoming appearance in the women’s WWE Royal Rumble match was originally planned to be a surprise.
James went into detail with Ariel Helwani Friday about how the appearance came out and about the infamous delivery of her old gear in a trash bag.
James said the ball got rolling a few weeks ago as WWE’s John Laurinaitis called Impact’s Scott D’Amore to gauge James’ interest in returning for the night. D’Amore then called her and she was “immediately excited” with no hard feelings about the fallout from being released and her belongings packaged up in a trash bag.
She said that since most fans bring that incident up when it comes to her WWE runs, it will be “great to have that not be the last thing” they think about.
“It’s amazing what can happen in a year,” she said.
James said her appearance in the Rumble was initially talked about as a surprise and that she was out shopping for a guitar on the Friday before her Hard to Kill match with Deonna Purrazzo when she found out.
She said Laurinaitis and WWE’s camp wanted to get the word out there and make it part of the Friday Rumble announcement on Fox so it all worked out.
“The response from the announcement has blown my mind,” she said, adding she had some apprehension that the timing would take away from the Purrazzo match the next night.
She is planning on walking out with the Knockouts title and to her current “Hardcore Country” entrance song for the match.
She kayfabed whether this is a one-off appearance, but said her dream would be to work with Charlotte Flair.
She has maintained a good relationship with WWE following the trash bag incident, saying she “personally wasn’t as offended as the rest of the world was” and that her posting the picture was initially meant to be sarcastic. Some good came out of the situation as released talent’s gear and belongings will no longer be sent in that fashion.
James said she never was reached out directly to by AEW following her release, but said that people knew she wanted to work with husband Nick Aldis in the NWA and to do the Empower pay-per-view. She said she didn’t want to sign a multi-year deal because of all of her outside projects and family life.
On Friday night’s SmackDown, it was announced that Mickie James will be returning to WWE to take part in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match.
The announcement came with the acknowledgment that James is the current Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion. It was mentioned by Pat McAfee on commentary, and WWE also referred to James as the Impact Knockouts Champion on social media.
Impact Wrestling’s website posted an article about the announcement after it was made. The article included a quote from Impact Wrestling executive vice president Scott D’Amore.
“WWE wanted it, Mickie wanted it and IMPACT Wrestling’s philosophy is always to work with other major promotions to create buzz for the fans, ” D’Amore said. “Everything is signed and agreed with WWE and IMPACT Wrestling – the only question is whether or not Mickie will enter one of WWE’s most historic annual matches as the reigning Knockouts World Champion.”
James will defend her Knockouts title against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas death match at tonight’s Impact Wrestling Hard to Kill pay-per-view.
James, who was released by WWE during the company’s April 2021 roster cuts, also made an Instagram post commenting on the upcoming Royal Rumble appearance:
The Royal Rumble is taking place at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis on Saturday, January 29. Nineteen of the 30 entrants for the women’s Rumble match were announced last night. They are:
WWE has announced 19 of the 30 entrants who will be competing in this year’s women’s Royal Rumble match.
The entrants were revealed during a promo by Charlotte Flair on tonight’s SmackDown. Despite being the SmackDown Women’s Champion, Charlotte declared that she will be taking part in the Rumble match. Charlotte said she’ll be the first champion to win the Royal Rumble and choose her WrestleMania challenger.
Charlotte announced that Mickie James, Nikki & Brie Bella, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Summer Rae, and Lita will be returning for the women’s Royal Rumble. WWE acknowledged both on television and on social media that James is the current Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion.
James will defend her Knockouts title against Deonna Purrazzo in a Texas death match at Impact Wrestling’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view this Saturday.
James was released by WWE during the company’s April 2021 roster cuts.
Rhea Ripley, Nikki A.S.H., Shotzi, Natalya, Dana Brooke, Carmella, Zelina Vega, Tamina, Aliyah, Naomi, and Shayna Baszler have also been announced for the women’s Royal Rumble match.
The Royal Rumble is taking place at The Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis on Saturday, January 29. Angelo Dawkins, Montez Ford, Rey Mysterio, Dominik Mysterio, Austin Theory, “Jackass” star Johnny Knoxville, and Sheamus are the first seven participants to be confirmed for the men’s Rumble match.
The Impact Wrestling Knockouts Championship will be on the line at the NWA’s Hard Times 2 pay-per-view.
Mickie James will put her Knockouts title on the line against Kiera Hogan at Hard Times 2 this Saturday. The PPV is being held at GPB Studios in Atlanta and will be available via Fite TV.
“Saturday, Dec 4th at #HardTimes2, @IMPACTWRESTLING Knockouts Champion @MickieJames will be defending her title against @AEW ‘s @HoganKnowsBest3,” the NWA announced. “This makes EIGHT multi-company title matches in one night!”
James won the Knockouts Championship from Deonna Purrazzo at Bound for Glory last month. A rematch between James and Purrazzo for the title has been announced for Impact’s Hard to Kill PPV, which is taking place in January.
The updated card for Hard Times 2 is listed below:
NWA World Champion Trevor Murdoch defends against Mike Knox
NWA Women’s Champion Kamille defends against Melina
There will be an in-ring tribute to Jazz following her announcement that she’s retiring from in-ring competition
No time limit and no DQ match: NWA Television Champion Tyrus defends against Cyon (Da Pope will be the special guest referee)
Nick Aldis vs. Thom Latimer (no seconds at ringside, Aldis and Latimer will both be suspended from the NWA for eight weeks if there’s a disqualification)
Impact Wrestling Knockouts Champion Mickie James defends against Kiera Hogan
NWA National Champion Chris Adonis defends against Judais
NWA Tag Team Champions La Rebelion (Bestia 666 & Mecha Wolf) defend against The End (Odinson & Parrow)
NWA Women’s Tag Team Champions The Hex (Allysin Kay & Marti Belle) defend against Kylie Rae & Tootie Lynn and Lady Frost & Natalia Markova
Colby Corino vs. Doug Williams
NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship qualifying match: Austin Aries vs. Rhett Titus
Mick Foley will make a special appearance
ROH Tag Team Champions The OGK (Matt Taven & Mike Bennett) defend against Aron Stevens & JR Kratos
NWA Junior Heavyweight Championship qualifying gauntlet (Homicide, Darius Lockhart, Ariya Daivari, CW Anderson, Sal Rinauro, Kerry Morton, Luke Hawx, PJ Hawx, Jamie Stanley, Victor Benjamin, Jeremiah Plunkett, and Alex Taylor)
Coming out of Saturday’s Bound For Glory pay-per-view, Impact Wrestling has a busy slate for Thursday as two of their new champions will be on the show.
X-Division Champion Trey Miguel will defend against Rocky Romero in his first title defense as the latter answered an open challenge. Miguel won the vacant title with a win over Steve Maclin and El Phantasmo Saturday while Romero was part of the Call Your Shot gauntlet match.
New Knockouts Champion Mickie James will address the Las Vegas fans after defeating Deonna Purrazzo for the title Saturday. This reign marks the fourth time that James has held the belt.
A recent Knockouts Tag Team title rivalry will be renewed when Tasha Steelz takes on Rachael Ellering in singles competition. Steelz and then-partner Kiera Hogan feuded with Ellering and new Digital Media Champion Jordynne Grace over titles this past summer.
After both men fell short in the Call Your Shot Gauntlet match, Chris Sabin will face off against Ace Austin in a meeting of former X-Division champions.
Heath, competing in his first singles match in over a year, will go head-to-head with Violent By Design’s Joe Doering. VBD and Heath have been at odds in recent weeks after Heath returned from injury and rescued Rhino from the group. Heath and Rhino defeated Doering and Deaner Saturday.
The BTI pre-show will feature VSK vs. Sam Beale in battle of former Learning Tree teammates.
Here’s the announced lineup:
Impact X-Division Champion Trey Miguel vs. Rocky Romero title match
For the first time since 2013, Mickie James can call herself the Knockouts Champion after ending the near year-long reign of Deonna Purrazzo at Bound for Glory.
The end came when Purrazzo was taunting James, giving her an opening to hit a tornado DDT to pick up the title win.
This is the third reign for James who first won the belt in August 2011 and then again in May 2013. The win ends Purrazzo’s second reign after she regained the belt in November 2020 at Turning Point.
The two have been feuding since before NWA Empower when James helped recruit Purrazzo to the show to defend her title.
James was released by WWE earlier this year and has made appearances for both Impact and NWA since then.
It was a night of title changes for Impact’s biggest pay-per-view of the year as the Impact World title changed hands twice from Josh Alexander to Moose, Trey Miguel won the vacant X-Division title, a new Digital Media Champion was crowned in Jordynne Grace, and the IInspiration won the Knockouts Tag Team titles from Decay.
Coming off last Saturday’s Victory Road, former X-Division Champion Josh Alexander and Mickie James are set to make appearances on Wednesday’s Impact Wrestling.
Alexander will kick off the show after the events of Victory Road where he relinquished the title after defending against Chris Sabin. He said he was invoking “option C” which allows the current champion to trade in his title at any time for a shot at the Impact World title. He then challenged Cage for October’s Bound for Glory pay-per-view.
James is set to appear after beating down Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo on last week’s Impact as the two look to be on a collision course at Bound For Glory.
Two matches were announced as Rohit Raju will face Chelsea Green in an intergender match. This match comes after Green assisted Cardona in beating Raju at Victory Road following Raju attacking her several weeks ago.
Despite Chris Bey and Hikuleo defeating David Finlay and Juice Robinson at Victory Road, the war between FinJuice and Bullet Club is far from over as Hikuleo will face off against Finlay in a singles affair.
Here’s everything announced for Thursday’s show so far:
The announce team for Impact’s upcoming all-women’s Knockouts Knockdown event has been set.
Impact announced on social media this afternoon that Melissa Santos will be the ring announcer for the event. Mickie James will be the color analyst, and Veda Scott will be calling the play-by-play action. Scott has previously done work as a commentator during AEW Women’s Tag Team Cup tournament last year. Mickie James also was in charge of an all-women’s card recently, holding NWA’s EmPower event last month.
Gail Kim and Christy Hemme announced Knockouts Knockdown this past Monday on a live Facebook stream. Wrestlers set to take part in the event include Lady Frost, Renee Michelle, and Mercedes Martinez. Additionally, Deonna Purrazzo will defend the Knockouts title against an unnamed opponent. A Monster’s Ball match will also be held in memory of Daffney, who along with Taylor Wilde were the first women to compete in such a match back in 2009.
Knockouts Knockdown will be taping this Friday, Saturday, and Sunday at Skyway Studios in Nashville, Tennessee and will air October 9 on the Impact Plus streaming service.
Following her surprise return to the company on Saturday, Mickie James will appear on this Thursday’s episode of Impact Wrestling.
Impact tweeted a video today featuring James and Impact producer Gail Kim. Kim said that she was happy to see James, but that James can’t just come in and attack the Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo as she did on Saturday. James promised to “make it right” when she appears on this Thursday’s episode of Impact.
James returned to Impact at Saturday’s Slammiversary PPV and had a standoff with Purrazzo following Purrazzo’s title defense against surprise opponent Thunder Rosa.
James stated that she was there at Slammiversary to invite Purrazzo to the NWA Empower all-women’s PPV that James is producing. Purrazzo insulted James and referenced the trash bag incident that followed James’s release from WWE in April. James then hit Purrazzo with a Mick Kick.
Impact airs Thursdays at 8 p.m. Eastern time on AXS TV and on Twitch.
On a night filled with surprise appearances, two more stars made unannounced showings at Impact Wrestling’s Slammiversary PPV.
NWA’s Thunder Rosa appeared on the show as Knockouts Champion Deonna Purrazzo’s mystery opponent in a title match.
Following Rosa’s defeat, Mickie James came to the ring to issue an invitation to Purrazzo to appear at the NWA Empower all-women’s PPV on Saturday, August 28. James is serving as executive producer for that event.
Purrazzo did not officially accept the invite, but insulted James and made reference to the trash bag incident that James took public following her April release from WWE. James then laid out Purrazzo with a kick.
Prior to tonight’s event, James last appeared in Impact in 2015. Her most recent in-ring appearance came at WWE Royal Rumble on January 31. She has announced a return to the ring at NWA’s 73rd anniversary event on August 29, one day after Empower.
Tonight’s appearance marks Rosa’s most high-profile match since facing Britt baker in an unsanctioned match on AEW Dynamite in March. Rosa has since primarily appeared on AEW Dark: Elevation and NWA Power.
The NWA Women’s Tag Team titles are set to make a return soon.
Mickie James, NWA owner Billy Corgan, and Nick Aldis took part in an Instagram post today to announce the return of the titles. The new champions will be crowned at EmPower, the all-women NWA card which will take place on August 28 at the Chase Park Plaza Hotel in St. Louis. Corgan confirmed during the video that new championship belts were being made.
“Also HUGE decision and Announcement from Billy & myself,” James wrote on Instagram. We are bringing back the NWA Women’s Tag Team Championships. The winner will be Crowned at EmPowerrr. I’m scouring for the top teams and I know we ALL can’t wait to see the championships brought back to their former glory.”
There have not been NWA Women’s Tag Team champions since 1983, when the titles were deactivated after the WWE purchased the titles from The Fabulous Moolah to establish their own tag team champions. Velvet McIntyre and Princess Victoria were the final champions, and later became the inaugural WWF Women’s Tag Team Champions.
The NWA’s 73rd Anniversary show will take place the day after the EmPower event, August 29.
Mickie James will be in action at the NWA’s 73rd anniversary event this August.
During an Instagram Live video on Tuesday, James announced that she’ll be wrestling at the NWA’s 73rd anniversary pay-per-view. James said she’s looking for an opponent and wants fans to tell NWA owner Billy Corgan who they’d like to see her face.
The NWA’s 73rd anniversary PPV is taking place at the Chase Ballroom in St. Louis, Missouri on Sunday, August 29. The night before the anniversary event, NWA will present an all-women’s PPV called Empower. James will be the executive producer of Empower.
James was among several wrestlers who were released by WWE this April. James said following her release that she had pitched the idea of an all-female brand while in WWE, but the idea was shot down by the person who she brought it up to.
Mickie James said she has no intentions of wrestling on the upcoming NWA all-women’s pay-per-view, but fans might get to see her in the ring very soon thereafter.
Talking on the NWA Power post-show, James said that because she will be producing the Saturday, August 28th show in St. Louis, Missouri, she has no plans to “go into business for herself and wrestle one of her favorites.”
However, the 41-year-old hinted there might be “a chance to do something” on the NWA 73 anniversary pay-per-view the following day.
James said that she didn’t want to do the same thing as she did when her first WWE run came to an end and that producing this event was something she could sink her teeth and heart into.
The former six-time WWE Women’s/Divas champion said her last two years in WWE was a “weird space” for her and that she thought she had a plan for how things would end. However, her ideas weren’t always the ideas of others and that was ok.
During her conversation, she also hinted at a return for the NWA Women’s Tag Team titles which have been on ice since 1984 when the then-WWF bought them and turned them into their own Women’s Tag Team titles. Those titles were deactivated in February 1989.
Mickie James spoke at length about her recent run in WWE, her thoughts on ageism in the company, and the trash bag post that led to the release of Mark Carrano.
On the Grown Ass Women podcast, Mickie James talked about the last two years of her career, feeling as if the people in charge wanted her to retire from in-ring action.
“I kept feeling these things of ‘we want you to retire. We want you to be an agent.’” she said. “It was what they wanted for me. It wasn’t that I wasn’t grateful for those opportunities, but at the same time, I see the agents and what they have to deal with and go through. They don’t get any of the praise or the thanks that they ever deserve, they have to deal with a lot of crap. I don’t know if I could personally handle that.”
“I’m just disappointed as a whole with being made to feel old with Depends and a walker and the whole ageism thing,” she commented further. Later in the podcast, the 41-year-old James brought up that many of the men in the company are as old or are older than her, and they are wrestling for championships.
She at one time pitched an idea for an all-female brand, only to be rejected, with someone telling her that an idea like that doesn’t make money.
“There was this moment where I said, ‘What if we do an all-female brand?’ I could help lead up that and have an awesome team of women….we have the talent, tools, and facilities, we have everything that we need. It would really help all the girls who aren’t getting the television time. I s*** you not…this one person says to me, ‘They’re never going to do it, ever. Women’s wrestling doesn’t make money. Evolution was the lowest-rated PPV ever in WWE. I get what you’re trying to do, but I don’t understand why you’re fighting so hard for it. You should play the cards you’re dealt and see if there’s a way to incorporate that within a show rather than fight for it to be its own show.’”
James also talked about the opportunities that fell by the wayside, including an angle with Chelsea Green that Green mentioned in a recent interview with Fightful.
“I think we missed out on a lot of moments, whether it was me tying Trish’s record and Charlotte tied that and beat me or the Chelsea Green angle. I originally pitched [the angle] way back for Liv [Morgan] because I love Liv.”
Regarding the trash bag incident that led to talent relations department senior manager Mark Carrano’s release, James said she emphasized with him, but doesn’t feel too bad. She also mentioned that she had received her gear back the same way ten years ago when she was first released from WWE.
“I know it wasn’t a direct thing, like ‘Hey, this is what we think of you’,” she said. “I empathize with Mark and feel bad he’s taking the full brunt, it sucks, but I guarantee his pension package is probably more than what I got paid in my last run in WWE. So, I don’t feel that bad. He was not happy in that situation. I’m pissed and I don’t want to come across as angry, but it is a direct reflection of everything I’ve experienced in coming back.”
James was released on April 15. The 90-day no compete clause for her and the rest of those released will expire in July.
