Author: jds436

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Mickie James, Queen of The Last Rodeo

I want to start this off by saying that this is my opinion. I am just a third-year student at a university who happens to love professional wrestling. However, everyone who has paid attention to WWE recently has noticed that they have made some big changes. Of course, WWE giving their infamous saying when releasing wrestlers, “We wish them the best in all of their future endeavors,” is not uncommon, but when it comes to a legend like Mickie James, I knew it would spark controversy. Mickie James was released April of 2021. She was seen at wrestlemania and even asked to bein on some of the programs for that night.

Besides being one of the best professional wrestlers from the mid-2000s to the present, she was the top woman in women’s wrestling for years. She was the Pro Wrestling Illustrated number one woman for the years 2009 and 2011. If there was one woman who was going to be the WWE’s top girl after Hall of Famers, Trish Stratus and Lita, it was Mickie James.

WWE made a list of the WWE’s 50 Greatest Women Superstars and James was 12. That is an amazing spot to be in when we compare it to the male list that was made in 2010. The male number 12 is no other than the Executive Vice President of Global Talent Strategy & Development for WWE, Triple H. I am not comparing the two, however, WWE put them in the same spot which means they must be legendary and an asset to the WWE.

Of course, these lists are just based on who WWE executives want to be on it and who they respect. Spoiler alert, this a scripted program however, avid watchers of WWE know how legends should be treated.

When Mickie James showed how she got her belongings back from being released, the wrestling community was outraged. They knew the disrespect and were appalled. James said it best when she discussed its “symbolism”.

After a year WWE decided to change how they treated her. WWE brought her Back for the 2022 Royal Rumble. This made many wrestling fans shocked. At this point, she was the Women’s Champion for another wrestling company. She was the Knockouts Women’s Champion. Also, there were a lot of controversies when she was let go.

She had a great performance, and it was great to see her back in a WWE ring. When it comes to the last rodeo, she showed how she can still go. She gave promised if she lost her knockout championship in a match, she was going to leave professional wrestling. This hardcore country version of Mickie James called this run in her career the last rodeo.

Luckily for Micki James Fans, she is still wrestling. She did not lose that match and she is still performing.

Here is a list of Mickie James’ accomplishments.

  • The Baltimore Sun
    • Woman of the Year (2010)
  • Covey Promotions
    • CP Women’s Championship (1 time)
    • Covey Pro Hall of Fame (2014)
  • CyberSpace Wrestling Federation
    • CSWF Women’s Championship (1 time)
  • Dynamite Championship Wrestling
    • DCW Women’s Championship (1 title)
  • Florida Championship Wrestling
    • FCW Women’s Championship (1 time)
    • NAWF Indian Tribal Women’s Championship (1 time)
  • Ground Xero Wrestling
    • GXW Women’s Championship (1 time)
  • Impact Championship Wrestling
    • ICW Super Juniors Championship (1 time)
  • International Pro Wrestling: United Kingdom
    • IPW: UK Women’s Championship ( 1 time)
  • Maryland Championship Wrestling
    • MCW Women’s Championship (1 time)
  • Native American Music Awards
    • The Jim Thorpe Sports Award (2019)
  • Premier Wrestling Federation
    • PWF Universal Women’s Championship (1 time)
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated
    • Woman of the Year (2009, 2011)
    • Ranked No. 1 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2009
  • Southern Championship Wrestling
    • SCW Diva Championship (1 time)
  • Total Nonstop Action Wrestling / Impact Wrestling
    • TNA / Impact Knockouts World Championship (4 times)
    • TNA World Cup of Wrestling (2013)– with Christopher Daniels, James Storm, Kazarian, and Kenny King
    • IMPACT Year End Awards (1 time)
      • Knockouts Match of the Year (2021) vs. Deonna Purrazzo at Bound for Glory
    • Ultimate Championship Wrestling
      • UCW Women’s Championship (1 time)
    • Ultimate Wrestling Federation
      • UWF Women’s Championship (2 times)
    • Wrestling Observer Newsletter
      • Most Disgusting Promotional Tactic (2009) Piggy James angle
    • World Wrestling Entertainment
      • WWE Women’s Championship(5 times)
      • WWE Divas Championship(1 time)

As you can see in the impact wrestling Section, she is still able to have awards that are a match of the year. I believe we will see Mickie James in the WWE Hall of Fame in the next few years. Also, I think she will be put into the Impact Wrestling Hall of Fame. She is a great talent that still wants to prove so much more.

I hope to see another all-woman pay-per-view and I believe Mickie will make it a success just like the first one. It was called NWA EMPOWER. It was massive sucess.

If other wrestling looked at the success of the event and wanted to replicate it, that would be a smart thing to do. No All women show is panned for the future at any big wretling company currently.

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My Favorite WWE Memorabilia

WrestleMania 32 Official Program

WWE has made merchandise since its creation in the 80s. Action figures, clothes, replica titles, and at one point even food “JR’s beef jerky.” Over the years I have bought numerous purchases from the WWE, but I want to show my top 5 items I have gotten from the WWE. I will showcase my favorite items while also talking about some personal stories I have connected with them. I will also talk about how some of the pieces of memorabilia are connected to great moments in WWE history. Many of them are from WWE’s biggest event of the year WrestleMania. Think of it as the Superbowl of professional wrestling.

5: SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 is considered to be one of the best WWE games ever made. It had features that the previous games did not have, and the fan-favorite game mode called “General Manager mode” where the player gets to run a WWE brand and see how well they do. You can catch current WWE Superstars play this on YouTube. It is hosted on WWE’s gaming channel UpUpDownDown. SmackDown! vs. RAW 2006 also influenced the most recent WWE game WWE 2k22. They brought back the popular GM Mode which was used for the marketing of the game. Personally, my favorite part of the 2006 game was the season mode. Pretty much every male WWE Superstar on the roster voice acted in a special story that made it seem very personal and that the player was the wrestler. I remember playing as John Cena a lot when I was younger. I also appreciate how it was a story that was not reused. They were all unique to this game. I know the roster for this game expands every year but having a Season mode or bringing back the road to WrestleMania again would be very interesting to me.

4: WrestleMania 34 was the second WrestleMania I attended. What made that one special was the list of inductees who made it in the WWE Hall of Fame. The headliner was no other than the legend Goldberg. Also on the list was a Texas legend, Mark Henry. I bought the program which showed all the Hall of Famers looking their best. That was a pretty good WrestleMania. I think the highlight of the night for me was Ronda Rousey having her first match.

3: When it comes to professional wrestling, there is one man in everyone’s top 5. It is the Nature Boy, Ric Flair. And of course, WWE had to make a mask with his face and slogan on it when a pandemic happened. The mask itself is flimsy and not the best for fighting Covid-19 however, it makes you look “stylin’ and profilin’.” I believe I have lost the mask recently. It was great for the aesthetic.

2: I first saw this Seth Rollins tank top on Instagram and knew I needed it immediately. When I got it not only was it as nice as I saw it on Instagram, but it was also more comfortable than I realized. Most WWE shirts are pretty rough and not comfortable to be in. However, WWE does tend to get outside companies sometimes to make some products and they tend to be of better quality. Such as this “Seth Freakin’ Rollins” shirt. I will definitely be wearing it again next summer. The fabric is nice, and I think it looks nice.

1: WrestleMania 32 was the first one I attended, and it is also my favorite. I was with around 100,000 people and it was exhilarating. It was an amazing night from the first match to the last and I will never forget that feeling. I bought the official program which has every wrestler in it, and I was amazed by its quality. It is my favorite WWE product. The thing about this WrestleMania that had it stand out was the Women’s Match on the card. Before you walk into the Stadium, they had three women front and center. Charlotte, Becky Lynch, and Sasha Banks. This match could have easily become the main event. Looking back at it, the match was better and more memorable than everything else on the card. I remember being in the stadium and watching WWE Hall of Famer Lita introduce the new title they had. They were getting rid of the butterfly WWE Diva Belt and introducing the WWE Women’s Championship. It was designed beautifully. It looked like a nice symmetric belt that rivaled the Men’s WWE World Heavyweight Championship. I think having the Belt be mostly white really showcased how pristine and historic the championship is. I know some people loved the WWE Divas Championship and some people hated it. It was very divisive and still a controversial thing to talk about today. I personally like the new one better but wish WWE treated women in the Divas Era better.

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Sasha Banks and Naomi, The Game Changers

Courtesy of the WWE

When you recognize the names Sasha Banks and Naomi you are probably a wrestling fan. You might now even call yourself a wrestling fan and know the names due to the popularity of these two women. They have become some of the biggest names in women’s professional wrestling in the last decade. Later, I will try to list their accomplishments, and it is defiantly going to take some time.

If you have been keeping up with professional wrestling in the last 6 months, you would know that has been suspended by the WWE indefinitely. WWE announcers Corey Graves and Michael Cole made public statements saying they left the live taping of Monday Night Raw and that their actions are “disappointing.” No one truly knows what happened in that situation but there have been many rumors. Some people say that Sasha and Naomi felt like the WWE was “burying” the women’s tag division and they felt disrespected. That title has not been used consistently as other titles in the WWE. Rumors also say that the plan was for Naomi to face the RAW Women’s Champion Bianca Belair. Simultaneously Sasha was supposed to face the then Smackdown Women’s champion, Ronda Rousey. I know personally, a Naomi vs Bianca match feud sounds amazing, but we all know how it will end. We all know the feuds during that time were due to the women champions not having challengers. I can understand why Sasha Banks and Naomi are frustrated about being champions and having a WrestleMania victory and then losing in a program that does not promote your championships legacy.

Speaking of legacy both women have many accomplishments that very few women can compete with. I will start by listing Naomi’s achievements.

  • Number 30 in WWE 50 Greatest Women Superstars of ALL Time
  • Inaugural FCW Divas Champion
  • Ranked No. 7 in the PWI Female 50 in 2015
  • Most Welcome Heel Turn (2015) by Rolling Stone
  • WWE Smackdowns Women’s Champion (2 times)
  • First Black WWE SmackDown Champions
  • WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion
  • A part of the first Black Woman to win the Women Tag Team Champion’s
  • First ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal
  • Most Underrated Superstar of the Year (2018)
  • Numerous Main Event Matches
  • Numerous WrestleMania matches and 3 wins
  • Cast member Total Diva reality show

I’m not sure how much I missed but I feel like I covered most of it. Besides all the history she made being a part of Total Divas was very groundbreaking as well. Total Divas was very successful and are a reason more women have watched WWE in the past decade. Also, some current WWE Superstars credit Total Divas for joining the WWE such as Bianca Belair. Naomi was a main cast member from Seasons 1-4 and 6-9.  She ties with Nikki and Brie Bella on being on the most seasons. Right underneath Natalya who was a main cast member every season.

Now on to the legit Boss, The Standard, The Blueprint Sasha Banks. She has accomplished things that every woman in the industry wants to have. Let me start.

  • Number 6 in WWE 50 Greatest Women Superstars of ALL Time
  • CBS Tag Team of the Year (2020) with Bayley
  • ESPY Awards Best WWE Moment (2021) – Banks and Bianca Belair make history as the first Black women to main-event WrestleMania
  • Independent Wrestling Entertainment Women’s Championship
  • Pro Wrestling Illustrated

o                      Match of the Year (2015) vs. Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Respect

o                      Woman of the Year (2015)

o                      Feud of the Year (2016) vs. Charlotte Flair

o                      Feud of the Year (2020) vs. Bayley

o                      Tag Team of the Year (2020) – with Bayley

o                      Ranked No. 2 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2016

o                      Ranked No. 3 of the top 50 tag teams in the PWI Tag Team 50 in 2020 – with Bayley

  • Rolling Stone

o                      Future Diva of the Year (2015)

o                      Ranked No. 4 of the 10 best WWE wrestlers of 2016

o                      NXT Match of the Year (2015) vs. Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn

o                      Title Feud of the Year, NXT (2015) vs. Bayley for the NXT Women’s Championship

  • Sirius XM Busted Open Radio

o                      Wrestler of the Year (2020)

o                      Tag Team of the Year (2020) – with Bayley

  • Sports Illustrated

o                      Ranked No. 8 of the top 10 female wrestlers in 2019 – tied with Bayley

o                      Wrestler of the Year (2020)

  • WWE

o                      NXT Women’s Championship (1 time)

o                      WWE Raw Women’s Championship (5 times)

o                      WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship (1 time)

o                      WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Bayley (2), and Naomi (1)

o                      Fourth WWE Women’s Triple Crown Champion

o                      Third WWE Women’s Grand Slam Champion

o                      NXT Year-End Award (1 time)

  • Match of the Year (2015) vs. Bayley at NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn
  • Slammy Award (2 times)
  • Female Superstar of the Year (2020)
  • Double-Cross of the Year (2020) – Bayley attacks Sasha Banks on SmackDown (September 4)
  • Bumpy Award (1 time)
    • Tag Team of the Half-Year (2020) – with Bayley
    • Best Match of the Half-Year (2021) – vs. Bianca Belair at WrestleMania 37

This woman has been the face of WWE for some parts of her career, and it is easy to know why. Look at what she has accomplished.

Hopefully in the next few months, these women can come back to WWE and show what the world has been missing. They are missed and they are special. The wrestling community has been missing out, but I know the WWE Universe will rejoice when they come back.