Mickie James recently spoke with WWE.com about her WWE return, her return match against Asuka at NXT Takeover: Toronto, how she is preparing for the current NXT Women’s Champion, and much more. You can read a few excerpts below:
Mickie James says she’s psyched for her WWE return:
I’m beyond excited. I’ve been on cloud nine since the announcement and seen the reaction from the fans. It’s pretty incredible. It makes you feel good!
James follows up on comments from a previous WWE interview about Sasha Banks, Alexa Bliss and Bayley being standout talents, and how they’ve progressed:
Yes, they asked me who I saw as the breakout stars out of the girls I worked with. I feel like I was pretty spot on with all of those.
I think they’re doing an amazing job. Kudos to them. Nobody can really predict the future or destiny, but it felt good to know that maybe I have my finger on the button of what talent is. When people have a passion and desire, it burns through and shows. That’s what I was like. I had the desire to be the best in the world. I can recognize that in another person, that strong will. That’s what I felt like I saw in all of those girls.
James comments on how her WWE return happened, what she thinks of being able to face Asuka:
I was sitting in the airport in Orlando, Florida, on my way to the UK, where I’ve been for almost a month now. I got the call from WWE and they asked me if I was interested. I know who Asuka is, I’ve seen her work in Japan and NXT. She is incredibly talented. It’s cool to see someone come up and make an impact. I think for her, it’s even harder, because there’s the language barrier. But she’s this mystical kind of person.
For them to even consider me to come back and face her and, hopefully, tear the house down, is pretty awesome. It made me feel like a million bucks. I want to go in there and take it to the next level and give the people everything that they want and more.
Mickie shares her first impression of Asuka in the ring:
I think she’s fascinating. She has such an amazing presence. That’s one of those things you can’t teach people. Then, she gets it done in the ring.
I know she had her own promotion in Japan and was very successful, so successful that she didn’t necessarily need come to WWE. But she’s smart enough to recognize that if she wanted to be the kind of star she wanted to be, like a household name, she had to come to WWE. I feel like she’s the complete package now, as a performer, artist and wrestler.
