10 Super Rare Times WWE Promoted Rival Titles

2. Mickie James Walks Through The Permitted Door

Mickie James WWE Royal Rumble 2022
WWE.com

Even if Tony Khan hadn't recently gotten himself tied up in knots with the terminology on Twitter, it'd still be time to retire the "Forbidden Door" terminology.

What was once a cute and useful phrase to cover the vast changes occurring in pro wrestling brokered between All Elite Wrestling and the likes of New Japan and Impact has morphed into a catch-all for wrestlers changing companies.

It was definitively reduced to parody when WWE partnered up with Impact Knockouts Champion Mickie James for an unlikely 2022 Royal Rumble appearance. From announcement to execution the whole thing subverted expectations, but the moment seemingly only existed for just that rather than to signify any type of working relationship between Impact and the organisation that has historically and cynically done everything it can to cut rivals to ribbons.

With her own entrance music and the Knockouts Title featured, James absolutely made it all count double, earning one of the more memorable moments in a stale iteration of the January classic.

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Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. Within the podcasting space, he also co-hosts Benno & Hamflett, In Your House! and Podcast Horseman: The BoJack Horseman Podcast. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, Fightful, POST Wrestling, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett