10 Wrestlers Who Flirted With Other Careers (And Then Came Back)

6. Mickie James

Mickie James Album
E1 Music

Mickie James is easily one of the greatest female wrestlers in the history of the business, yet WWE's awful handling of the talented grappler in 2009 and 2010 afforded her the opportunity to branch out and focus on another one of her true loves.

Late-2009 saw the introduction of the horrendous 'Piggy James' rivalry for Mickie against LayCool. Before you could muster the words "be a star," James found herself being ridiculed for her appearance on WWE television for several months. It was classless, it was in bad taste, and it was, sadly, classic WWE.

By April 2010, Mickie was released by the company as they looked to go in a different direction with their women's division. A direction that somehow didn't have a spot for one of the five best female workers of the day at that time.

Still, the end of this WWE run allowed the five-time WWE Women's Champion to realise her musical ambitions. Fast-forward to May of that year, and Mickie's "Strangers & Angels" album was released by Entertainment One.

After working several independent shows, James would return to the international wrestling stage by signing with TNA in September 2010. Mickie would spend the best part of five years with TNA, continuously proving why she is one of the all-time greats - and she'd also continue to scratch that music itch with a second album, Somebody's Gonna Pay, in 2013.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.