5. Mickie James (Briefly) Profits From Victoria’s Forgetfulness
WWE.com
The biggest challenge when dealing with a botched match finish of any kind, let alone a title change, is figuring out how to deal with it. The immediate aftermath can be extremely confusing, particularly if the performers panic and break character, but if calmness prevails and the decision makers think on their feet, the damage can be mitigated.
This is exactly what happened in April 2007, when Mickie James accidentally pinned Victoria in a house show triple threat match. Victoria forgot to kick out, and the botch saw James take the WWE Women’s Championship for the third time in her career, though Melina was originally scripted to retain.
Instead of having Mickie carry the belt until the next live event, WWE booked James and Melina in a singles rematch later that evening. MNM’s former manager was triumphant, leaving Paris with the gold as was originally planned, solving the issue less than an hour after it had arisen. WWE could have easily buried this quick fire switch in history, but they chose to acknowledge it, and Mickie’s brief reign was recognised.
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
