Every WWE Release Of 2021 - Where Are They Now? (Five Years Later)

Then: Poor Mickie James suffered one of the most undignifying departures in WWE history when the company shipped her some personal belongings in a literal bin/trash bag. That April 2021 move led to negative PR for the promotion on social media once fans and industry critics caught wind of their disregard for such a celebrated veteran.

Later, Mickie received an apology from none other than Stephanie McMahon. It was a token gesture at best, because the trash bag incident had been almost symbolic of how WWE viewed James. This was, after all, the same outfit that had bullied her onscreen for apparent weight gain during the whole "Piggy James" saga in 2009-2010.

WWE said sorry to save face, and pretty much everyone knew it.

Now: James didn't miss a beat after being released by WWE again (she'd previously been scrapped in 2010). She immediately went right back to work in the revived NWA and TNA. Then, Mickie made history by becoming the first TNA Knockouts Champion to enter the 30-woman Royal Rumble in 2022.

WWE fans were chuffed to see her, and James looked at the top of her game. There's been no sniff of a more frequent spot on the roster since, but Mickie must be happy to see her husband Nick Aldis doing so well as SmackDown General Manager; the couple tied the knot back in 2015.

James notably also appeared to work a kayfabe death angle for TNA that same year before she returned to WWE the following year in 2016. That split opinion.