Mickie James "Didn't Love" This Part Of WWE Royal Rumble 2022

Hardcore Country wasn't a fan of THIS moment from last weekend's premium live event.

by Andrew Pollard
Mickie James Melina WWE Royal Rumble 2022
WWE.com

One of the undoubted highlights of last weekend's Royal Rumble PPV was the appearance - and reaction to - IMPACT Knockouts Champion Mickie James.

While Hardcore Country herself had a stellar showing in the women's Rumble contest, one element of the contest that James "didn't love" was how brief Melina's appearance in the over-the-top-rope bout was.

Receiving a major pop when she entered the women's Rumble in the #2 spot, three-time Women's Champion and two-times Divas Champion Melina was eliminated by Sasha Banks after just 53 seconds.

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Speaking on the GAW podcast (as per Wrestling Inc.) that she does alongside Victoria and So Cal Val, Mickie said:

"I didn't love that at all [Melina's short Rumble tenure]. I did love that, you know, her entrance, people did exactly what we knew they were going to do. They erupted, like, 'holy sh*t!'. It was so good to see her back. She hadn't been in WWE for over a decade, so I think that was amazing to see her get teared up, and it was awesome. I didn't love the whole 'set got eliminated first'. No, I didn't love that because obviously as I wanted to be able to get in there with her and tangle it up, and I want her to have those moments with some of the other girls, you know. I know it was special for Sasha, and I know Sasha, I know it was special for Sasha to be in there with her."

Unfortunately for James, she wouldn't be afforded the opportunity to mix things up with Melina, for Mickie wouldn't enter the women's Royal Rumble until #20. Lasting nearly 12 minutes, the current Knockouts Champion - herself a six-time WWE Women's Champion and one-time Divas Champ - scored an elimination on long-time rival Michelle McCool before eventually being tossed out of the match by WWE Hall of Famer Lita.

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As for Melina, prior to the Royal Rumble, she last competed for WWE on an August 2011 episode of Raw, where she was part of a battle royal to crown a #1 contender for the Divas Title. More recently, Melina has been in action for the NWA, putting on arguably the best match of her career at last August's NWA EmPowerrr event - where she unsuccessfully challenged for the Knockouts Championship that was then held by Deonna Purrazzo.

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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, Jamie Hayer, 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.