This Former WWE Women's Champion Was Meant To Manage CM Punk

This star's WWE debut could have been so very, very different.

by Andrew Pollard
CM Punk Mickie James
WWE

Prior to debuting in the company in October 2005 as an obsessed Trish Stratus fan, there was at one point a very different plan on how to introduce Mickie James to the WWE audience.

Speaking during an appearance on Stories with Brisco and Bradshaw (as per WrestlingNews.co), James revealed that she was meant to debut as CM Punk's manager before plans were changed.

"I was supposed to debut before and it was with CM Punk, as his manager on Sunday [Night Heat]. I was so devastated at that moment when Hunter came back and said, 'I like both you guys, I just don't see it together'."

The five-time Women's Champion continued:

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"They filled that spot with some replays of something else that happened on Raw with Rhyno or something. I was so devastated at that moment, but then I went like, 'How different would my career be if my introduction to the WWE Universe was Sunday Night Heat, a manager for CM Punk? Would it have been great? Probably, yeah, but it wouldn't have been what Trish and I had, which was really special and it was a game changer. I think it really started to help flip the script, 'Okay, well women can also be just two females, a main storyline-driven thing', because that was really one of the first ones that I can recall."

For those wondering, James actually did manage the Second City Saint for a Heat taping, but that segment was cut from the show and never actually aired. Likewise, the two were also briefly intertwined as members of Raven's Gathering in TNA in 2003.

As mentioned, Mickie would instead make her WWE debut on the 10 October 2005 episode of Raw, portraying a crazed fan of Trish Stratus. Skipping ahead just six months later, James would topple Stratus at WrestleMania 22 to become the WWE Women's Champion.

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Currently, Hardcore Country largely splits her time between IMPACT Wrestling and the NWA, and she also made her GCW debut this past March, where she picked up a win over Allie Katch at Joey Janela's Spring Break 6 Part 1.

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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.