Six-time WWE champion was told her career would be over in 5 years

A six-time WWE champion has revealed that she was told her career would be over in five years. The landscape of women's wrestling has changed in the modern era, with the female roster seen on par with their male colleagues. However, this wasn't always the case. The shelf life for a female wrestling star was relatively shorter compared to that of men.

In an interview with WrestlingNewsCo, former WWE Women's Champion Mickie James revealed that she was told she wouldn't have much time at the top of her career when she started. James began her in-ring career in 1999 on the independents.

"If anybody would have told me the first time in TNA as little Alexis Laree with Raven, you know, in The Gathering that, 'Hey, you're going to have some 25-year career.' In fact, that was the opposite. If anything, they were like, 'You'll get five years tops as a female. That's it. That's what you get,'" she said.

You can watch the interview below:

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James signed with TNA in 2002 and later joined The Gathering, a stable led by former ECW star Raven. Shortly afterward, she was signed by WWE to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.

She progressed through the ranks and made her main roster debut in 2005 as a superfan of Trish Stratus. The two women would team up with each other, but eventually got into a feud that culminated in a Women's Championship match at WrestleMania 22.

Mickie James beat Stratus to earn her first title in WWE and would go on to win the top prize four more times while also adding a Divas Championship.

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While Mickie James had a successful tenure in the Stamford-based promotion, she was released by the promotion in 2010. A stint on the independents followed before she returned to TNA.

She went on to have notable feuds with former WWE stars Victoria, Madison Rayne, and Gail Kim, among others.

James won the TNA Knockouts World Championship five times during her stint in the company. A few weeks ago, it was announced that she would be inducted into the TNA Hall of Fame at Bound for Glory on October 12.

If you use quotes from this article, please credit WrestlingNewsCo and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.

About the author

Sherjeel Malik is a writer at Sportskeeda and covers pro wrestling. He was hooked on the product from the moment he saw The Hardy Boyz jumping off ladders during the Attitude Era. While he comes from an engineering background, Sherjeel’s love for pro wrestling and content writing led him to pursue a career in sports journalism. Before assuming his current role at Sportskeeda, Sherjeel worked at other reputable organizations for five years.

While writing articles, he ensures that he only relies on credible sources for information and covers relevant subjects that do not project an agenda against a particular person or association. WWE legend Paul Heyman once shared Sherjeel’s work on his social media handle.

Sherjeel’s earliest memory of pro wrestling is watching Stone Cold Steve Austin and The Undertaker square off for the WWE Title in the main event of a pay-per-view in 1998. His favorite wrestlers are Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy. While he admires Orton for his character work as a heel, he looks up to Jeff because of his unique wrestling style and risk-taking ability.

If he could go back to the Attitude Era, Sherjeel would like to manage Ken Shamrock and be his mouthpiece. He feels Shamrock’s promo skills prevented him from becoming a main event-level act in WWE. Hence, he would like to help the UFC Hall of Famer get over with fans.

When not writing about pro wrestling, he likes to read classics and fiction books.

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Edited by Sherjeel Malik