Mickie James reveals heartbreaking reason for recent WWE absence

Mickie James is one of the most decorated female wrestlers in WWE history as a former six-time Women's Champion, but the Virginia native hasn't been seen on WWE TV since the WWE Draft when she was moved over to Friday Night SmackDown.

James has been struggling with a knee injury over the past few months, an injury that occurred as part of a live event where she wrestled Carmella back in June and her initial prognosis stated that she could be looking at 7-9 months on the sidelines with a torn ACL, which would finish up her multi-year deal with WWE.

James only returned to the company in January 2017 and it's thought that she signed a three-year deal, that will expire next year.

Throughout her time on the sidelines, James has been working as a commentator for Main Event, a show that was recorded more than a week ago in the United Kingdom with Mickie James on commentary.

James may have been off-screen in recent weeks, but it appears that the former Women's Champion has had a lot to contend with emotionally since she recently revealed that her sister Susan had passed away.

James and her sister were known to be very close and as noted in the following Instagram post, Susan had been struggling with illness for a number of years before she passed away earlier this week.

It is unknown when James will be returning to WWE TV following her personal loss, but the thoughts of everyone at Sportskeeda are with Mickie James at this emotional time.