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Mickie James was part of pro-wrestling history when the 'Forbidden Door' was opened and she entered the Royal Rumble as the IMPACT Knockouts World Champion. However, there were certain precautions that WWE took during her return, specifically with regards to referring to IMPACT Wrestling and the Knockouts Division.
WWE announced that James would be an entrant in the Women's Royal Rumble prior to the event. She entered the match at No.20, but was ultimately eliminated by fellow legend Lita.
According to Will Washington of the Grapsody Podcast on Fightful, a WWE source revealed to him that there were certain deterrents put in place regarding her return, particularly with what words announcers were allowed to use.
"I talked to someone in WWE about the Mickie stuff, and I was like it was really cool that they did all that, but they were like ‘yeah but there were caveats to literally everything that we had to do with Mickie James’. The first thing was ‘we were allowed to say IMPACT, but at no point were we allowed to say IMPACT Wrestling, it was a really important distinction; (...) IMPACT Wrestling cannot be tagged on social media (...) solely IMPACT." said Will Washington
In addition to the term "IMPACT Wrestling", announcers were told not to use the term "Knockout" and were even instructed not to use the word "World" in association with it. Instead referring to James as the IMPACT Women's Champion.
Mickie James was proud of her performance at the Royal Rumble
Mickie James broke a huge ceiling with her return to WWE at the Royal Rumble. James only lasted 12 minutes in the match, but her performance was impressive nonetheless.
Meeting up with WWE correspondent Megan Morant backstage, the IMPACT Knockouts World Champion was ecstatic to represent IMPACT Wrestling and the Knockouts division in what she considered a great performance.
It was incredible to see a legend like James back in a WWE ring. Perhaps we will get to see more collaborations between Vince McMahon's company and other promotions in the near future.
Would you like to see WWE collaborate more with other promotions? Sound off in the comments below!
A WWE Hall of Famer called out AEW fans HERE
