Michelle McCool reveals bizarre reason why she had to film WWE match again

Michelle McCool worked for WWE from 2004 to 2011 before retiring from full-time in-ring competition. In a recent podcast episode, the 2025 Hall of Famer recalled how Chris Jericho reacted when she was told to redo a pre-taped match against Victoria.

WWE's female stars were known as Divas during McCool's seven-year run with the company. In those days, women were often presented as managers and models rather than serious competitors. They were also told not to kick and punch opponents.

On Six Feet Under, McCool said a higher-up told her and Victoria to record their match again because their punches were superior to WWE's men. She also revealed that fellow wrestler Jericho gave a puzzled reaction to the decision.

"We thought we were being ribbed, and they're like, 'No, seriously, y'all's punches look better than the guys,'" McCool said. "I'm like, 'Hold up.' Of course, I was saying this in my head. 'Hold up, how is that our problem?' That's not a me problem. That's a you problem. And, actually, Chris Jericho was standing there, and he said that. He was like, 'If their punches look better than the guys, that's the guys' problem.' And I was like, 'Yeah, what he said.'" [21:10 – 21:33]

McCool held the Divas Championship twice and the Women's Championship twice. She also beat Melina at WWE Night of Champions 2010 to unify the titles.

---

Michelle McCool addresses WWE's past treatment of women

Nowadays, matches and segments involving WWE's female stars are often allocated a similar amount of television time to the men. By contrast, Michelle McCool and other women from her generation typically received a few minutes of airtime on weekly programming.

Reflecting on the reaction to her match with Victoria, McCool admitted the backstage feedback left her confused:

"But we had to go back out there, and they told us, 'For the next few weeks, no punching, no kicking.' I'm like, 'I'm not real sure what I'm supposed to do.' That [chain wrestling] probably wouldn't have flied either. There was a lot of hair-pulling. Lots of hair-pulling." [21:34 – 21:49]

McCool is the new co-host of The Undertaker's Six Feet Under podcast. On the latest episode, the married couple showered praise on a "captivating" WrestleMania 41 match.

---

Please credit Six Feet Under and give an H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription if you use Michelle McCool's quotes from this article.