Mickie James has revealed how she was able to keep her real name in WWE.
The wrestling veteran recently spoke to Chris Van Vliet for a new interview. She talked about things such as her first WWE run getting cut short, the infamous Piggy James storyline with LayCool and more.
During the interview, Mickie James also told the story of how she was able to keep her real name upon her main roster debut back in October 2005. The former Divas Champion mentioned that her development name was Alexis Laree but Vince McMahon did not like the moniker:
“I was Alexis Laree in OVW. I just love the name Alexis and Laree is my legit middle name, so that’s how that name came about.
But I’m about to debut this crazy stalker character, and Vince is like, ‘What’s her name? Alexis Laree? I don’t like that name. It sounds like a stripper name.’ And I’m like, Oh, guess it does, doesn’t it? Yeah, okay.”
How Grateful I Am For That: Mickie James
When Mr. McMahon asked her for an alternative to the OVW name, Mickie James ended up pitching her own name. This led to the wrestling legend becoming one of the few people on the roster who was using her real identity on TV:
“He’s like, ‘Well, got anything else? Got any other names?’ And I was like, ‘Uh, Mickie James?’ [He said] ‘I love it.’ I didn’t say, Oh, it’s my real name. I was like, oh, okay, great.
So I was able, and probably one of the last few people, to actually be able to use their real name. I was able to use my real name. Wow, crazy. And how grateful I am for that.”
Mickie James also dived deep into her debut storyline with Trish Stratus. Originally debuting as a super fan of Stratus, James slowly turned into a stalker, leading to a big match at WrestleMania 22. You can check out what she said about a controversial gesture that happened during this bout here.