Mickie James: I Wish I'd Used My Hardcore Country Gimmick In WWE

Mickie James has said she wished she'd used her Hardcore Country gimmick upon her return to WWE.

James returned to WWE in 2016 for a match with NXT Women's Champion Asuka before signing a multi-year deal with the company and performing on SmackDown. Prior to that, James had been with IMPACT Wrestling, portraying a character known as 'Hardcore Country;

With the benefit of hindsight, James feels she should have come back to WWE with that character, rather that revisiting her former self, but doesn't know if the promotion would have permitted her to use a persona she cultivated while with a different company.

Speaking on The Angle Podcast, when asked what she wished she could have done differently in WWE, James said: "I wish I would’ve come in as Hardcore Country and I think that was probably mostly on me, whether I didn’t think they would do that because it wasn’t their brand or their character where I reinvented myself."

James has since resurfaced in IMPACT, since being released from WWE in April, and is also working closely with the NWA.

H/T EWrestlingNews