Mickie James

Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and country singer currently signed to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) as Creative Director, Head of Female Talent and Executive Producer.

She is best known for her tenures in WWE, Impact Wrestling and National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).

She grew up in Montpelier, Virginia, and graduated from Patrick Henry High School in 1997.

While growing up, she spent a lot of time on her grandmother's horse farm, and developed a keen interest in equestrian sports.

She played violin for five years.

James is a Native American of the Powhatan tribe.

A fan of professional wrestling from an early age, James attended a professional wrestling school in the Washington, D.C., area at the suggestion of a friend.

James began her wrestling career in 1999 as a valet on the independent circuit, where she was known under the name Alexis Laree.

She made her professional debut on the independent circuit on 28 August 1999, as a valet for KYDA Pro Wrestling under the ring name Alexis Laree, a name created as the result of a combination of her stage name from when she was a dancer and her middle name.

Laree went on to manage several male wrestlers, including managing Tommy Dreamer to win the KYDA Pro Heavyweight Championship.

In March, she wrestled in her first match, an intergender tag team match with Jake Damian against American Mike Brown and Candie.

She trained to improve her wrestling abilities by attending training camps such as the Funking Conservatory, a workshop run by Dory Funk Jr., and an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) dojo.

She also started competing for Maryland Championship Wrestling (MCW), where she trained at camps run by Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton.

Due to the low salary of the independent shows, James supplemented her income by working as a waitress at an Olive Garden restaurant, and posing nude for adult fetish magazines Leg Show and Naughty Neighbors in the early 2000s, before gaining fame and being subsequently signed by World Wrestling Entertainment in 2003.

While working in Ring of Honor for a year, James also debuted as Alexis Laree in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) on the company's first ever weekly pay-per-view, introduced as a participant in the lingerie battle royal, which occurred the following week.

She trained in several camps to improve her wrestling abilities before working for NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA: TNA, later Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, later Impact Wrestling, now Total Nonstop Action Wrestling again) in 2002, where she gained national attention.

After only a few appearances, she joined a stable called The Gathering and was written into storylines with the group.

She is the only woman to be involved in the promotion's Clockwork Orange House of Fun matches.

Beginning in 2002, she also made appearances for Ring of Honor.

She was not prominently featured until March 26, 2003, when she teamed with Amazing Red as part of his feud against the X Division Champion Kid Kash and Trinity.

Laree competed in her first singles match with the promotion on April 2, 2003, in a losing effort against Trinity.

Weeks later, she became the first member of The Gathering, a stable led by Raven in his feud against NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jeff Jarrett.

On April 16, Laree became the first (and thus far, only) woman to compete in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, after the Gathering challenged and defeated Jarrett.

She continued to wrestle with the stable while they feuded with The Disciples of the New Church, taking part in an angle with Father James Mitchell burning her with a fireball and wrestling in another Clockwork Orange House of Fun match before leaving the company.

After two years of sending tapes and making phone calls as well as wrestling a tryout dark match with Dawn Marie, James was signed to a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), who sent her to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), their then-developmental territory, in August 2003.

Still using the ring name Alexis Laree, she began making television appearances for OVW on January 29, 2004, and competed in several tag team matches throughout the year.

She also won a Halloween costume contest on October 30, and defeated Jillian Hall in a $1,000 match on November 12.

James made her World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) main roster debut in 2005 and was placed in a storyline with Trish Stratus, in which James' gimmick was that of Stratus' biggest fan turned obsessed stalker, an angle which ran over eight months.

She received a push and she won her first WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22, a title she has held a total of five times.

On May 17, 2005, Laree was placed into a tournament for the OVW Television Championship.

She defeated Mike Mondo in the first round, only to lose to Blaster Lashley in the next round.

She began a feud with Beth Phoenix on July 20 after Phoenix interrupted Laree during an interview, setting up a match on July 29, which Laree lost.

Their angle continued into September, with Shelly Martinez being added to the storyline to side with Phoenix against Laree.

James also won her first Divas Championship defeating Maryse Ouellet at Night of Champions in 2009, to become the second of five Divas to hold both the Women's and Divas titles.

She was released from the company in April 2010, after which she returned to TNA, where she became a three-time TNA Knockouts Champion.

James returned to WWE in 2013 as a guest trainer, then officially returned in 2016 before she was once again released in 2021.

James would then make occasional appearances from then and would ultimately return to Impact Wrestling in 2021, winning her fourth and fifth Knockouts Championship, making James a total 11-time women's world champion between WWE and Impact.

James was born at Richmond Memorial Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Stuart James, a retired wastewater-treatment worker, landscaper, and VAIL League Division 3 Championship coach and Sandra Knuckles, a teacher and real-estate agent.

Her parents divorced while she was young.

She has a sister, a half-sister, a half-brother, and three stepbrothers.