Mickie James Was 'Brokenhearted' To Be Released By WWE, Thought She'd Retire There

Mickie James has revealed that she thought she'd end her career in WWE and was 'heartbroken' about being released as a result.

Mickie spilled the beans during a chat with the lads over at Busted Open Radio. While discussing her big Bound for Glory victory over the dominant Deonna Purrazzo when she was asked whether she returned to Impact to get the credit she's due.

"I went to WWE and that was my dream to go there. And I was able to have an illustrious career that first run and do some really good things. My first run was awesome. Even the second run, but I feel like this last run was not what I guess I expected or hoped for," Mickie confessed. "Maybe it’s because I didn’t fight enough for it, but I hoped that I did enough for everybody else I’d at least get that love. And I didn’t, and that’s okay because kudos to Impact," she added.

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James returned to WWE for a second stint in 2016 after parting ways with the company in 2010. James was released by WWE back in April, allegedly due to budget cuts necessitated by the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Here I thought ‘I’m going to have this amazing run. I’m so excited to go back to WWE. I’m going to have this amazing run, work with these awesome new girls, get in front of this new audience, and probably retire back home.’ That’s what I felt. ‘I’m going to retire there in a very cool way.’ And it did not happen that way, because for whatever reason it just didn’t happen that way," she said. "And I left and it was so disheartening and I was brokenhearted. So then to be able to leave and do so much more powerful stuff, that actually is stronger work. It’s more powerful work because it’s laying that foundation behind the scenes of setting up for the future and different levels for the women.”

Mickie James returned to Impact after a six-year hiatus during the company's Slammiversary pay-per-view back in July.