Mickie James competed against Trinity for the IMPACT Knockouts World Title at the last IMPACT PPV, Bound For Glory, back in October.

Mickie fell short in her quest, solidifying Trinity as the unquestioned Knockouts World Champion heading into the UK tour.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider previously reported that James was “taking a break” from the company, and she could return “at any time” after many fans noticed that Mickie was removed from the IMPACT roster page.

Speaking on GAW TV, James addressed the situation and confirmed that she has never been under contarct with IMPACT Wrestling.

“I will say, I saw also on the Internet that I was taken off of the IMPACT roster page, and I was like, ‘Oh, that’s interesting.’ You know what I was really shocked about, and I appreciate the fans, thank you guys. You all are amazing, to know that you care, and that it moved you to a point to where it kind of rumbled my timeline. I don’t know about who else’s timeline it rumbled, but I certainly saw a bunch of stuff about it. I was like, oh. I’ve had a wonderful working relationship with IMPACT this whole time, and I’ve been able to do some really great stuff. They helped me so much with EmPowerr, but also I was able to, the whole Rumble thing, going back for the Rumble as Knockouts World Champion, but I’ve never been under contract the whole time I’ve been there. I have a great relationship with Scott. I love Scott. They know that I’m always here for them,” James said.

James went on to describe how she decided to take a step back and spend some time at home following her husband Nick Aldis becoming the General Manager of WWE SmackDown. She noted that she wanted to make sure he could focus on the opportunity without stress or worry. James made it clear that she is allways down to do good business.

“Right now, it took me a second to come to this, but I wanted to do great business no matter what. But right now, Nick just got a hell of an opportunity, and an opportunity that he’s waited a very, very long time to get. Between juggling both of our schedules of me being on the road, I just found myself very stressed out. I also think he’s having a really awesome opportunity, and I think that I could just sit back for a little because I don’t really have anything else to prove in this world of wrestling. Are there things that I still want to do, or if it was the right thing or the right moment, or whatever? Sure, I’m down. I’m always down to do good business, wherever that is. But I also wanted to take a space and just kind of be home and let Nick go out and do his thing as the GM of SmackDown right now, without any stress, without any worry, and knowing that I’m mom-ing at home hard. I’ve still got signings, I still have appearances. I could still show up in a wrestling ring tomorrow if I wanted to and kick all the ass because that’s what Hardcore Country does [laughs],” James said.

The former IMPACT Knockouts World Champion also discussed her latest stint in the company. She described how she wanted to come back and work with Trinity, as she believed that it would be a monumental match. James spoke highly of Trinity and stated that she thought they had a great match. She then teased how she is now waiting for the phone to ring.

“I think because IMPACT is rebranding, they’re changing from IMPACT to TNA, as they’re revamping, I think that they just kind of removed everyone who wasn’t active on the roster, and my last stint was, I told them, I want to come back. I want to face Trinity, I think this will be great, it’ll be monumental. I think that it takes any doubt out of the fans’ minds of who’s the champ, and who’s not the champ. Plus, I just wanted an opportunity to wrestle Trinity in a singles match because I never had a chance to do that, and I love her and I respect her so much. I did that, I thought we had a great match, and cheers. I’m just at home, chilling, waiting on the phone to ring,” James said.

H/T Colin Tessier for Fightful.

Full interview:

Mickie was not announced for the 4-Day IMPACT Invasion Tour, nor was she scheduled for anything on the Bound For Glory Fallour tv tapings, nor the co-branded AAA/IMPACT show in Mexico on November 26th – Mickie wasn’t booked for anything with IMPACT for the rest of the year, however, being an original TNA Knockout, it wouldn’t surprise anybody to see them bring her back at or around Hard To Kill in January.

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Follow Gerard at @BearDown316 on Twitter

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