Vince McMahon offered a seldom heard apology to Mickie James following the series of unfortunate circumstances which came out after her release from the company, being known as Heftygate, it was recently reported that James had her belongings set to her in a trash bag. This led to a company wide purging of their talent relations department. During a recent edition of her Grown Ass Women podcast, James discussed the situation, former Head of Talent Relations Mark Carrano being fired as well as discussing how Vince McMahon called her personally to apology to the former WWE Women’s Champion. Credit to Fightful for the below. Is Mickie James about to sign with a top promotion?
“I know it wasn’t a direct thing. I empathize with Mark and feel bad he’s taking the full brunt, it sucks, but I guarantee his pension package is more than what I got paid in my last run. So, I don’t feel that bad. He was not happy in that situation. I’m pissed and don’t want to come across as angry, but it is a direct reflection of everything I’ve experienced in coming back. I was happy to take a backseat and take a trainer role. All I asked for was a curtsy out the door. It was never ‘I want one last run’ or ‘I want to wrestle for the next five years.’ All I wanted was a little respect so it wouldn’t feel like unfinished business. I felt because I was asking for this one thing, it was going to come with a price. I’m not saying that’s from Vince because he’s always been respectful to me. He called me on the phone to apologize for this incident and to let me know that this isn’t what he thought of me. I tagged Vince because he needs to know. There’s a lot of stuff that happens under his nose that he is oblivious to because he’s running a multi-billion dollar company. The small-minded mentality sometimes leads to thoughtless behavior. Especially for me, to constantly be presented as old, when I’m 41 years old and every single male champion has always been my same age or older and has been glorified for those reasons. As they should be, they’re amazing. Why is it different for women or for me? Ageism is a real thing and it’s bullshit. I’m grateful for the strides we’ve made to be seen as equal, but it’s not true for every person and it’s unfortunate. I don’t know why I was made to feel like I didn’t deserve it. I did everything in my power to be a company girl,” she said.
