Mickie James is undoubtedly one of the most accomplished wrestlers of her generation. She’s wrestled with a number of promotions during her 18 year career, but has achieved the majority of her success with the world’s biggest and the best, WWE. She’s won a staggering five Women’s Championship titles, and you can add a Divas Championship to her list of achievements too. But Mickie isn’t one of the best solely because of her in-ring abilities. She’s the best because she’s more than just a wrestler – she’s an entertainer – and just by gracing an event with her mere presence, she shines and sends the fans home happy; you can fake a lot of things in wrestling but you can’t fake crowd reactions – it’s always been genuine adulation for Mickie.

Fans were distraught when she and WWE parted ways. Mickie was very open in saying she wanted to return, and ask any fan, and they’d have expressed a desire to see Mickie back on the WWE roster too. Well, thankfully, it’s all worked out for everyone, because Mickie’s back where she belongs, and it won’t be long before she’s adding to her title haul.

We all know about the Mickie James in the ring, but what about Mickie James the actual individual? Over the years, Mickie’s been juggling wrestling with a lot of other commitments, and this has just added to her glittering life. These are 15 fascinating facts – things you didn’t know about one of the most popular divas of all time – Mickie James.

15 15. She’s A Real Country Girl

Mickie might have hit the big time and tasted the fame and fortune of being a highly decorated star with some of the world’s best promotions, but that hasn’t stopped her from being a real country girl at heart. She’s a country girl in every which way. I’ll get on to some of the reasons in a bit, but she stays in touch with her roots and expresses her love for all things country through her music. Yes, in addition to being an accomplished wrestler, she’s a more than decent country singer too. Singing’s a passion of hers, and she’s enjoyed making a career out of it and juggling it with wrestling over the past seven years. She released her first album in 2010, and has since continued to bang out the tunes, releasing another album a few years later, and a couple of singles thereafter.

This country girl’s got it all going on, and we love her for it.

14 14. Mickie’s A Violinist

Talk about being multitalented. Mickie’s not only an accomplished country singer, she’s also pretty good at playing the violin. Well, she was anyway. When she was a youngster, Mickie played the violin for five years. She learnt to play the instrument at school, and combined this with her singing at home. That’s where Mickie’s love for music stems from - her childhood. Apparently she used to drive her mom crazy with her music. She had a boom box, and she used to come up with lyrics and right them down, and then practice and perform and record herself, following her mom around the house and playing it back. Well, all that practice at a young age definitely paid off because she’s now made that childhood passion of hers into a career, and a pretty good one at that.

13 13. She’s Had Relationships With Several Wrestlers

Now, no one can say that Mickie slept her way to the top. She’s way too talented, plus WWE let her go. But looking at her relationship history, one might be forgiven for thinking that was on her agenda. Either that or she just loves the companionship of male wrestlers.

Mickie’s had quite a few relationships with male wrestlers over the years. She’s had notable relationships with the likes of CM Punk and John Cena, and she’s also been with Joey Mercury and Kenny Dykstra. Mickie’s actually said to have had an affair with Cena while she was still with Kenny, which understandably caused a lot of controversy at the time. But those days of shifting from one wrestler to the next, are over. She’s now a happily married woman, hitched to the Adonis that is Magnus who’s currently with Impact Wrestling.

12 12. Vince Was Steaming After Her First WrestleMania Match

Mickie must have had mixed emotions going into WrestleMania 22. She must have been chomping at the bit to get going, but it must have been nerve-racking for her too, with it being her first WrestleMania match and all. But that excitement quickly changed to terror when she walked backstage after the event to be confronted by a steaming Vince McMahon.

Leading up to the event, despite still being a rookie with the company, Mickie had already made quite a name for herself, due to her role in that memorable angle with Trish Stratus. Things came to head at WrestleMania 22, where by this point in the storyline, Mickie had become obsessed with Trish. At the event she actually touched Trish’s crotch, and made a number of – let’s say provocative – gestures to the camera and the fans. Mickie had obviously improvised, but went way overboard for Vince’s liking. Mickie actually thought that Vince would love her antics, but he was seriously pissed because it meant they’d have to edit it out – a very time-consuming process, and of course for Vince, time is money. Because Vince never crossed the line, right?

11 11. Close Friendship With Trish

That whole storyline involving Mickie and Trish Stratus really is one of the most memorable angles either woman has been involved in. Mickie made her debut on the main roster in WWE under the guise of being Trish’s biggest fan, but that admiration soon developed into an obsession – a lesbian angle was thrown in there too for good measure.

Well, Mickie might not be as close as that to Trish in real life, but they do actually have a really tight friendship and a tremendous amount of respect for each other. Whenever they’re down each other’s ends they hit each other up and rekindle that friendship they built up in WWE over a decade ago.

It was one of the best feuds and most iconic storylines in women’s wrestling; it just goes to show what great performers the two are, to be involved in such an angle but build up a close friendship off-screen.

10 10. Her Background Of Horseback Riding

Most of those who end up making it pro have some sort of background in sports. Many have tried their hands at football, there’ve been quite a few gymnasts, and plenty of amateur wrestlers. This sporting background serves to give these athletes that competitive streak, and it helps them physically.

Mickie also has a sporting background, although it’s probably not what a lot of people would expect. When she was a youngster, she developed a passion for equestrian sports. She actually pursued this passion too, and trained horses, took part in various equestrian events and horse shows, and loved it all so much – which she still does – she actually wanted to make a career out of it.

To progress and transition from keen equestrian to one of the best female pro wrestlers around – that’s a new one.

9 9. Loves Horses, Other Animals And Wants To Run A Farm

Being a keen equestrian, you can probably guess that Mickie has a love for horses. But where did that love stem from? It all comes from her childhood. She basically grew up on a farm when she was younger. Her parents divorced when she was pretty young, so she ended up spending a lot of time on her grandmother’s farm. It was a horse farm, and so that’s where Mickie fell in love with horses and began competing in equestrian events. Even today when she’s one of the biggest names in female wrestling, she still finds time to feed her passion for all things horses – by feeding and taking care of her own horses. She owns three herself, but also just loves animals in general.

In fact, it’s always been her dream to open and run her own farm and take care of her own animals, make it into a successful business, which she still plans to do once her wrestling career’s over.

8 8. Successful With Three Of The Biggest Wrestling Promotions

Not many wrestlers can put a list of stellar wrestling promotions on their résumés. Some go through their respective career having just wrestled on the indies, others have managed to get a big break and get a contract with one of the major promotions out there. But very few can claim to have wrestled with three of the biggest companies. Very few have had stints with three of the biggest promotions in the industry and tasted success with each of them. We hope her current tenure will be another successful stint with WWE.

Mickie made a name for herself on the wrestling scene with TNA. She began life as a pro with that promotion, quickly rose to the top, and then WWE came calling. She went back to TNA in 2010, but has also wrestled with other promotions such as Ring of Honor, Global Force Wrestling, and a number of other promotions on the indies.

7 7. She’s Held The Women’s, Divas, And Knockouts Titles

Mickie’s most successful stints in pro wrestling have undoubtedly been with WWE and TNA. In WWE, she’s amassed a mightily impressive title haul, winning the Women’s Championship five times and the Divas Championship the once. She’s also tasted a huge amount of success with TNA – where it all started – and has won three Knockouts Championships. Anyone can tell it’s a pretty impressive feat to win these prestigious titles, but still, what’s the big deal?

The big deal is that Mickie’s the only woman to have won all three of the major titles across the two promotions. It just goes to show what a big deal Mickie is in the world of wrestling. You’d be a brave individual to bet against her adding a few more to that list.

6 6. She’s Well-Educated

Mickie’s certainly a very well-rounded individual. Although it’s obviously a major part of her life, she’s not just all about wrestling, she’s now a family woman and they’re her priority, her love for horses are up there, she’s had a pretty successful career as a musician which she’s managed to juggle side by side with wrestling, and she also has an education to fall back on. She may yet use that education too. I’ve mentioned how she wants to run her own farm in the future, and her degree in Business Administration will certainly come in handy if and when she makes that dream happen. It was smart of her to get an education before embarking on a pro wrestling career; it meant she could’ve made plan B a success if plan A didn’t work out.

5 5. Mickie James is Her Real Name

It’s unusual in this day and age for a wrestler to simply use their own name when entering the industry. Many come up with a list of names, and although it’s the company who’ll have the final decision, they all have their preferences when it comes to ring names.

I suppose it would make things easier, having the same wrestling name as your real name – you won’t have to worry about promotions trying to copyright your name and all that type of stuff. There have been some prominent names, such as John Cena and Randy Orton, who have been given the opportunity to wrestle under their own names, and Mickie James is one of them. She’s used her real name since she started, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

4 4. Was Really Uncomfortable With The Whole ‘Piggy James’ Storyline

Some of the things that WWE has done over the years have just been outrageous. This may not stick out there as being one of the worst, but it certainly was for Mickie, who was at the receiving end of the tag, ‘Piggy James’. It was really harsh on Mickie, and those who witnessed Layla and Michelle McCool’s antics could feel her pain. The whole thing reduced Mickie to tears; it was a great performance by Mickie – as always – but this time it’s because she was actually really hurting inside. She’s said she actually felt bullied during that angle – bullied by the mean girls, Layla and McCool - because she had a tough time separating her personal emotions and experiences from the storyline.

3 3. Lose Weight Or Lose Your Job

When you hear things like this, it makes it all the more stunning that Mickie James decided to return to the company.

WWE once asked Mickie to shed a few pounds. Well actually, they didn’t really ask her – they insinuated it by creating that whole ‘Piggy James’ storyline. That’s essentially what it was all about. Layla and McCool kept calling her Piggy and make jabs at her weight – pretty disgusting stuff. Fans were also upset, as they thought it was outright ridiculous that WWE felt Mickie James had to lose weight when she was still among the top female workers in the company. The whole Piggy James storyline was WWE officials giving a hint – sort out your weight or lose your job – and we all know how that panned out.

2 2. Was Very Close To Quitting Wrestling

We as fans are thanking our and Mickie’s lucky stars for the fact she’s now back in the mix and has been brought back to WWE, where she belongs. But the much-anticipated comeback almost never materialized. In fact, Mickie was once very close to quitting wrestling altogether. She was close to calling it a day back in 2014. It’s because for Mickie, other things are more important in her life and number one on that list is her family. When she gave birth to Donovan Patrick Aldis, her life focus shifted to her little boy. He became her sole priority, and she wanted to dedicate her time to looking after him. Being a mom and a pro wrestler is extremely tough – Mickie knew that would be the case and didn’t want to sacrifice time with her family for the sake of her career.

1 1. Her Son Loves Wrestling Which She Finds Frightening

Decisions, decisions, decisions – Mickie had to make a lot of potentially life changing decisions when Donovan was born. One was the possibility of walking away from wrestling for good, but thankfully, for us and the industry, wrestling didn’t end up losing one of its biggest stars.

But why didn’t Mickie say sayonara to the industry which she’d made her home? Her son also had a lot to do with her decision to stay in the game. He’s only a toddler right now, but he just loves what his mommy does and the industry she’s in. She puts wrestling on on the TV, and he’s just fascinated with it, with all the razzmatazz, the bright colors, costumes, etc. It’s pure theatre and little Donovan just eats it up – thankfully he does because otherwise we may not have seen Mickie in the ring again.