She worked for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) on its SmackDown and Raw brands. She also worked for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling from 2010 to 2013.
James started wrestling in 1999 as a valet on the independent circuit using the name Alexis Laree. She trained in several places to get better at wrestling before working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) in June 2002. She first became well known while she was while working at TNA. Soon after she started working for TNA, she joined a stable called The Gathering. She is also the only woman to be a part of Clockwork Orange House of Fun matches.
James started working with WWE in October 2005. She was a part of a storyline with Trish Stratus. James' gimmick was that she was Stratus' biggest fan and later became Stratus' stalker. This storyline lasted almost a year. The person at WWE believed she was doing good work. Because of this, she won her first WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22. She has held the championship a total of four times.
Outside of wrestling, James has an associate of arts degree in business administration. She is studying for her Bachelor of Arts degree in operations management. James grew up on a farm and has an interest in horses. She owns three Morgan horses. James has been riding since she was 11 years old.
She released her debut album "Strangers & Angels" on May 18, 2010 on iTunes. Her second album "Somebody's Gonna Pay" was released on May 18, 2010 and reached #15 on the Billboards Heatseekers charts. The album contains the song "Hardcore Country" which James uses as her current theme song in TNA.
Mickie James was raised on a farm with her sister Latoya in Montpelier, Virginia. She is of Native American heritage. As a child, she watched weekend horse shows. James started riding horses when she was eleven years old after her grandmother bought her a horse. James was a fan of professional wrestling as a child. She used to watch wrestling with her father. Her favorite wrestlers were Randy Savage, Ricky Steamboat and Ric Flair.
James started her training at a professional wrestling school in the Washington, D.C. area. She started her wrestling career on the independent circuit in 1999. Her first work was as a valet for KYDA Pro Wrestling using the ring name Alexis Laree. The name is a combination of her stage name from when she was a dancer and her middle name. As Laree, she managed several male wrestlers. This included managing Tommy Dreamer to win the KYDA Pro Heavyweight Championship. In March, she wrestled in her first match. It was an intergender tag team match with Jake Damian against American Mike Brown and Candie. James trained to get better at wrestling at many places. These places include the Funking Conservatory run by Dory Funk, Jr. and an Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) dojo. She also started wrestling for Maryland Championship Wrestling. While there, she was trained by Ricky Morton and Bobby Eaton. Because the independent circuit did not pay enough, James worked as a waitress at an Olive Garden restaurant. Trish Stratus, a former WWE wrestler, was and still is Mickie James' role model
James worked in Ring of Honor for a year. During this time, she also started wrestling in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. As Alexis Laree, she was a part of a lingerie battle royal. On March 26, 2003, she teamed with Amazing Red against Kid Kash—the X Division Champion—and Trinity. Weeks later, she became the first member of the Gathering, a stable led by Raven. On April 16, Laree became the first (and currently, only) woman to wrestle in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match. This match involve the Gathering and Jeff Jarrett. She continued to wrestle with the Gathering when they feuded with the Disciples of The New Church. During this feud, James was kayfabe burned with a fireball by Father James Mitchell. She also wrestled in another Clockwork Orange House of Fun match.
James tried for two years to work for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). In August 2003, she was began to work for the WWE. They sent her to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). James still used the name Alexis Laree at this time. She began making wresting on television for OVW on January 29, 2004. She wrestled in several tag team matches during the year. She won a Halloween Costume Contest on October 30 and defeated Jillian Hall in a $1,000 match on November 12.
Laree began a feud with Beth Phoenix on July 20. This feud started after Phoenix interrupted Laree during an interview. A match took place on July 29. Laree lost to Phoenix. The feud continued into September. Shelly Martinez was added to the storyline to side with Phoenix against Laree. On October 12, she appeared in OVW under her real name. She finished the year losing matches against Martinez and Jillian Hall.
James was first used on television in WWE on the October 10 2005 episode of "Raw". She used her real name. James used the gimmick of WWE Women's Champion Trish Stratus' biggest fan. The storyline had the two WWE Divas wrestling together in tag team matches. James' character became more obsessed with Stratus as time went on. A Halloween Costume Contest was part of the story line. James was dressed like Stratus. She even started using Stratus' personal finishing moves as her own during matches. On December 12, James wrestled and defeated Victoria. The match was to decide who would wrestle Stratus at New Year's Revolution for the championship. Lesbian themes were added to the story line with James kissing Stratus under mistletoe and saying nice things to her about her breasts. In the championship match, James lost to Stratus but still showed romantic fellings towards her the next night on "Raw". She told Stratus that she loved her at the Royal Rumble.
On March 6 2006 the storyline had Stratus telling James that they needed time apart from each other. They wrestled as a team at the March 18, 2006 Saturday Night's Main Event. James and Stratus defeated Candice Michelle and Victoria in the match. After the match, James tried to kiss Stratus. Stratus pushed her away and James' character made a complete heel turn. She attacked Stratus in the ring. James' character later said she would destroy Stratus. The two women wrestled each other at WrestleMania 22. James won the match to become the Women's Champion for her first time. During the match, even though James was playing the heel character, the fans liked her more than Stratus. The storyline ended at Backlash with a rematch after Stratus legitimately dislocated her shoulder when James threw her out of the ring. James lost the Women's Title on August 14 to Lita. During the match, Lita hit James with the title belt when Edge distracted the referee. This causes a face turn for James' on-screen character. When Stratus retired as champion, there was no longer a Women's Championship. WWE held a tournament to name a new champion. James was a part of that tournament. She defeated Victoria and Melina in the early parts of the tournament. She made it to the finals at Cyber Sunday. In the final match, she lost to Lita. At the 2006 Survivor Series James defeated Lita to win her second Women's Championship.
A new feud began between James and Melina on January 29 2007. Melina was the number one contender for the Women's Title at the time. James defeated Melina on February 5 to keep the championship. After this, she teamed with Super Crazy in a mixed tag team match against Melina and Johnny Nitro. Melina defeated James and challenged her to a rematch for the title. James lost the Women's Championship to Melina on February 19. The two wrestled in the first ever Women's Falls Count Anywhere match in WWE history. James lost to Melina. Near the end of the match, James fell from the turnbuckle. She landed on her neck but was not badly injured.