Deonna Purrazzo, Nick Aldis & More React To Mickie James Royal Rumble Announcement

The most unexpected opening of wrestling’s ‘Forbidden Door’ took place on last night’s (January 7) episode of WWE SmackDown, when WWE announced that IMPACT Knockouts Champion Mickie James would be a part of the 2022 Women’s Royal Rumble match.

James was referred to as the Knockouts Champion on air by Pat McAfee, and is set to defend he championship against Deonna Purrazzo at IMPACT’s Hard to Kill pay-per-view tonight.

Purrazzo herself took to Twitter to react to the announcement of James entering the Rumble, saying:

She won’t be running down the ramp with MY @IMPACTWRESTLING Knockouts World Championship after #HardToKill tomorrow night… #Virtuosa 👁 https://t.co/sTnVpSA9vp

— The Virtuosa (@DeonnaPurrazzo) January 8, 2022

IMPACT Hall of Famer Gail Kim commented on James opening the Forbidden Door, saying:

Hell yeah girl!!! Represent 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Get it CHAMP ⭐️⭐️ #ImpactWrestling https://t.co/3v5EnTxb9A

— Gail Kim-Irvine (@gailkimITSME) January 8, 2022

James’ husband, former NWA Worlds Champion Nick Aldis also reacted to James entering the Rumble, saying:

At the risk of being a cringe sentimental tweet, I do want to say how proud I am of @MickieJames for once again just hitting the ground running and proving that you can't stop true top level talent if they're all business like her…& props to @nwa, @IMPACTWRESTLING & @WWE.

2022

— Nick Aldis (@RealNickAldis) January 8, 2022

Finally, news of the Forbidden Door opening up in WWE peaked the interest of Raw star Cedric Alexander, who simply asked: