Former WWE Star Reflects On Getting Pushback On Wardrobe Choice From WrestleMania 33

WWE

A former WWE star has reflected on getting pushback on a wardrobe choice from WrestleMania 33.

Mickie James has seen her fair share of memorable ring gears that fans have been talking about for years after.

One of her more famous wardrobe choices was wearing a headdress at WWE WrestleMania 33 in the six-way match for the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Speaking on GAW TV, the hosts had Tommy Dreamer as their guest and asked about their vision for a potential Native American Bad Ass character for James. Recalling how she wore the headdress and received some pushback for it, Mickie said:

“Because women aren’t supposed to wear headdresses,” James said. “Warriors wear headdresses. It’s a war bonnet, and it’s supposed to be only for men.”

“Also, each feather represents certain achievements or whether it was a battle one or a spiritual journey or different levels and stuff like that.”

“So yeah, there was an incredible amount [of pushback], which I was pretty shocked about. In my mind, I said, ‘Oh, I’m a female, but I’m a female warrior,’ and it was WrestleMania. Everything is theatrics, it’s as big as possible, it’s WrestleMania.”

“I still have that headdress, and I thought I was gonna be able to showcase it and do all the things, but it sits in my closet.”

James was also able to pay tribute to his Native American heritage with her gear at Hard To Kill 2023 when she defeated Jordynne Grace for the IMPACT Knockouts World Championship.

Further explaining how creative thought about it, Dreamer continued on to state that he doesn’t think Mickie James’ idea would work today, saying:

“So the answer would be no. Because number one, you gotta explain that [laughs],” Dreamer said. “Number two, listen, I have this conversation all the time.”

“The Iron Sheik, who we just lost, we will never see a character like that again. What did wrestling and wrestling villains always portray? Fear. It was Germans, it was Nazis, it was Russians during all conflict. Iron Sheik, the Ayatollah, Iran.”

“You’re too young to realize this, but in Iran with the Ayatollah, they killed US soldiers. They took Americans hostage. Here’s this guy who was legit the Sha of Iran’s bodyguard, and he was coming to America to do this to everybody. That was his goal.”

“We are currently, there’s a war going on that we’re not involved in, Russia and the Ukraine. We cannot have a heel Russian character. You can not have a Ukraine character. Why? Because companies would come at you. So think of that. Think of a character like that.

Dreamer continued on to explain that wrestlers today are held to a different standard, saying:

“Wrestlers are always held to a different standard. So Mickie thinking ‘I’m doing this as an amazing tribute.’ ‘How dare you, you’re doing that.’ But guess what? I have seen women wrestlers with full headdresses on that were natives, but social media wasn’t a thing, or people won’t tag your company to get you kicked off.”

“Or ‘This person should be fired.’ If it becomes such a hot topic issue, you have to get rid of it. We don’t say Masha Slamovich is from Russia anymore because you don’t want that negative stereotype. But that’s honestly how the world is different.”

Tommy Dreamer recently made his return to IMPACT Wrestling in a backstage role and will make his way back in the squared circle on an upcoming episode of IMPACT on AXS TV.

Meanwhile, Mickie James recently made her in-ring return following a rib injury in February. She will wrestle on the August 26 RevPro 11 Year Anniversary Show.

Transcription via WrestleZone

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• headdress
• mickie james
• wrestlemania 33
• wwe

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