What the hell WWE?

On August 17, iconic wrestler Mickie James had her return match on the company’s flagship show “Monday Night Raw,” after a year of inactivity due to an injury. In a match that lasted one minute and 12 seconds, James faced the legendary Natalya and the “Ravishing Russian,” Lana.

Yes, I counted because I needed to make sure that this wasn’t 2010 or 2011 where this time length was normal for the women’s division. To make matters worse, neither woman got an entrance and they only wrestled for one minute and 39 seconds before Seth Rollins and Murphy rudely interrupted and started badgering commentator Samoa Joe about “sources”. From that moment on, the focus was on them and not the women. James ended up losing the match by count-out and then kicked Lana in the head. Well, the internet was not pleased with this outcome and neither was James herself.

“I feel awful, I feel awful,” said James in a WWE exclusive backstage after the match. “I don’t even know what to say. I don’t even know what to say, I’m so frustrated, honestly. Just gonna have to go home, reset, re-focus.” James even started trending on Twitter.

How can WWE treat a legend like that? They’ve called her a trailblazer because of her status as a six-time women’s champion (five women’s championship reigns and one divas championship reign). She’s also the woman that inherited a Divas Era leadership role from the G.O.A.T. Trish Stratus and “The Queen of Extreme” Lita and participated in one of the most controversial women storylines where she got made fun of for being “fat” and got cake shoved in her face. She has accomplished a lot in the company, but she isn’t treated as such.

Is it because she’s a woman? Men like Goldberg, Randy Orton, Big Show and Kane get to have storylines, segments, title runs and matches against other legends and current top stars like Bray Wyatt aka “The Fiend” and Drew McIntyre.

Women like Mickie James don’t get the same thing though. One of the reasons may be because her husband, fellow wrestler Nick Aldis, and head writer for “Monday Night Raw” Bruce Prichard have issues with each other. What happened to James would never happen to any of the men I listed.

WWE needs to take notes from how Madison Rayne was treated in Impact Wrestling back in 2018 when she feuded with Tessa Blanchard. Blanchard was an arrogant rookie who used underhanded tactics to win and would often attack her opponents after the match. Soon, Rayne decided she’d had enough.

Five-time Knockouts champion Rayne continuously got wins over Tessa Blanchard. The matches were competitive and Rayne had some help winning, which kept Blanchard from looking weak while also allowing Rayne to shine as the legend she is. You shouldn’t be able to get an easy win over a legend.

It’s not that hard WWE. James has proven herself to be one of the best women’s wrestlers of all time. Not only can she wrestle, but she can also cut great promos, play a good guy and a bad guy very well, and looks fantastic doing it.

Do better WWE.