User blog:CEDJunior/Mickie James: Face or Heel?

The subject in my latest "Face or Heel?" blog is Mickie James, a former WWE Diva and a former TNA Knockout who has made history in her lengthy wrestling career. She has held a total of nine championships in her career; a mainstream women's wrestling record, and she is the only woman to have held the WWE Women's Championship (five times), the WWE Divas Championship (once), and the TNA Knockouts Championship (three times).

Face Mickie:  We, as women's wrestling fans, have been very familiar with Mickie's babyface side; mainly because we saw it for many years. Mickie had two stints as a face in WWE, but her second run was much longer than the first. For four years, we watched Mickie as the peppy and upbeat heroine dueling with various heels such as Melina, Victoria, Beth Phoenix, Katie Lea, and even WWE Hall of Famer Lita, to name a few. Mickie would capture four Women's Championships in her long babyface run, as well as the Divas Championship in 2009.

Mickie's second stint as a babyface Diva lasted from the summer of 2006 until she was released in April of 2010. She would continue to work as a babyface when she returned to TNA nearly six months after her release, and she would duel with Madison Rayne for months, and also renew a pair of WWE rivalries by feuding with Tara and Winter. Mickie's first two reigns as Knockouts Champion took place in 2011, and she would spend the end of that year and the beginning of 2012 feuding with Gail Kim.

Heel Mickie: Mickie rarely played the villain in her career, but when she did, she made it memorable. I did learn that Mickie was a heel during her first run in TNA years ago, when she competed under the name Alexis Laree. Of course, Mickie's most memorable heel role came in 2006, when she turned against WWE Hall of Famer Trish Stratus. I remember the angle vividly, and I knew that it was a matter of time before Mickie would just snap and attack Trish someday. That day came on March 18, 2006 (my 21st birthday) on Saturday Night's Main Event, when Mickie attacked Trish after she was turned down once again by the object of her adoration. It would lead to Mickie defeating Trish at WrestleMania 22 to win her first Women's Championship.

After her first two Knockouts Championship reigns came and went, we were teased with the possibility of Mickie turning heel in 2012, with Velvet Sky being the reason for Mickie unleashing her long hidden evil side. I still pinpoint their match in the UK as the beginning of Mickie's heavily rumored villainous turn; she really delivered a heel persona en route to losing to Velvet. It was in June that TNA started the process of Mickie becoming a villainess, with the turn happening due to jealousy of Velvet's popularity. When Brooke Hogan announced that Velvet would appear in Montgomery Gentry's new music video, Mickie didn't look too happy with the news. In fact, during a four way #1 Contender's Match, Mickie targed Velvet and screamed at her on two occasions; clearly displaying jealousy and bitterness. Velvet's departure a month later killed the angle (much to my disappointment), but when she returned in the end of that year, I saw hope in Mickie turning heel.

Mickie's villainous transformation began on April 25, 2013, when she faced Velvet for the Knockouts Championship. During that match, Mickie went for two quick pins after Velvet's knee buckled, and then targeted the injury, but she was defeated despite her tactics. Mickie stated in an exclusive interview that she would become more ruthless in her next attempt, and she was; capturing her third Knockouts Championship by delivering a chopblock to Velvet's bad knee. Three weeks after her victory, the evil Mickie attacked Velvet after she revealed that she was cleared to compete for her rematch; turning into a villainess for the first time in seven years. Heel Mickie went through Velvet one more time, and she also retained against fellow villainous Knockout Gail Kim, but she would be dethroned by ODB on September 19 in what was her last match in TNA.

So which side of Mickie do I like more? Given the circumstances, I'm going to have to go with her face side. This is mainly because Mickie was a babyface for so long, and as much as I loved her as a heel, the gimmicks could have been a bit better. I clearly consider Mickie's heel run from last year as her best one, but I do think she could have been more evil as a character. I recall reading two years ago that Mickie was supposed to bring back a little bit of her psycho heel gimmick from WWE, and I think I would have liked to have seen that in her role from last year. Instead, Mickie was the condescending heel; putting on a fake smile while "politely" looking down at the fans and the other Knockouts. If she were more crazed and snarled at the crowd more, I would have really loved her and preferred her heel side. But I have to go with Face Mickie.

Face Mickie or Heel Mickie? Which do you prefer?