Mickie James has opened up about one of the most controversial and talked-about moments of her career , the infamous gesture during her WrestleMania 22 match against Trish Stratus. Speaking on Insight With Chris Van Vliet, James shared the full story behind the now-legendary spot, including how it came together backstage and how Vince McMahon reacted once it played out live.

James explained that the moment was pre-planned as part of her character’s ongoing obsession with Stratus, something that had been built up over months of storytelling. She said it felt like a natural progression for the angle to peak in that way at WrestleMania.

“So I had asked Steve Keirn. Steve Keirn was our agent. I had asked Steve Keirn, ‘Can I lick my finger?’ Because we had already had the crotch grab spot. We’re gonna do it. So we knew we were going to do the vag grab,” James explained. “You think about the whole story… I have done many things, tried to kiss her numerous occasions, access denied. So we’re at WrestleMania, and I’m like, all the things that we’ve done to lead to this and they want this moment. I’m like, okay. I felt like that’s what anybody would have done in that moment, after all that.”

James revealed that while Keirn technically gave her the go-ahead, he may not have realized what she actually intended to do.

“He was like, ‘Lick your finger?’ I was like, Well, yeah, I mean, I’m grabbing, wouldn’t I?… This would be my dream come true, right? And he’s like, ‘I will see.’ I went away, and he comes back, and he goes, ‘Yeah, okay, I think you can lick your fingers.’ Fine, whatever. Sorry, Steve Keirn. So that’s not what I did,” James admitted.

Backstage, however, her creativity was not met with the reaction she expected.

“I thought in my heart and in my soul, I honestly believed I was going to walk back through that curtain, and… I thought I was going to get the biggest hug of a lifetime, and fist bumps, maybe even a hoist on a shoulder… It’s not what happened at all,” James recalled. “Go back through the curtain and Vince is pissed. He’s like, ‘That was crass! Do you know what we’re gonna have to do? How much money it’s gonna cost to edit that and to pull it from everything? We’re a publicly traded company! What are you thinking?’ So if you can imagine the high of a lifetime and then walking through and just shanked right through the curtain, I was like, Oh.”

Even with McMahon’s anger in the moment, James joked that he could not have been too upset, since she remained champion following the match. “But clearly he didn’t hate me too much, because I still was the champion, so maybe deep down he really loved it.”

Join WNS on DISCORD – Comment and Debate!

Ready to join the discussion? 🎤 Join the ultimate wrestling community – real fans, real talk, real heat! – Join WNS Discord.