In a recent interview with Denise Salcedo on Instinct Culture, Mickie James expressed her joy about the flourishing state of women’s wrestling. She also discussed her participation in WrestleMania through her DressleMania auction. Below are some of the interview’s highlights, as reported by Fightful:

On the current state of women’s wrestling: “How amazing, how exciting of a time is it in 2023 when we are looking at Lita as a Tag Team Champion with Becky? Now looking at Team Bestie going to be at WrestleMania, two women who I’ve shared a lot of history with, and who I admire, look up to, find hella inspiring, and I just adore. You see that happening there. You see, in IMPACT, I’m the Champion in 2023, and our tag team division is shining so bright, and the women in that locker room. Then you see over at AEW, Saraya comes back from a career-ending injury. Someone who they said, ‘Oh, she’s never going to wrestle again.’ What a freakin magical time in professional wrestling and not just in women’s professional wrestling, just in professional wrestling across the board,” James continued. “For a long time, it used to be like, ‘Oh, well, they’re retired,’ or ‘they’re this,’ and it would all be about this whole new — and it was never that way about the men as much as it was for the women.”

On being at WrestleMania: “I’m going to be there for WrestleCon. I’m going to be out there in LA. I’m really hoping — because we’re doing DressleMania this year and one of the things that we’re auctioning off is — I’ve already texted both of them, ‘I really hope you guys are wrestling on night two,’ because I’m actually going to be in a suite that we’re auctioning off for one of the winners for DressleMania and there watching. It is my first time ever watching WrestleMania as a spectator. I’ve never been. I could never go when we were kids. We didn’t have the money. Never went as a child have only been as a talent. For my first time ever, in the history of the world, in the history of Mickie James, I’m going to be going to WrestleMania as a spectator. I’m just praying that my friends are wrestling night two, so I can watch it there live, in-person, because I really would love to see it live in person.”