What is Mickie James’s Net Worth?
Mickie James is a professional wrestler and country singer who has a net worth of $2 million. Mickie James is best known for her work in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Impact Wrestling, and National Wrestling Alliance. She also began her country music career in 2010 and has since released two albums, “Strangers & Angels” and “Somebody’s Gonna Pay.”
Early Life
Mickie James was born on August 31, 1979 in Richmond, Virginia to parents Stuart James and Sandra Knuckles. She is part of the Native American Powhatan tribe on her mother’s side. Her father was a wastewater-treatment worker, landscaper, and coach while her mother was a teacher and real estate agent. Her parents divorced when she was young and she grew up with her sister, half-sister, half-brother, and three stepbrothers. As a child, she spent a lot of time on her grandmother’s horse farm where she developed a keen interest in equestrian sports. She attended Patrick Henry High School and graduated in 1997. She later attended university where she achieved a bachelor’s degree in operations management.
(Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images for Spike TV)
Career
Soon after she graduated from high school, James attended a professional wrestling school in Washington D.C. at the suggestion of a friend, as James had been a fan of professional wrestling from a young age. She made her professional debut on the independent circuit on August 28, 1999 as a valet for KYDA Pro Wrestling under the ring name Alexis Laree. She went on to manage several male wrestlers before she wrestled in her first match, an intergender tag team match with Jake Damian against American Mike Brown and Candie. She trained to improve her wrestling abilities by attending training camps such as the Funking Conservatory and Extreme Championship Wrestling dojo. Due to the low salary of the independent shows, James also supplemented her income by working as a waitress at an Olive Garden and by posing nude for fetish magazines like “Leg Show” and “Naughty Neighbors.”
In 2002, James debuted in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) as a participant in the lingerie battle royal. She became a prominent feature by 2003. She became the first woman to compete in a Clockwork Orange House of Fun match, one of TNA’s signature matches. Later in 2003, James signed a development contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). WWE sent her to train at Ohio Valley Wrestling. She began making television appearances for OVW in 2004 and competed in several tag team matches throughout the year. In 2005, she was placed into a tournament for the OVW Television Championship. In October of that year, she debuted in WWE in an episode of “Raw” in which she appeared with WWE Women’s Champion Trish Stratus.
James continued to appear with Stratus over the next year and their storyline eventually developed into a feud. The feud came to an end in a June 2006 episode of “Raw” when James defeated Stratus in a Women’s Championship match. Over the next couple of years, James has several storylines with other female wrestlers like Lita, Victoria, and Melina. Throughout this time, James was often in contention for the Women’s Championship, winning it several times. In 2009, she began appearing on “SmackDown” for the first time in her career. She continued appearing on the show over the next couple years.
(Photo by Daniel Torok/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
From 2010 to 2016, James made her return to the independent wrestling circuit as part of World Wrestling Council. She didn’t return to the WWE until 2016 when she joined the WWE’s developmental brand “NXT.” She also later appeared again on “Raw” and “WrestleMania.” She remained with the WWE for several years before making her National Wrestling Alliance debut in 2021. In 2024, James signed with Ohio Valley Wrestling as Creative Director, Head of Female Talent and Executive Producer of OVW’s wrestling shows.
In addition to her career in wrestling, James has also had a music career. She released her first country music album, “Strangers & Angels,” on May 18, 2010 on iTunes. The album was self-released as James did not have a recording contract. For her second album, James launched a Kickstarter campaign to help fund the album. Fans who contributed donations were given special promotional items. The fundraising campaign was successful and she released her second album, “Somebody’s Gonna Pay,” on May 7, 2013. She filmed a music video for the title track that featured WWE Women’s Champion, Trish Stratus. James toured around the United States with the album. She has also opened shows for artists like Montgomery Gentry, Randy Houser, Gretchen Wilson, and Rascal Flatts. She performed at both the 2011 and 2013 CMA Music Festival events. In October 2017, she was inducted into The Native American Music Awards Hall of Fame.
Personal Life
In 2007, James was engaged to fellow wrestler Kenny Dykstra. However, they later broke up and she began dating English professional wrestler Nick Aldis. In September 2014, they welcomed a son together named Donovan. They got engaged in December 2014 and were married on December 31, 2015. James has stated that she plans to retire on a farm and become a horse trainer. She loves animals and has several dogs. She is also a fan of American football and supports the Dallas Cowboys.
