Mickie Laree James (born August 31, 1979) is an American professional wrestler and country singer. She is currently signed to Impact Wrestling, where she is the current Impact Knockouts World Champion in her fifth reign. She has also had tenures in WWE and the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). James began her wrestling career in 1999 as a valet on the independent circuit, where she was known under the name Alexis Laree. She trained in several camps to improve her wrestling abilities before working for NWA: Total Nonstop Action (NWA: TNA, later Total Nonstop Action Wrestling, now Impact Wrestling) in 2002, where she gained national attention. After only a few appearances, she joined a stable called The Gathering and was written into storylines with the group. She is the only woman to be involved in the promotion's Clockwork Orange House of Fun matches. James made her World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) main roster debut in 2005 and was placed in a storyline with Trish Stratus, in which James' gimmick was that of Stratus' biggest fan turned obsessed stalker, an angle which ran over eight months. She received a push and she won her first WWE Women's Championship at WrestleMania 22, a title she has held a total of five times. James also won her first Divas Championship defeating Maryse Ouellet at Night of Champions in 2009, to become the second of five Divas to hold both the Women's and Divas titles. She is one of only five women who have held six or more WWE women's championships, the others being Charlotte Flair, Trish Stratus, Becky Lynch & Sasha Banks. She was released from the company in April 2010, after which she returned to TNA, where she became a three-time TNA Knockouts Champion. James returned to WWE in 2013 as a guest trainer, then officially returned in 2016 before she was once again released in 2021. James would then make occasional appearances from then and would ultimately return to Impact Wrestling, winning her fourth and fifth Knockouts Championship, making James a total 11-time women's world champion between WWE and Impact. Early life James was born at Richmond Memorial Hospital in Richmond, Virginia, the daughter of Stuart James, a retired wastewater-treatment worker, landscaper, and VAIL League Division 3 Championship coach and Sandra Knuckles, a teacher and real-estate agent. Her parents divorced while she was young. She has a sister, a half-sister, a half-brother, and