Mickie James recently interviewed with WrestleNewz, and in part one of the two-part series, she discussed working on the independent circuit again, the Piggy James angle in WWE, training with Dory Funk, and more. Below are some of the highlights:

On working the independent circuit again:

"It is pretty humbling, and obviously now I’m in a different position, but what I find really inspiring is you’ll see so many young wrestlers who have that same fire, that same passion, and that same hunger that I remember so well when I was first coming in. I was just so hungry for knowledge, and you can see it in these people at these indie shows."

On training with Dory Funk:
"He was great. You got to love Dory! He came up to Virginia and I did a week-long camp, and that was my first experience training with him. Then I went down and worked a couple of his shows, and I’ve worked some of his shows since then. He’s very old school, but he’s so sweet in the way he delivers his instructions, and he’s right there in the ring wrestling with you, and showing you how it’s done."

On Piggy James angle:

"I feel like it was one of the most difficult storylines to take, as I found it difficult to take my personal feelings and emotions out of it. But I can see how it may have resonated, because at some point most of us have been bullied or picked on, so most of us can relate to it in some aspect. Because you’re going to have sympathy for the character and understand where she’s coming from, impacted from the perils of bullying."