Do I want music, or do I want wrestling? I wanted both.

The indie shows are tons of fun. And for the fans, having that up close and personal experience is so different to watching wrestling on television at home.

I would really love to win one of the men's championships and throw a complete curve ball, like, out of nowhere.

I was fortunate enough to be able to keep my real name and build a whole bio around Mickie James.

To be inducted into the Hall of Fame is a huge honor for any one person in this industry. It not only gives you credibility as the mark you made in the pages of history to the fans, but notoriety for the path you paved for everyone who followed in your footsteps.

I'm an artist, a performer... There's an art to what we do to the wrestling... I don't want to really fight anybody.

When people have a passion and desire, it burns through and shows.

As a heel, you get to make twists and turns that really sell that character so that you can get that genuine kind of heat from people that want to hate you.

I got into wrestling to be a WWE superstar - that was my goal.

I came from the independent scene, and I've wrestled in front of a crowd of four people in a car lot in 104 degrees in Fayetteville, North Carolina.

I didn't want to be Trish Stratus, I didn't want to be Lita, but I wanted to be on their level and to be seen in people's eyes at that level.

I can't say that I never will or would go back to the WWE. I honestly never intended on leaving until I retired. However we don't choose our destiny. We just live it.

Sasha Banks stood out. She had tons of personality. I thought she was really good in a sense. I liked her sass and personality.

I love art, painting, and drawing and studying art, like Rembrandt and Van Gogh.

I would love to work with Charlotte Flair.

I had the desire to be the best in the world.

I know who Asuka is, I've seen her work in Japan and NXT. She is incredibly talented.

I'm going in with the mentality that I'm going to win. If you don't go in there thinking that, you've already beat yourself.

I started at a small school in Virginia, and I learned how to wrestle - at least take falls - in a boxing ring.

WrestleMania was one of my greatest matches in my career.

With my second album, eOne Music really wanted me to rock it up a little bit.

I always focus on what is next in my career.

I wanted to start a family, but it wasn't something that I was going to take a break to do.

You can teach anybody wrestling moves, hopefully, if they have an athletic bone in their body. However, the ones that are going to make money and be different are the ones with personality.

I was honored to be part of the movement in the mid-2000s, and it was definitely a transitional period of women's wrestling because, you know, Lita and Trish were putting on incredible matches and main eventing even before I came up and debuted.

I'm very proud; I have such loyal fans, and they would follow me to the ends of the Earth, and that's an amazing, amazing thing.

I was always writing - whether it's ideas, poems, whatever - because we spent so much time in the car traveling from city to city.

Wrestling will always be a part of me and a part of my life. I just love it too much.

You want to be taken seriously as an artist and not just known as 'that girl wrestler who sings.' So you want to go out and stand on your own legs. But at the same time, I don't negate the fact that without everything I've accomplished in wrestling, I wouldn't have been given so many really cool opportunities on the music side.

When I fell in love with wrestling, I fell in love with the characters and the over-the-top kind of personalities and the wrestling aspect of it.

I try to remember who I am and what I come from, because I didn't come from super means. I had to work and pray and try really hard to succeed and get everything that I wanted out of life.

I'm good at wrestling, and I love it with all my heart.

I didn't want to be good for a girl: I wanted to be as good, if not better than, all the guys.

I've always loved music. I've worked on music and written music, but, it wasn't until I was actually on the road full time with WWE that I put my first album out.

To be a true star, you need to find that balance in between shining the light on the professional wrestling aspect, of being the absolute best in the ring, but also being the best character and finding that balance in between them.

I love being on the road. I sit at home too long, and I start to go a bit stir crazy.

I don't want to retire on the independent scene. I don't want my legacy to be remembered as that.

I feel like my music at least allows me to release the other side of me, a more vulnerable and sensitive side.

To see how far female wrestling has come is just inspiring and incredible.

I just love working.

I think what GFW is doing is cool and unique. They're taking some of the talent you've seen elsewhere or haven't had a chance to see before because there's so much talent everywhere.

I would like to take on Charlotte. That would be fun because I've been friends with Ric Flair. He does nothing but brag about her. He is proud of her, as he should be.

I watched WWE as a child. I was a fan.

When I retire, I want to retire the right way.

I do have little trinkets. I'm a little bit of a hippie, so I have my wisdom rock - it goes with me; it's always in my purse, wherever I go. That's just me, being a hippie.

Obviously, my wrestling boots end up going with me everywhere, because you just never know.

The key is that you never check the championship. You always carry it on. So when you're going through TSA, it's always a treat because, for some reason, they always like to pull it out and hold it way above their head and throw it over their shoulder and put it across their waist, see what it looks like on them.

Most people know that Lita has been, as far as my wrestling career is concerned, a big influence even before I came to the WWE. We met when I was working the independent scene in North Carolina. She's always been so kind to me and helped me out a lot.

Before Lita, women weren't doing moonsaults, hurricanrana, and other high-flying maneuvers. I think she really changed the game in the women's division.

When the lights in the arena turn on, I'm Mickie James all the time.