NXT Superstar Nearly Retired Recently, Mickie James On Age Issues

An NXT Superstar nearly retired recently, but thankfully did not. Also, speaking of retirement, Mickie James vents on age issues and double standards within WWE, as it pertains to female Superstars.

NXT Superstar Nearly Retired Recently

An NXT Superstar nearly retired recently. That news just came to light, and the name may surprise you.

Ember Moon, who only returned to NXT in the tail end of 2020, spent a long time recovering from injuries.

She missed a lot of time. Her injury issues derailed the progress she made during her first run in NXT, which led to her main roster arrival.

Time off from injuries lead to Ember Moon nearly retiring last year. 

Moon was injured during a segment involving the 24/7 Championship (one reason that format could be called a bad idea). That injury had her contemplating retirement as recently as this time last year.

That the NXT Superstar nearly retired isn’t entirely shocking. For as long as she was off television, there were whispers about whether she would ever return.

As we know now, Moon did return, but not to either of RAW or SmackDown. Instead, Ember Moon returned as an NXT Superstar during an October TakeOver.

Now, Moon can feel a lot better about her return. Last week, NXT added Women’s Tag Team Championship belts.

The first champions, Dakota Kai and Raquel Gonzalez, lost those belts in their very first defense-to Ember Moon and Shotzi Blackheart.

In reflecting on the title win, Moon posted to Instagram. It was in that post that she revealed that this time last year, she nearly called it a career.

Seeing how things have turned out for her, it’s safe to say Moon and her fans are pretty happy she decided to rehab and return.

Mickie James On Age Issues

While on the topic of retirement, Mickie James recently spoke out on some age issues for female Superstars.

Specifically, James feels it’s an unfair double standard that female Superstars seem to be expected to retire early.

This topic is one that James is passionate about. She has stated she still wants to actively wrestle, but WWE now sees her as a Legend instead of a viable member of the active roster.

For the record, Mickie James is “just” 41 years old.

The comments, seen in a social media post below, fed off of comments made by a recent WWE signee, Taya Valkyrie.

A few thoughts here…

If WWE (or any other promo) is stopping capable female talent from working past a certain age, that is asking for issues. 

Considering that WWE in particular has had no issues with aging talents like Goldberg, Ric Flair, Hulk Hogan and others being involved in recent years, James has a point. 

Fans don’t want to see bad performances-regardless of by male or female talents. If WWE is willing to dust off a 60 year old retired man, then where’s the issue with letting someone nearly 20 years younger have time in the ring?

Especially when one of them is actually interested in putting in the time on a fairly full time basis.

If that is a pervasive approach by WWE, that could bring legal issues to Stamford before too long.