Following an appearance in the 25-Diva battle royal at WrestleMania XXV, James began feuding with the WWE Divas Champion Maryse heading into Night of Champions on July 26. At the event, James defeated Maryse to win her first Divas Championship, becoming only the second Diva in history to have held both the Women's and Divas titles. Throughout the Summer, Mickie successfully defended the title against Gail Kim and Beth Phoenix on episodes of "Raw", and against Alicia Fox at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view on October 4. Two weeks later on "Raw", James lost the title to Jillian Hall after an approximate three month title reign. After the show, James was traded to the "SmackDown" brand for the first time in her career, due to a Diva trade made by "Raw" guest host Nancy O'Dell.