Rena Mero Lesnar (nee'
Greek on
August 8, 1967) is an American model,
actress,
and former
professional
wrestler. She is primarily known for her stints in
World Wrestling Entertainment
as
Sable.
Before gaining popularity in the world of
professional wrestling, Mero worked
as a model for
L'Oréal,
Pepsi, and
Guess?.
Along with her second husband
Marc Mero,
she began working for the
World Wrestling Federation
(WWF) in 1996. As Sable, she was one of the first
WWE Divas, and she gained considerable popularity,
surpassing that of her husband. After feuding with
Luna Vachon, and
Jacqueline, Sable became the second
WWF Women's Champion after
the title was reinstated into the company. After becoming a
heel and leaving the
company, Mero filed a $110 million lawsuit against the company,
citing allegations of
sexual
harassment and unsafe working conditions.
In 2003, she returned to the newly renamed World Wrestling
Entertainment (WWE) where she was put into a storyline feud with
Torrie Wilson, and another storyline
as
Vince McMahon's mistress. In 2004,
she left the company to spend more time with her family.
Outside of wrestling, Mero has been featured on the cover of
Playboy three times. The April 1999
issue of the magazine with her on the cover was one of the highest
selling issues in
Playboy history. She has also guest
starred on several television series, including
Pacific Blue. She also
appeared in the film
Corky
Romano.
Early life
Rena Greek
was born in Jacksonville,
Florida
. She was active in her youth and was
interested in activities such as gymnastics, horseback riding, and
softball. After winning her first beauty pageant at twelve years of
age, she eventually became a model in 1990, working with companies
such as
L'Oréal,
Pepsi, and
Guess?.
Greek married Wayne Richardson in 1986. The couple had a daughter
named Mariah in 1988. The two remained married until Richardson
died in a drunk-driving accident in 1991. She met her second
husband, professional wrestler and former
boxer Marc Mero, who had
been performing in
World
Championship Wrestling as "Johnny B. Badd", in 1993. Mero also
had breast augmentation surgery in 1993 to increase her
self-esteem. After marrying Mero in the following year, she broke
into the wrestling business through the World Wrestling
Federation.
World Wrestling Federation (1996–1999)
Rena Mero made her World Wrestling Federation debut as Sable at
WrestleMania XII in March 1996,
escorting
Hunter Hearst Helmsley to the
ring as he took on the returning
The
Ultimate Warrior. Mero's first major
angle as Sable
involved her then real-life husband, who debuted at WrestleMania
XII as "Wildman" Marc Mero. The storyline started when Marc Mero
witnessed Sable being mistreated by Helmsley backstage, so Marc
Mero attacked Helmsley and took Sable as his
manager. She remained
Mero's manager until his injury in 1997. Between 1997 and the time
he returned from his injury in 1998, Sable became popular on her
own. In her next storyline, a returning Marc Mero (now known as
"Marvelous" Marc Mero) became jealous, refused to let Sable get any
of the spotlight, and mistreated her. The duo entered into a
feud with
Luna Vachon and
The
Artist Formerly Known as Goldust, which climaxed in a match at
WrestleMania XIV in March 1998.
Sable delivered a superkick to Goldust and executed a
"Sable
Bomb", a version of the
powerbomb, on
Luna. She also delivered a
TKO and pinned Luna to
finish the match, with the crowd chanting Sable's name in the
background. At the following
pay-per-view event,
Unforgiven in April 1998, Sable lost to
Luna in an
Evening
Gown match after being distracted by Marc Mero.
After Marc's interference at Unforgiven, Sable came to the ring and
challenged Marc to a match. Sable then kicked him in the groin and
delivered a Sable Bomb to get revenge. Sable eventually broke away
from "Marvelous" Marc Mero, who debuted
Jacqueline as his new manager, resulting in
a storyline feud between the two women. The two met in a
bikini contest in July 1998 at
Fully Loaded. Sable, only wearing
impressions of hands painted on her exposed
breasts, won the contest. The next night on
Raw however,
Vince McMahon disqualified Sable from the
previous night's contest since she did not actually wear a bikini,
and the match was then awarded to Jacqueline. In response, Sable
gave McMahon the double
finger. At
SummerSlam, Sable and her mystery
partner, federation newcomer
Edge,
defeated Marc Mero and Jacqueline in a
mixed tag team match.
Sable and Jacqueline faced off for the newly reinstated
WWF Women's Title on the September
21, 1998 edition of
Raw. Jacqueline claimed the title
after Marc Mero interfered. On November 15, 1998 at
Survivor Series, she
dropped the title to
Sable, who won after powerbombing both Marc and Jacqueline during
the match. During this time, Rena had a guest appearance on an
episode of the
USA Network show
Pacific Blue.
Sable then briefly entered a storyline where she was forced to play
a subservient role to Vince and
Shane
McMahon, but the storyline was cut short.
Heel turn
In 1999, as part of a new storyline, Sable was attacked by a masked
woman named Spider Lady, who turned out to be Luna. Sable defeated
Luna in a
Strap
match at the
Royal Rumble
after an assist from a
planted female Sable
fan, WWF newcomer
Tori. Tori's debut
signified a change in Sable's persona. After the Rumble, Rena
(under her Sable ring name) was featured as the cover girl for the
April 1999 issue of
Playboy. The issue was one of the
highest selling issues of
Playboy
ever. Surrounding the release of the issue, the Sable character
turned
heel by "going
Hollywood" and having an inflated ego. Rarely defending her title,
Sable continually berated her fan Tori, and she feuded with both
Tori and Luna Vachon (who had turned
face). She debuted a new
catch phrase: "This is for all the
women who want to be me and all the men who come to see me" and a
dance move called "the
grind." The
feud with Tori led to a match at
WrestleMania XV. During the contest,
Nicole Bass debuted as Sable's
bodyguard and helped Sable win the match.
Sable went on with Bass making Bass do all of her dirty work. Sable
continued to hold the championship for almost 6 months, but on May
10, 1999,
Debra "won" the Women's
Championship from Sable in an Evening Gown match. Normally in an
Evening Gown match, the winner is the woman who forcibly removes
her opponent's dress, which Sable did. As part of the storyline,
WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels,
however, ruled that the woman who had lost her dress was the
winner, making Debra the new Women's Champion. Off-screen, Sable
was in a dispute with the WWF, which is why she was stripped of the
title on-screen.
Post–WWF (1999–2001)
In June 1999, Rena Mero quit the WWF and filed a $110 million
lawsuit against the company, citing allegations of
sexual harassment and unsafe working
conditions. She claims to have filed the lawsuit after refusing to
go topless. During the course of the lawsuit,
Vince McMahon counter-sued Rena over control
of the stagename "Sable". Mero reduced the amount she was seeking
in damages, and they eventually settled out of court in August
1999. Mero used her real name for her appearance in the September
1999 issue of
Playboy. She was the first woman in history
to be given two
Playboy covers in the same year. After her
WWF exit, she made an on-camera appearance as an audience member on
World Championship
Wrestling's
Nitro.
During this time, Mero made appearances on
The Howard Stern Show and
Late Night with Conan
O'Brien. She also made appearances on television shows
such as
Relic Hunter and
First Wave and in
the films
Corky Romano as a
female bouncer and
Ariana's Quest. She released her
autobiography, entitled
Undefeated in August 2000. She
also released a
comic book entitled
The 10th Muse starring herself as a superhero. In May
2001, Mero was given an advice column on
CompuServe. On November 13 and November 14, 2001,
she appeared as the on-camera "CEO" of the newly formed
X Wrestling Federation (XWF), but
these were her only appearances with the company.
Return to WWE (2003–2004)
Sable in 2003
Mero returned to World Wrestling Entertainment on the April 3, 2003
episode of
SmackDown!, reprising her
role as Sable. Sable continued to be a villain and heel and spent
several months in a storyline with new
Playboy covergirl
Torrie Wilson. Sable followed Wilson
down to her matches, talked with her backstage, and on one
occasion, she left Wilson in a tag match alone to fend for herself.
Sable eventually challenged Wilson to a showdown bikini contest at
Judgment Day. After Sable got
the bigger applause, Wilson removed another layer of clothing, and
Special Guest
Referee Tazz declared Wilson the winner.
After the match, Wilson went up to Sable and kissed her before
exiting the ring. Sable then had an altercation with the guest
judge Tazz, dumping water on him on the following edition of
SmackDown!, as a means of gaining revenge for declaring
Wilson the winner.
Sable then feuded with
Stephanie
McMahon in a storyline in which she was
Vince McMahon's
mistress. Vince appointed Sable as
Stephanie's personal assistant against Stephanie's will, sparking
the feud between the duo. During the feud, they competed in several
catfights, a food fight, a parking lot brawl in which Sable's bra
was ripped off, revealing both her
breasts
on live television, and a match in which Sable smacked a clipboard
over Stephanie's head. At
Vengeance, Sable defeated Stephanie after
interference by her new ally,
A-Train. At
SummerSlam, Sable accompanied
A-Train in his match against
The
Undertaker, which he lost. After the match, The Undertaker held
Sable so that Stephanie could use a
Spear attack on her.
After SummerSlam, Vince and Sable focused on getting rid of
Stephanie for good, so Vince made an
"I
Quit" match at
No Mercy. In
the match, Sable slapped Stephanie and was involved in a scuffle
with
Linda McMahon.
Sable briefly became a face again when she appeared on the cover of
Playboy magazine for the third time in her career. On the
cover, she appeared with fellow diva Torrie Wilson, making them the
first WWE Divas to pose in
Playboy together. Surrounding
the release of the cover, the duo feuded with
Raw divas
Stacy Keibler and
Miss Jackie, even though all four women were
faces at the time. The two teams squared off at
WrestleMania XX in an Interpromotional Tag
Team Evening Gown match, but the divas started the match in their
underwear, making it more of a
lingerie
match. Sable and Wilson were victorious. The change was rumored to
have occurred because Sable had suffered damage to her
breast.
Following WrestleMania XX, Sable quickly turned heel again and
engaged in another short feud with Torrie Wilson. The feud
culminated in a match at
The Great American Bash, which
Sable won. Sable's final appearance in WWE was on
SmackDown! when she,
Dawn
Marie, and Wilson accompanied
Eddie
Guerrero to the ring in his lowrider. On August 10, 2004, WWE's
official website announced that Mero and WWE had parted ways. Mero
claimed that she left the company to spend more time with her
family.
Personal life
Mero, along with
Brock Lesnar, appeared
at several
New Japan Pro
Wrestling shows after her WWE release. After Rena and Marc Mero
became officially divorced in 2004, she began dating Lesnar, whom
she became engaged to later that year. The engagement was called
off in early 2005, but they were engaged again in January 2006.
They are now married. The couple had their first child together, a
son named Turk in June 2009.
In wrestling
Championships and accomplishments
- *WWF Women's
Championship (1
time)
- *Slammy Award for Dressed to Kill
(1997)
- *Slammy Award for Miss Slammy (1997)
Notes
References
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