Diva is a term used by the
professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment
(WWE) to refer to its female talent. The term is applied to women
who appear as wrestlers,
managers or valets,
backstage interviewers, or
ring
announcers.
History
1996–2000
The first modern day Diva in the
World Wrestling Federation
(WWF) was
Sunny, who debuted as the
manager for the
bodybuilder-themed duo
The Bodydonnas and went on to manage
several other tag teams and singles wrestlers. Although the notion
of a female manager had been popular throughout the 1980s and early
1990s, Sunny's character was significantly sexualized, whereas
prior female managers were depicted as being involved in either
platonic or
romantic storylines.
Between 1996 and 1997,
Marlena,
Sable and
Chyna,
joined Sunny as prominent female on-air talent in the promotion.
Marlena and Sable were as equally sexualized as Sunny, with Marlena
suggestively smoking cigars at ringside during matches and Sable
coming to the ring in form fitting leather
catsuits. Chyna was offered as an antithesis to the
rest of the Divas, a masculine bodybuilder whose sexual identity
was the subject of early storylines. Sunny, Sable, and Marlena were
further marketed as sex symbols through WWF's
Raw Magazine, which featured monthly
spreads of the women in suggestive poses while either wearing
provocative clothing or seminude. In 1998,
Debra debuted and shortly thereafter was
featured in a
Raw Magazine spread in which she shed a
series of business suits to reveal lingerie.
Marlena was the manager of
Goldust,
her then real-life husband, and Sable was manager for her then
real-life husband, wrestler
Marc Mero.
Sable quickly eclipsed her husband in popularity. Her popularity
lead to the reinstatement of the
WWF Women's Championship, as well
as the hiring of more female wrestlers by the promotion. Sable
became the first WWF female to proclaim herself as a 'Diva' during
the April 19 edition of
Raw in
1999; the term proved popular and shortly thereafter became the
official title for WWF's female performers, be they managers or
wrestlers. In February 1999, the WWF also debuted another veteran
female wrestler
Ivory.
Sable's popularity led to a shift in the role of women in the WWF,
as the promotion began to rely less on its female performers as
simply eye candy and placed a greater emphasis on female athletes
who actually competed in matches. Having being one of the first
female wrestlers to compete in such specialty matches as evening
gown matches, intergender tag team matches as well as a strap match
and the first ever bikini contest in which she competed against
Jacqueline, she was also the first
female wrestler to be a
Playboy
cover girl. Unlike Jacqueline, Ivory and
Luna, the more physical Divas and experienced
wrestlers at the time, Sable later admitted that it was written in
her contract that she was not allowed to take
bumps.
Her success also indirectly led to a
push in popularity for Chyna.
Her masculine features were de-emphasized and her clothing became
more provocative. She was put into competition against male
opponents, going on to win the
WWF Intercontinental
Championship twice. Chyna's popularity quickly grew to match
that of Sable's, culminating in Chyna being featured as the
centerfold in an issue of
Playboy magazine.
2000–2002
February 2000 saw the debut of
Lita, who
performed higher risk moves than the Divas before her, such as
moonsaults and
diving
hurricanranas. Her popularity encouraged a higher standard of
athletic competition within the WWF Women's Division, while still
retaining the sexual element. The August 21 edition of
Raw
featured the first Divas match in WWF history to be the main event,
a WWF Women's Championship match between defending champion
Stephanie McMahon-Helmsley and
Lita.
Shortly after Lita's arrival,
Trish
Stratus made her debut. Stratus started off as a valet, who
brought pure sexuality to the ring. Also later that year,
Molly Holly made her debut. She was a
contrast to most of the other Divas because she was given a more
wholesome
gimmick and more
modest ring attire.
In the Autumn 2001, Stratus was trained by
Fit Finlay, who was the road agent responsible
for the women's matches, and improved her in-ring ability. She
worked her way up to the top of the division and eventually won the
Women's Championship at
Survivor
Series. Also in 2001, Chyna left the WWF due to real-life
issues between herself,
Triple H, and
Stephanie McMahon. In April 2002, Lita suffered a neck injury and
was the first Diva to have neck fusion surgery. She was out of
action for almost a year and a half.
2002–2006
On May 5, 2002, the WWF officially changed its name to WWE and
brought in a host of new female talent. Over the next few years,
WWE hired more Divas than ever before, including female winners of
the reality TV show
WWE Tough
Enough featuring contestants aspiring to be professional
wrestlers. Numerous Divas competed in contests from "
Pillow
Fights" and "
Bra and
Panties" match-ups to "Bikini Contests", which were based more
on the sexual appeal of the women involved. Meanwhile, Trish
Stratus, Lita,
Jazz,
Gail Kim, Molly Holly, Jacqueline, Ivory and
Victoria competed for the WWE
Women's Title featuring match-ups only previously participated in
by men, such as Street Fights, Hardcore, Table matches and the
first ever Women's
steel cage match.
Holly (competing as Mighty Molly), Stratus, and Runnels also held
the
Hardcore Championship
briefly.
Beginning in 2002, WWE began hiring new Divas assigned to their
development territories to train and wait to be called up to the
main roster. These new Divas were recruited from model agencies,
the
independent circuit, and the
Diva Search. In 2003, Gail Kim
became the first woman with a Korean background to win the Women's
Championship. Also, Jacqueline held the male title, the
WWE Cruiserweight
Championship briefly in 2004.
Also during this period, new Divas such as
Beth Phoenix,
Mickie James,
Melina
Perez and
Candice michelle made
their debuts in the company and became the most prominent WWE divas
in the company.Later more and more of the previous generation of
Divas slowly departed from the company.
2006–present
In 2006,
Stacy Keibler left WWE to
pursue an acting career, Trish Stratus retired at
Unforgiven, and Lita retired at
Survivor Series and Torrie Wilson
retired in mid-2008 due to having back problems.
Victoria left the company in January 2009
after a nine-year career with WWE to work for rival
TNA as a
Knockout.
Lilian
Garcia retired in September 2009 when she made her final
WWE appearence on the
September 21st edition of
WWE Raw. On June
19, 2009
Candice michelle was
relesed from the WWE after a five-year carrer with the company. In
November 2008, however, Gail Kim returned to WWE after working for
rival
Total Nonstop
Action Wrestling as a
Knockout
which leaving
Gail Kim as the final Diva
left from the previous generation of WWE Divas along with a vast
majority of newer arrivals.
The division continued to grow as the Divas began to compete in
different types of matches. On the March 5, 2007 edition of
Raw,
Mickie James and Melina
competed in the first
falls
count anywhere match to be contested between two Divas. It was
also the first time that the
Women's Championship was contested
in this type of match. At
Vengeance: Night of
Champions in 2007,
Candice
Michelle became the first woman ever from the
WWE Diva Search to become the
WWE Women's Champion. At
One Night Stand 2008, Beth Phoenix and
Melina competed in the first
"I Quit"
Match to be contested between Divas.
In December 2007,
Trish Stratus,
Lita, and
Sunny returned to WWE for a one night
special appearance on an episode of
RAW due
to the show's 15 year anniversary. On the June 6, 2008 edition of
SmackDown, the
then SmackDown General Manager
Vickie
Guerrero announced the creation of
WWE Divas Championship, a SmackDown
Diva exclusive title.
Natalya and
Michelle McCool became the first two
contenders for the new championship, and, at the
The Great American Bash,
McCool defeated Neidhart to become the inaugural champion. At
Wrestlemania 25, former Divas Sunny,
Victoria,
Molly Holly, Torrie Wilson,
Jackie Gayda, and
Joy
Giovanni returned to WWE for a one night special appearance in
the 25 Divas Battle Royal match to crown Miss Wrestlemania. During
the
2009 WWE Draft, then-current
Women's Champion Melina was drafted to the SmackDown brand, thus
making the Women's title exclusive to SmackDown. Later that same
night, then-current Divas Champion
Maryse was drafted to the Raw brand, thus
making the Divas title exclusive to Raw, effectively switching both
female champions and championships between brands for the first
time in history. At
The Bash in
2009, McCool defeated Melina to capture the Women's title, and
became the first Diva to have ever held both the Women's
Championship and the Divas Championship.
Diva Search (2003–2007)
The Diva Search was an annual competition that occurred every
Summer. The purpose of the Diva Search was to find new women to be
wrestlers, interviewers, and/or valets in WWE. The winner of the
competition received a one year contract worth $100,000. Previously
the contract was worth $250,000.
Promotion
The popularity of women in WWE has resulted in various
cross-promotions with other brands featuring WWE Divas. Various
Divas have posed in
Playboy, and
others have appeared in commercials for WWE and non-WWE products as
well as men's interest magazines.
The WWE Divas normally go on an annual
photoshoot every year, usually to a different
location each time. The photoshoot is followed by a magazine
featuring photos from the shoot as well as a television special or
video release of highlights from the shoot.
Playboy
Since 1999, seven WWE Divas have appeared on the cover of Playboy:
It has become a WWE tradition for any Diva who appears on the front
cover of Playboy to have a match at WrestleMania. Commonly, these
matches would have the term 'Playboy' included in its name. For
example, at WrestleMania XX in 2004,
Torrie Wilson and
Sable competed as a 'Playboy' tag team against
Stacy Kiebler and
Miss Jackie. At WrestleMania 22,
Torrie Wilson and
Candice Michelle competed in a
Playboy
Pillow Fight.
Actual Playboy playmates, such as
Carmella DeCesare and
Karen McDougal have also appeared in Diva
Search in 2004. Some former and current Divas such as
Trish Stratus,
Lita,
Debra,
Sharmell,
Stacy
Keibler, and
Melina have indicated
that posing for
Playboy magazine is out of the question
for them. Stratus has appeared on Canadian sports talk show
Off The
Record and said that she didn't pose because she wanted to
be known as "multiple time Women's Champion Trish Stratus" rather
than "the girl who posed in Playboy." Stratus also claims that she
refused the shoot because she says she can still be sexy without
taking her clothes off. Dumas has said that she didn't pose because
she felt it was wrong for her (who was known as a role model for
young girls at the time) to pose for the magazine. Keibler refused
to pose as she believes it would be better if she "left something
for the imagination."
Tammy Lynn Sytch (Sunny) claimed to
have refused an offer by
Playboy to pose for the magazine.
Rena Mero (Sable) later claimed, however, that
Playboy had
actually never approached Sytch, and that Sytch had fabricated the
whole story. However, Sytch was not the first to report that she
had turned down an offer.
Other
In 2007, Ashley Massaro, Torrie Wilson, Maryse Ouellet, Brooke
Adams, Layla El, and Kelly Kelly shot a
video for music producer and rapper
Timbaland. In the same year, Torrie Wilson,
Candice Michelle, Michelle McCool, Maria Kanellis, Layla, and
Kristal Marshall appeared in an episode of the U.S. reality show
Project Runway, in which
designers were asked to design in-ring attire for their designated
Diva. In 2008, Layla, Mickie James, Kelly Kelly, and Melina Perez
appeared in the U.S. reality show
Celebrity Fit Club: Boot
Camp to get the celebrities in shape. Later the same year,
Mickie James appeared on the
USA Network
show
Psych, playing a roller derby
girl.
Championships and accomplishments
Championships
Babe of the Year (2001–2004)
The WWE Babe of the Year contest is a contest where fans voted on
who is their favorite WWE Diva for that year.
Trish Stratus won the inaugural Babe of the
Year competition in 2001. Stratus had her own mini-site on WWE.com
and her photoshoot of choice was a space-type theme. The
corresponding mini-site was fittingly named "The Stratusphere."
Stratus retained her title in 2002 and received another mini-site
on WWE.com. The 2003 edition was again won by Stratus. She also won
the 'Diva of the Decade' award for Raw's 10th anniversary special.
Stacy Keibler ended Stratus's reign in
2004 and won the honor, receiving her own mini-site and a
photoshoot for every month in the year, sometimes two. In 2008,
WWE Magazine then declared
Beth Phoenix as the 'Diva of the Year'
which earned her a
2008
Slammy Award for that title.
Rookie Diva of the Year (2005)
The first and only Rookie Diva of the Year contest was held at
No Way Out in 2005, where former
WWE Diva
Joy Giovanni defeated
Michelle McCool,
Lauren Jones, and
Rochelle Loewen. Giovanni received more than
half of the vote, followed by McCool who got just under 20%, Loewen
got just over 10% and Jones received just 6%. The competition was
hosted by then Divas Torrie Wilson and
Dawn Marie.
See also
Notes
External links
Wikis
Quiz
Map
Search
