Diva is a term used by World Wrestling Entertainment for a beautiful woman employed primarily as "eye candy" and sometimes as a wrestler. Although "diva" is a relatively new term in the wrestling community, promotions have been using women as managers or wrestlers for years.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) uses the term "Knockouts" to refer to female employees marketed to some extent on their appearance.
Contents[hide]
1 History
2 Controversy
3 Promotion
4 Photoshoots
5 Diva Search
6 WWE Babe of the Year
7 Rookie Diva of the Year
8 See also
9 External links
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[edit] History
Perhaps the first "diva" in professional wrestling history was Tammy Lynn Sytch, better known in the WWF under her performing name "Sunny". The Sunny character was a manager of various wrestlers in the WWF. Although the female managerial role was not a new concept in professional wrestling, the Sunny character brought a sexuality to the position that had seldom been seen in the business before.
After Sytch left the WWF, Rena Mero, known to WWF fans as "Sable" took the role of the prominent female performer in the promotion. Originally a manager for her then real-life husband, wrestler Marc Mero, she quickly eclipsed her husband in popularity, in part by wearing increasingly revealing outfits to the ring. Her popularity lead to the re-instatement of the WWE Women's Championship, as well as the hiring of more female performers by the promotion. Sable became the first WWF female to refer to herself as a 'Diva' saying "I am the Diva of the WWF," on the April 19th edition of Raw in 1999. The term was coined instantly. Many fans regard her as the original WWF Diva.
Although Sable would leave the WWF after several years, the WWF would sign many more female performers during and after her employment with the company, who would become known as "divas." In 2000, a newcomer Amy Dumas better known as "Lita" would focus her attention on the WWF Women's Championship. Lita would perform more risk taking moves than the Divas before her, bringing a higher standard of competition to the WWF women's division while still having the sexual element as well. A year after Dumas' arrival, Trish Stratus made her debut. Stratus started off as a valet, who brought pure sexuality to the ring. Stratus began evolving herself as a charismatic Diva, and trained hard, working her way up to the top of the division and winning the Women's Title. Stratus has been credited as one of the women that changed the face of Women's Wrestling, as she brought sexuality and ability to the ring in such even amounts, and kept the fans entertained.
In 2002, WWF changed its name to WWE bringing a host of new female talent. Over the next few years, the WWE hired more "Divas" than ever before. Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, Terri Runnels, Christy Hemme, Candice Michelle, Dawn Marie and a returning Sable would compete in sexuality focused contests from "Pillow Fights" to "Lingerie Matchups" while Lita, Trish Stratus, Jazz, Gail Kim, Molly Holly, Mickie James, Melina, Jacqueline and Victoria competed for the WWE Women's Title featuring match ups only previously participated by men such as Street Fights and even a Steel Cage Match.
In the summer of 2006, WWE Anouncers began refering to the divas as "the sexiest women on television."
Towards the end of 2006, Trish Stratus and Lita would leave the WWE, leaving only Torrie Wilson, Victoria, Lilian Garcia from the "old Generation" of WWE Divas and leaving a large amount of "new generation WWE Divas" for the WWE of today.
[edit] Controversy
There has been some measure of controversy relating to WWE divas. The risqué matches and storylines the WWE divas have taken part in were cited as part of an extensive campaign against WWE and the content of its programming throughout the late 1990s.
Harassment of the company's females has also been an issue. Rena Mero left the WWE for several years, claiming that she was harassed by other performers in the promotion. Harassment claims were also made by Nicole Bass and Amy Weber.
This aspect of the industry draws widespread criticism for its misogynistic treatment of women as sex objects, who usually appear either scantily clad or 'glamorous' in the form of evening gowns and the like. These issues have been portrayed in angles involving divas.
In 1999, Stephanie McMahon began to make appearances in her father's company. Although she was active in the storyline and even wrestled in some matches, WWF did not promote Stephanie in a sexual way or call her a WWF Diva. She would not participate in the photo shoots. This led to the speculation that the Divas were only viewed as "sex objects". However towards the end of 2000 to early 2001, she began to be called a Diva by the announcers and in WWF magazines therefore eliminating the Diva "sex object" views. She was also featured on WWFDivas.com.
[edit] Promotion
The popularity of women in WWE has resulted various cross-promotions with other brands featuring WWE divas. Various divas have posed in Playboy, including Sable, Chyna, Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle, Christy Hemme and Ashley Massaro. Others have appeared in commercials for WWE and non-WWE products as well as men's interest magazines. Playboy playmates, such as Carmella DeCesare and Karen McDougal have also appeared in Diva Search in 2004. Trish Stratus and Lita have been asked to pose, but both refused to pose nude for Playboy magazine.
[edit] Photoshoots
The 2006 DVD cover, WWE Divas Do New York.
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.
In 2000, WWE introduced their Divas home video franchise with Postcard From The Caribbean. The photos were released on a special Swimsuit edition of RAW Magazine. All the Divas in this photoshoot all had their own cover.
In 2001, In Hedonism was released as well as the first of the now annual magazines. Lita earned the cover of the coveted magazine. Also all Divas made it on the DVD cover including Trish Stratus, Debra Marshall, & Lita.
In 2002, WWE decided to put out a UPN special entitled WWF Divas: Sex on the Beach. It was then later released on VHS and DVD format as WWF Divas: Tropical Pleasure. However, the home video did not have any of the mainstream music and was now missing diva, Molly Holly. Trish Stratus made the cover of this years edtion.
The first lingerie shoot, WWE Divas Undressed was originally a special on TNN (now Spike TV). The program was a competition or "Thong-a-thon" as Jerry Lawler called it. All of the divas, except Jazz and Lita, were involved. It was later released on VHS and DVD with behind the scenes photoshoot sessions. Jazz participated in the photoshoot session despite being injured. Stacy Keibler was the covergirl of the WWE Divas Undressed magazine.
In 2003, the divas traveled to Arizona to participate in a variety of outdoor activities. Trish Stratus, Stacy Keibler and Terri Runnels went on a Jeep tour and got to use a gun. While Victoria and Nidia got to relax and go rafting, Jazz, Ivory and others spotted a rattlesnake. The Magazine covergirl was Trish Stratus.
In 2004, the divas went to the beaches of Mexico as part of South of the Border. To determine who made the cover of the magazine, a poll was taken on WWE.com. Fans voted for Torrie Wilson to the covergirl.
In 2005, the divas travelled back to Mexico for Viva Las Divas of the WWE. This time two different shoots took place. The more experienced Divas travelled to the beaches of the Grand Xcaret and Grand Cozumel, along with the 2004 Diva Search winner, Christy Hemme and longtime WWE ring announcer Lilian Garcia (in what was her first divas shoot in the 6 years she had spent so far with WWE). Later the newer divas, including Amy Weber, Michelle McCool and Maria Kanellis visited only the Grand Cozumel. Some controversy arose when it was apparent that Molly Holly was not on the DVD, with some fans of Molly sending complaints to WWE. However, a few pictures of her were featured in the magazine. This was the second time she had been removed from the yearly divas video. Conversely, Amy Weber (who had left the company before the DVD and magazine became available) was in the DVD and not the magazine. Christy Hemme was the covergirl of the 2005 edition of the magazine.
In 2006, the divas took part in a lingerie shoot. This photoshoot took place in New York with a DVD entitled WWE Divas Do New York. Much like in 2004, WWE.com let the fans decide who they wanted on the magazine cover. They chose Trish Stratus who will appear on her third divas magazine cover that hit newstands on Valentine's Day. Candice Michelle originally landed the DVD cover that was released a week later, but for some reason or another it was replaced with a multi-diva cover.
In 2007, the divas took part in another lingerie shoot but with western theme. This photoshoot took place in San Antonio in honor because of WWE being in San Antonio for Royal Rumble, though the rest of the Divas in the roster were not featured but select WWE Divas were chosen: Rebecca, Lilian Garcia, Kelly Kelly, Kristal, Mickie James and Victoria. This photoshoot featured the second & first time of some the Divas in the group. Some of the photos of this photoshoot were revealed on WWE.COM and a video was shown as well. It is not know when, or if a magazine will be released this year.
[edit] Diva Search
Further information: WWE Diva Search
Diva Search Winners/Wrestlers
Christy Hemme - was released by WWE in December 2005, Now works for rival company TNA
Ashley Massaro - appears on SmackDown! as a valet/wrestler
Layla El - appears on ECW as a dancer for Extreme Exposé
Diva Search Losers/Wrestlers
Candice Michelle - appears on RAW as a wrestler
Maria Kanellis - appears on RAW as an interviewer/occasional wrester
Kristal Marshall - appears on SmackDown! as an interviewer/occasional wrestler
Michelle McCool - appears on SmackDown! as a valet/wrestler
Maryse Ouellet - appears on SmackDown! as a hostess
Brooke Adams - appears on ECW as a dancer for Extreme Exposé
Milena Roucka - currently in WWE's development territory, OVW
Former Diva Search wrestlers/performers
Christy Hemme - appeared on Smackdown! before her release in December 2005
Rebecca DiPietro - appeared on ECW before her release in March 2007
Amy Weber - appeared on SmackDown! before she left WWE in February 2005
Amy Zidian - appeared on SmackDown! before her release in December 2006
Joy Giovanni - appeared on SmackDown! before her release in July 2005; is rumored to be resigning with WWE soon
Elisabeth Rouffaer - trained in OVW before she left WWE in January 2006
[edit] WWE Babe of the Year
The WWE Babe of the Year contest is a contest where fans get to vote on who they think is their favorite WWE Diva for that year.
Trish Stratus won the inaugural Babe of the Year competition in 2001. Stratus got 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. This time Stratus claimed she would let the fans decide the winner. While picking out her outfits, Trish ran into a fan who said that they would decide everything for her.
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. The photoshoots were usually themed from the holiday of that month.
[edit] Rookie Diva of the Year
The first and only Rookie Diva Of The Year contest was held on Smackdown PPV No Way Out which Saw former WWE Diva Joy Giovanni defeat Michelle McCool , Lauren Jones and Rochelle Loewen.
[edit] See also
List of WWE Divas
Professional wrestling slang
Diva - traditional usage of the term
Nitro Girls, WCW's dance team. (pre-WWF merger)
[edit] External links
Official WWE Divas Website
Sexy WWE Divas
Red Hot Divas
Wwe Divas Fever
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWE_Diva"
