The 2000s were a very puzzling era for the Divas Division. When names like Trish Stratus and Lita left the division, the WWE’s women went through several different makeovers. This caused the WWE to undergo a major revolution with this division, as fans were no longer interested in beautiful women that could not wrestle. Triple H began the revolution in NXT, and it is now slowly starting to take shape with the WWE’s main roster. It’s safe to say that the division is better than it’s been
in a really long time.
Despite the heat of the division today, the division went through some dark times rotating new faces every week. Some, in fact, you may have forgotten about. Let’s now take a look back at some Divas you might have forgotten about along the way to this Divas revolution we are seeing today. Here are 15 pictures of smoking hot former WWE Divas you probably forgot about. Enjoy!
15) Maryse
Who can forget this former WWE bombshell from Montreal, Quebec? Maryse had quite the career with the WWE becoming the first ever women to capture the Divas Championship on two different occasions. On October 28th, 2011, Ouellet was released by the WWE due to inactivity with the company. Maryse was out after undergoing surgery for an abdominal hernia. Similar to Torrie Wilson’s release, the WWE hadn’t heard from her and decided to release the former Divas Champion. After leaving the wrestling business Maryse went through a couple of career changes, which included her own clothing and jewelry line and later becoming a realtor.
Today, Maryse Ouellet now goes by her married name, Maryse Mizanin. Maryse married WWE star Mike Mizanin (aka The Miz), in late February of 2014. The couple currently lives together in Los Angeles. Maryse has been focusing on an acting career and making appearances for television and radio shows. The native of Montreal, Quebec, is currently working on two films: Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No! and Karla.
14) Aksana
This smoking hot Lithuanian never lived up to her potential during the time she spent with the WWE. Despite a very profitable look, Aksana was never pushed by the WWE’s creative staff. This later lead to her release, according to rumors circulating backstage, Kevin Dunn was the only backstage executive pulling for Aksana. Ultimately the numbers game caught up to Dunn and Aksana when she was released by the company on June 12th, 2014.
13) Joy Giovanni
Joy Giovanni had quite the promising start to her career with the WWE Diva winning the first and only award for Rookie Divas of the year. Joy made her debut on Smackdown as a “massage therapist”, where she later transitioned into a more prominent role with the company feuding with another former WWE alumni Diva, Amy Weber. On July 6th, 2005, Giovanni was released by the company due to budget cuts. She is currently working in Los Angeles as a chiropractor.
12) Maria Kanellis
Kanellis had quite the career with the WWE; her status with the company gave her some tremendous opportunities outside of the wrestling business which included landing the cover of Playboy in April of 2008, and making an appearances as a cast member on the hit reality television show The Celebrity Apprentice. Following her release from the company, Maria stayed in the wrestling business spending some time with Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and her current employer TNA Wrestling. Kanellis is currently managing her real life husband Mike Bennett. The heel duo is rumored to be headed back to the WWE when their contracts expire with TNA.
11) Kelly Kelly
Kelly had all the right things going for her that could have made her a top line Diva with the company; she broke into the business at an extremely young age of 19, she was beautiful and came from a gymnastics background. Unfortunately, her in-ring work never really caught on with the WWE personnel or the fans. She did however manage to capture the Divas Championship. On September 28th, 2012 it was revealed that Kelly was released by the WWE. In an interview, Kelly discussed that her release was because she needed some time off nursing a neck injury.
Today, the former WWE Diva is now a full time model. You can look at her recent work through Kelly’s Instagram page under her new alias, @thebarbieblank. Her most noticeable piece of modelling work was making the coveted cover of Maxim magazine. The 29 year old is also available for bookings through her email.
10) Victoria
Hard to believe that Victoria is 45 today (man does time pass by fast). Victoria was not only beautiful, but she was one hell of a talent in the ring. In my opinion, Victoria was one of the most underrated Divas in WWE history. She played the role of a heel perfectly, and she had quite the feud with several former Divas (including Trish Stratus). Following a match against Michelle McCool on Smackdown, Victoria announced her retirement from the WWE on January 16th, 2009. After spending some time with TNA and Ring of Honor, Victoria left the wrestling business once and for all, and opened up her own restaurant in Chicago. She later moved with her husband to California.
9) Melina
Melina Perez was released by the WWE in August of 2011. Her career was absolutely brilliant capturing the Women’s championship three times and the Divas Championship two times. Bret Hart called her “one of the best female wrestlers in the world”. Hart claimed Melina was an innovator in the ring.
After her release, like most wrestlers do, Melina hit the independent circuit and began travelling internationally. During an episode of Jim Ross’ podcast The Ross Report, Melina discussed that she was headed back to school at the age of 36; certainly a quite admirable decision for Perez to make. Melina is still involved with wrestling and continues to make appearances.
8) Rochelle Loewen
Despite her tremendous look, Rochelle’s run with the WWE was quite forgettable. The only memory wrestling fans have of her was when a story came out that Randy Orton urinated in her bag after she didn’t know who he was. Ouch. Don’t feel too bad Randy, she called Derek Jeter “Kyle Jeter” during an interview. Loewen is currently residing in Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
7) Amy Weber
Amy Weber had a very brief career with the WWE that lasted a little over a year. Weber was used as JBL’s image consultant in The Cabinet. In 2012, Weber actually came out with a hit music CD entitled Let it Rain. The lead album single stayed a top of the US Billboard Charts for over a month (believe it or not). She has also been involved in several films and TV shows since her departure from the WWE.
6) Jackie Gayda
Jackie Gayda rose to fame after winning the WWE’s reality television show Tough Enough. After Gayda finally started working on solo vignettes for the company, Jackie and her husband Charlie Haas, were released from the company on July 5th, 2005, due to budget cuts. Many other wrestlers were also released.
After working with TNA and some independent promotions, Gayda left the wrestling business to start a family. Today, Gayda is the proud mother of four children and married to former WWE wrestler Charlie Haas. The couple is currently residing in Dallas, Texas.
5) Dawn Marie
Before debuting with the WWE, Dawn Marie worked for ECW with the Dudley Boyz, and she later worked the independent circuit. After getting hired by the WWE in April of 2002, Dawn Marie was brought in as Vince McMahon’s legal assistant. Following a three year run with the company, Dawn took some time off to take a maternity leave. The WWE released the former Diva following this announcement. The situation led to Dawn filing a lawsuit against the WWE for an improper breach of contract.
4) Eve Torres
In January of 2013, Eve Torres wrestled her final match for the WWE. Despite speculation that she was released, it was later determined that Eve asked for a release the previous month. Her reason for leaving the company was so she could focus full time on her new venture, the “Gracie Women Empowered Self-Defense Program”. This program was inspired by her husband Rener Gracie, a 4th degree Jiu-Jitsu black belt. The program is doing extremely well, though, as Torres is set to take some time off after it was announced the couple were expecting their first child on September 28th, 2015.
Today, Torres is keeping very active, she is involved in several TV shows and films. Last year, Torres played a role in the film The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power.
3) Candice Michelle
Despite some terrible wrestling skills, kudos to Candice Michelle for managing to have quite the career with the WWE, as she ended up becoming the first ever Diva Search contestant to capture a WWE championship. During her time with the WWE, Candice enjoyed some great exposure through Playboy and Go Daddy. Today, Candice is a happy mother of three married to her husband Ken Ehrlich.
2) Christy Hemme
Christy’s wrestling career got off to a promising start after she won the WWE’s Diva Search in 2004. Hemme was awarded with a $250,000 contract with the WWE. After an uneventful in-ring career, Hemme was sent down to OVW for some repackaging. The WWE claimed to have released her because of a lack of creative for her. Hemme denied the statement claiming she left on her own terms. Today, Hemme is still with TNA Wrestling, and she has been there since 2006. Last year, Hemme gave birth to her first daughter Charlie Rose.
1) AJ Lee
AJ Lee broke the hearts of millions of wrestling fans after she announced her retirement at the age of 28. Lee was Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s “Woman of the Year” for three consecutive years, her dominance of the Divas division was blatantly obvious. She captured the Divas Championship on three occasions, she also set a record for the longest reign under one of her runs with the championship (this record was later broken by Nikki Bella).
Today, AJ is working on a new book entitled Crazy is my Superpower, the book discusses her life as a pro wrestler. The autobiography is scheduled to release in early 2017.
Reviewed by dinesh sanjeewa
on
February 24, 2016
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