Diva (professional wrestling)
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In professional wrestling, a Diva is a term used by World Wrestling Entertainment for a beautiful woman employed primarily as a wrestler and sometimes "eye candy". Although "diva" is a relatively new term in the wrestling community, promotions have been using women as managers or wrestlers for years.
It is unclear as to whether "bit parts" played by women, such as The Godfather's "hos" qualify as Divas. It is also not clear if the term applies retroactively to wrestling "valets" such as Miss Elizabeth or Madusa.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) uses the term "Knockouts" to refer to female employees marketed to some extent on their appearance.
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. It was around the time of the height of her popularity that the term "diva" was used by the WWF to label its female personalities.
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."
Wrestling
Traditionally, most divas in WWE have not wrestled real wrestling matches on a regular basis. Although Sable was engaged in feuds with technically sound female performers Luna Vachon and Jacqueline, the match that was most closely associated with her character and WWE divas in general is the bra and panties match. Additional matches divas have been presented in are mud wrestling matches and non-wrestling bikini contests.Perhaps due in part to the decrease in raunchy content in WWE programming as well as the wrestling skills of most divas on the WWE roster, the bra and panties match has largely been replaced by the lingerie pillow fight, a pillow fight between divas near a bed full of pillows inside the wrestling ring.
In recent years in WWE, more divas have also increasingly been wrestlers and are respected on an individual level considerably more. Diva trainer and professional wrestler Fit Finlay has been largely credited for this change (especially with regards to Trish Stratus, who trained under Finlay after an ankle injury). With the firing of various women's wrestlers such as Gail Kim, Jazz, Nidia as well as the departure of Molly Holly, the WWE's continued commitment to their women's wrestling division remains in question. While the WWE has an ample roster of female performers, not all of them have extensive technical wrestling training. However, the continued promotion of female wrestlers such as Jillian Hall, Melina Perez, Kristal Marshall and Beth Phoenix to the main roster seems to be reversing that trend.
Controversy
There has been some measure of controversy relating to WWE divas. The risquè 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 former WWE wrestler Nicole Bass and former WWE Diva Search contestant 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.
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 and Christy Hemme, and as she stated in her website, Ashley Massaro appeared in Playboy under an alias. 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.Photoshoots
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.
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.
The first lingerie shoot, WWE Divas Undressed was originally a special on TNN (now SpikeTV). 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.
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.
In 2004, the divas went to the beaches of Mexico as part of South of the Border.
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.
In 2006, the divas took part in another 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.
Diva Search
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.
Trish Photoshoots
- 2001 - Futuristic outfits
- 2002 - School Girl, Sporty
- 2003 - Flight Navigator, Lace Dress
Stacy Photoshoots
- January - New Year's and the Presidential Inauguration
- February - Valentine's Day
- March - March Madness and Easter
- April - April Showers
- May - pink dress, jeans and white skirt/top combo
- June - Divas 2005 outtakes and bonus jean photos
- July - Fourth of July and Daisy Duke
- August - Divas 2005 outtakes and white top/long skirt combo
- September - Black and White photos
- October - Halloween outfits including a referee, angel and devil
- November - Autumn shoot
- December - Christmas
See also
- Diva - traditional usage of the term
- List of WWE Divas
- Nitro Girls, the WCW's dance team. (pre-WWF merger)
- Professional wrestling slang
External links
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