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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 most all women who appear on-air, wrestlers, managers or valets, backstage interviewers, or ring announcers.
The first "Diva" in the WWF was Sunny, who was the manager for various wrestlers in the WWF. The female managerial role was not a new concept in professional wrestling. Miss Elizabeth, Sensational Sherri, and Missy Hyatt all preceded Sunny in the WWF. In 1996, Marlena and Sable, joined Sunny as prominent "Divas" in the promotion. 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 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 19 edition of RAW in 1999. The term was coined instantly. However, unlike Jacqueline and Luna Vachon, the more physical Divas at the time, Sable later admitted that it was written in her contract that she was not allowed to take bumps. Chyna held the WWE Intercontinental Championship three times between 1999 and 2000. She is the only woman in WWE history to have held the Intercontinental title. 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, and would promote them as "Divas." In 2000, newcomer Lita would focus her attention on the WWF Women's Championship. Lita performed more risk taking moves than the Divas before her, such as moonsaults and diving hurricanranas.She brought a higher standard of competition to the WWF Women's Division.This combination got both the male and female fans interested in the evolving Women's Division. Moreover, Lita is the only Diva to have won the Women's Championship in RAW's main event. Around the same time of Dumas' arrival, Trish Stratus made her debut. Stratus started off as a valet. 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 of 2001, Stratus was trained by then-Diva trainer Fit Finlay and improved her in-ring ability, working her way up to the top of the division and winning the Women's Title. Dumas and Stratus have been credited as the women that changed the face of Women's Wrestling. In 2001, Chyna left the WWF due to real-life issues between herself, Triple H, and Stephanie McMahon. Her last feud was with Lita. However, in April 2002, Lita suffered a neck injury and was the first Diva to have neck fusion surgery. She was out of action for approximately one year. Also during 2002, WWF 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. Stacy Keibler, Torrie Wilson, Christy Hemme, Miss Jackie, Dawn Marie, Nidia, a returning Sable and numerous others would often compete in contests from "Pillow Fight" and "Bra and Panties" matchups to "Bikini Contests", which were based more on the sexual appeal of the women involved, while distinctively Lita, Trish Stratus, Jazz, Gail Kim, Molly Holly, Jacqueline, Ivory and Victoria competed for the WWE Women's Title featuring match ups only previously participated by men such as Street Fights, Table Matches and the first ever Women's Steel cage match with Stratus and interviewer Terri briefly holding the Hardcore Championship. From 2002 to the present, 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 sometimes come 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 WWE Cruiserweight Championship (a male title) briefly in 2004. In the summer of 2006, WWE Announcers began referring to the Divas as "The Sexiest Women on Television." Towards the end of 2006 Trish Stratus and Lita left WWE,leaving Torrie Wilson, Victoria, and Lilian Garcia from the previous generation of WWE Divas with a vast majority of recent arrivals. By this time, RAW ring announcer Lilian Garcia had been with WWE longer than any other current WWE Diva. In 2007, Ashley Massaro, Torrie Wilson, Maryse, Brooke, Layla El, and Kelly Kelly shot a video for music producer and rapper Timbaland. Diva Search The Diva Search is an annual competition that occurs every Summer. The purpose of the Diva Search is to find new women to act as wrestlers, interviewers, and valets in WWE. The winner of the competition receives a one year contract worth $100,000. Previously the contract was worth $250,000. http://en.wikipedia.org |
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