Features – Page 78

The Story Behind Maria Kanellis’ Wrestling Return: “I Don’t Want to be a Diva”

June 3, 2013February 24, 2012 by Melanie

Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis’ long wrestling hiatus is over. Now part of Ring of Honor and with her in-ring return imminent, Diva Dirt chronicles the story of Maria’s return. Tomorrow night, former WWE Diva turned Ring of Honor’s First Lady Maria Kanellis will return to the ring against Impact Wrestling star, Tara. The match … Read more

Happy Valentine’s Day! Wrestling Couples That We Want to See Happen

February 15, 2012 by Bobby

It’s that time of year again, people. Time for cupid to start shooting his arrows and for love to fill the air. Diva Dirt embraces all holidays and Valentine’s Day is no different. All day long myself and my partners, the wonderful Cryssi and the vivacious Melanie, will be bringing you the Valentine’s goodies that … Read more

Happy Valentine’s Day! A Look at Wrestling’s Power Couples Over the Past Year

February 14, 2012 by Cryssi

It’s that time of year again, people. Time for Cupid to start shooting his arrows and for love to fill the air. Diva Dirt embraces all holidays and Valentine’s Day is no different. All day long, myself and my partners, the wonderful Bobby and the vivacious Melanie, will bringing you the Valentine’s goodies that the … Read more

Diva Dirt’s Wishes and Predictions for 2012

January 1, 2012 by Melanie

Ahem, so it may be past midnight on January 1st in the UK making this post a little late, but it’s still 2011 somewhere! It’s that time of year again when we make our annual wishes and predictions for women’s wrestling in the year ahead. Previous wishes/predictions posts here (2010) and here (2011). 2012 Wishes … Read more

Best Moments from 2011: Maxine Returns to NXT

November 9, 2018December 31, 2011 by Bobby

As 2011 draws to a close, the Diva Dirt writers have each picked a personal highlight to reminisce on the year gone by. Today: Bobby shares his best moment from 2011 — Maxine‘s return to NXT. So, I’m sure it’s pretty obvious by now that I live for NXT. It’s my favorite program in all … Read more

Best Moments from 2011: Cheerleader Melissa Wins the SHIMMER Championship

November 9, 2018December 30, 2011 by Steven

As 2011 draws to a close, the Diva Dirt writers have each picked a personal highlight to reminisce on the year gone by. Today: Steven shares his best moment from 2011 — Cheerleader Melissa winning the SHIMMER Championship in October. My greatest moment of 2011 is a strange one, as most of you reading this … Read more

Best Moments from 2011: Velvet Sky’s Knockouts Title Win

November 9, 2018December 29, 2011 by Kate

As 2011 draws to a close, the Diva Dirt writers have each picked a personal highlight to reminisce on the year gone by. Today: Katelyn shares her best moment from 2011 — Velvet Sky winning the Knockouts Championship. For me, the best moment of 2011 was a title change. That title change took place on … Read more

Best Moments from 2011: Kelly Kelly Defends the World Heavyweight Championship

November 9, 2018December 28, 2011 by Cryssi

As 2011 draws to a close, the Diva Dirt writers have each picked a personal highlight to reminisce on the year gone by. Today: Cryssi shares her best moment from 2011 — Kelly Kelly defending the World Heavyweight Championship in a main event match on SmackDown with LayCool, Dolph Ziggler and Edge. My moment of … Read more

Legacy Award Feature: Wrestlers Discuss Manami Toyota’s Influence

February 14, 2020December 15, 2011 by Team DD

Diva Dirt welcomes guest contributor Leslie from our partner site, Dirty Dirty Sheets, who will be bringing us a series of articles looking at the incredible career of Manami Toyota, the 2011 Diva Dirt Legacy Award recipient. Legacy Award series: – Legacy Award Feature: A Look at Manami Toyota’s Historic Career – Legacy Award Feature: … Read more

Diva Dirt’s Christmas Gift Guide 2011

December 10, 2011 by Melanie

‘Tis the season to be jolly… and spend all your money on your friends and relatives leaving you flat broke going into the New Year. Yeah, they don’t tell you that part, do they?! Anyhoo, Diva Dirt has compiled a Christmas gift guide for the women’s wrestling fan in your life! Whether they love the … Read more

Legacy Award Feature: A Look at Manami Toyota’s Greatest Matches

February 14, 2020December 1, 2011 by Team DD

Diva Dirt welcomes guest contributors Leslie and Hanan from our partner site, Dirty Dirty Sheets, who will be bringing us a series of articles looking at the incredible career of Manami Toyota, the 2011 Diva Dirt Legacy Award recipient. Legacy Award series: – Legacy Award Feature: A Look at Manami Toyota’s Historic Career Manami Toyota … Read more

Legacy Award Feature: A Look at Manami Toyota’s Historic Career

February 14, 2020November 9, 2011 by Team DD

Diva Dirt welcomes guest contributor Leslie from our partner site, Dirty Dirty Sheets, who will be bringing us a series of articles looking at the incredible career of Manami Toyota, the 2011 Diva Dirt Legacy Award recipient. Manami Toyota is the greatest professional wrestler of all time. From her endless list of epic matches, to … Read more

Mid-Year Report Card: Diva Dirt’s 10 Wishes & Predictions for 2011 Revisited

July 9, 2011 by Melanie

Back on New Year’s Day, as is annual tradition here at Diva Dirt, I made 10 wishes and 10 predictions for the year ahead. Now, as we are half way through 2011, I thought I’d take a look back at the wishes/predictions that were made and see where we’re at. Let’s see how we’re doing … Read more

Diva Dirt’s Top 5 Moments from Tough Enough

June 6, 2011 by Melanie

WWE’s Tough Enough revival wraps a fun first season tonight when Andy or Luke (who cares?) is crowned the TE Champion. It’s been a season of highs and lows for our fledgling WWE Divas, who were all cut in quick succession and unfortunately, won’t be in tonight’s live final. Still, there is much to look … Read more

It’s Time to Decide: Are You Team Lay or Team Cool? Let Us Help You Make Up Your Mind!

April 14, 2011 by Melanie

The end is near, kids. After over 18 months of decreeing childish nicknames upon their foes, speaking in unison and well, rocking fierce fashions that made us envy them, LayCool are headed to Splitsville. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time but like the child caught in a divorce, we’ve stuck our heads under our pillows to drown out the sound of mommy #1 and mommy #2 fighting… until now. We can’t pretend any longer. It’s time to decide: Are you Team Lay or Team Cool?

Don’t panic! We wouldn’t just let you make that decision without some reading material first. Here are our arguments for choosing Team Lay and Team Cool…

Women’s Wrestling Season is Upon Us – A Guide to What’s Coming in the Next Two Months

November 18, 2017March 1, 2011 by Melanie

March 1st is here and so kicks off what we have dubbed ‘Women’s Wrestling Season’. Rather coincidentally, the next couple of months will feature a slew of female wrestling promotions returning to action — or as the case may be, debuting. Throw in WrestleMania as well, and the two months ahead are looking rather busy!

It all kicks off this weekend when WSU presents it’s fourth anniversary show live on Internet pay per view. Then, throughout the month we will also see SHIMMER, NCW Femmes Fatales and the debut of Allison Danger’s Pro Wrestling SUN.

April will see a two night return for Europe’s Pro-Wrestling: EVE. And lest we forget ‘Mania?

A complete guide after the jump!

Diva Dirt’s Guide to Autobiographies We’d Like to See…

February 20, 2011 by Melanie

The release of ‘Undisputed’, Chris Jericho’s highly recommended second autobiography, got us thinking. It’s been a while since we’ve seen an autobiography from a female wrestler. It’s been 10 years since Chyna released hers and eight since Lita’s. Last year did however see a biography based on the life of the legendary Mildred Burke, but that was written by Jeff Leen and wasn’t self-penned (Burke died in 1989).

So, we sat and we thought about it — who would we like to see put their life in print? We’ve compiled just a few names that we feel could pen a compelling autobiography. As always, we want to hear from you too. Leave your suggestions in the comments!

Paging Cupid! Could Cupid Help Make These WWE Couples Happen?

February 14, 2011 by Cryssi

Last week during Diva Dirt Live, David decided to call me out on the fact that I haven’t written a Southern Belle Smack column in a long time. Well, I’m here to change that… sort of. This is not a SBS feature but it is me doing something other than a Redux! I figured that I would give each and every one of you a special little treat during this fine holiday. Earlier today, the Diva Dirt staff took you down a rose-petal lined stroll on memory lane with a special feature on some of the greatest wrestling couples of all time. Remembering the likes of Savage and Elizabeth, Lita and Edge, and Molly and Spike brought back wonderful memories, but it also got me thinking. For every great wrestling couple from the past, there’s an equally bad couple. Who could ever forget Bertha Faye and Harvey Whippleman, Dawn Marie and Al Wilson, or Vickie Guerrero and Eric Escobar? And thinking about all these couples got me thinking about the point of this feature. With the emergence of Gail Kim and Daniel Bryan as a power couple in the making, and Vickie Guerrero absolutely dominating SmackDown on behalf of her beloved boyfriend, Dolph Ziggler, what other couples in the WWE should be happening right now? It is Valentine’s Day afterall, and cupid’s arrow can land anywhere, so April, David, Eric, Steven, and myself have decided to play matchmaker and help cupid aim in the right direction.

MARYSE AND KING SHEAMUS
Every king needs his very own queen and what better Diva to fit the role of queen than the Sexiest of Sexy of herself, Maryse? Her relationship with Ted DiBiase has clearly run its course thanks to DiBiase’s inability to win matches and a woman like Maryse demands perfection. Or at least someone who has money, power, or a championship belt. She doesn’t seem picky and why be picky? Everyone knows true love comes in the form of presents and Sheamus would no doubt consider himself lucky to have a girl like Maryse on his arm. He would shower her with presents and worship the ground she walks on. Together, they could rule the WWE with an iron fist; the Celtic Warrior and the French-Canadian bombshell. There’s no need to understand the words they speak because no one really can. The only thing that the Superstars and Divas of World Wrestling Entertainment need to understand is that both Maryse and Sheamus will do whatever it takes to make sure no one stands in their way. Of course, this pairing likely won’t last. Expect Maryse to bolt almost the minute the King of Kings, Triple H shows up to extract his revenge on Sheamus. The first time she nearly gets Pedigreed, Maryse is gone, and it’ll be lights out for the terror-filled reign of King Sheamus and Queen Maryse. But don’t expect Ted DiBiase to take her back because…

Happy Valentine’s! Diva Dirt’s Favorite Wrestling Couples (Part 2)

February 14, 2011 by Melanie

Boy meets girl. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy smashes other boy over the head to defend girl’s honor. Okay, so it’s hardly the stuff of fairytales, but wrestling couples have made us laugh, have made us cry and they’ve also made us scream ‘WTF?’ at the screen. This Valentine’s Day, we pay homage to some of our favorite on-screen wrestling couples! And as always, we encourage to share yours in the comments too!

LITA AND MATT HARDY
It started off as the sweetest couple since Macho Man and Miss Elizabeth but ended up as a Jerry Springer-esque ‘rope opera’ when all was said and done. After being rescued from her the abusive Essa Rios by the Hardy Boys, Lita joined forces with them and became one third of one of the most popular group in WWE history — Team Xtreme. Team Xtreme were like the rockstars of WWE and Lita was idolized by young girls everywhere. From their own magazine to their own DVD, Matt, Jeff and Lita were the ultimate babyfaces. Romance soon blossomed between Lita and Matt, both on and off screen. However, that all changed when Dean Malenko sets his sights on the flame haired Diva. After months of being pursued by Malenko, Lita wrestled him in a match and won with the help of Matt Hardy. After the match, Matt, caught up in the moment, kissed Lita. At first, she was shocked, but she chased him up the ramp and returned the favor. The Team Xtreme fandom exploded! After a brief break-up between Matt and Jeff, Lita was caught in the middle but eventually, the trio reunited. In 2002, however, things came to a halt as Lita suffered a broken neck and was out of action for over a year. Upon her return to the ring, Matt Hardy had returned to Raw after a stint on SmackDown and was reunited with Lita. Or not. Hardy turned on his beau branding her ‘selfish’ and cost her a steel cage match against Victoria. The duo eventually got back together, feuding with Kane. The Big Red Monster trapped her into marriage and even pregnancy. Womp womp. Though apart off screen, Lita and Matt’s real life relationship soon found itself projected on WWE television in a nasty turn…

Happy Valentine’s! Diva Dirt’s Favorite Wrestling Couples (Part 1)

February 14, 2011 by Team DD

MISS ELIZABETH & ‘MACHO MAN’ RANDY SAVAGE
If there was ever a professional wrestling couple that personified the motto ‘overcoming the odds’ it would be the diabolical and charismatic Randy Savage and his beautiful long-time manager/partner, the stoic and regal, Miss Elizabeth. Their relationship was far from easy. Savage constantly overshadowed Elizabeth and sometimes, he wasn’t the best person to be around. The two endured several obstacles including George “The Animal” Steele’s obsession with Elizabeth, her slightly innocent flirtation with Hulk Hogan, and at one point, Savage even sent Elizabeth packing in favor of “Sensational” Sherri Martel. But in the end, love would eventually triumph. After losing a retirement match at WrestleMania VII to the Ultimate Warrior, Savage was attacked by Sherri for the fact he lost. Miss Elizabeth came out of her seat from ringside and got physical, pulling Sherri off her man, and reuniting wrestling’s most beloved couple. The reunion would culminate in the greatest wrestling wedding of all time, “The Match Made in Heaven” at SummerSlam 1991. Despite having their wedding go off without a hitch, the reception was ultimately ruined thanks to a gift containing a live snake courtesy of Jake ‘The Snake’ Roberts. Perhaps it was an omen. Because after the wedding, Savage and Elizabeth were never really the same. An angle with Ric Flair followed and eventually, Elizabeth left the then-WWF. Little did we know that the real-life relationship between the two had come to an end as well. Savage issued a statement that WWF Magazine printed saying the he and Elizabeth were no longer involved in each other’s lives and the book officially closed on the storybook romance of wrestling’s most semi-heroic, flamboyant, sorta-villian and the beautiful, shy, and soft-spoken girl next door.

Five Divas We’d Love to See at ‘Old School’ Raw

November 14, 2010 by Melanie

Tomorrow night, Raw goes retro, celebrating its past by bringing back some of the ‘old school’ stars from various eras. Right now, we know that Mae Young is set for this special three-hour Raw and while its unlikely that any other women will be brought back, we thought we’d still have some fun in suggesting a few women we’d love to see back!

And just to make things even more interesting, we’re going to avoid the ‘go to’ answers i.e. Trish and Lita. Read our five Divas we’d love to see on this special episode below…

CHYNA
They say ‘never say never’ when it comes to wrestling, however it’s been nearly a decade since Chyna left the WWE and she has not looked back since. Leaving on rather murky terms, it seems a comeback for Chyna — while it would be great to see — is rather unlikely. Still, way back in 1998-99, Chyna could make even non-wrestling fans stop the channel on Monday Night Raw during a channel-surfing spree. Her incredible physique and penchant for stepping toe-to-toe with the big, burly male wrestlers made her unlike any woman we’d seen in the WWE before.

An original member of perhaps the most popular stable in WWE history, DX, Chyna was an icon in her own right — hence why she was referred to as the ‘9th Wonder of the World’. Chyna broke barriers as a woman: competing in the Royal Rumble and King of the Ring tournaments. Eventually, she’d go onto become a multi-time Intercontinental Champion, embarking in classic feuds with Jeff Jarrett and Chris Jericho.

To see her music hit one more time on Raw would perhaps be the female equivalent to when Bret Hart returned on January 4th this year. And for that, she takes our number one spot (even though this isn’t a countdown).

Mr. Glamazon’s Hitting the Ropes (Issue #16) – All Dressed Up

June 9, 2017September 22, 2010 by David

Like a lot of readers on this site I am in love with a pretty brunette from Los Angeles. No, no, no…it’s not Melina, although I will admit she is pretty sensational. Great looking, great worker. But c’mon, she defeated my beloved Glamazon at the 2009 Royal Rumble and stole her Women’s Championship. An egregious crime that I may never get over. Not only do I look more and more like an elephant as I get older, I have a memory like one too. Sorry Melina…it still hurts.

No, this particular brunette has been a part of my life for 23 years now, and to this day she still gives me butterflies and makes me feel light-headed. It all started back in the summer of 1987 when I was attending basketball camp at Franklin & Marshall College. At the end of the week my parents took me to the school bookstore so I could get a t-shirt or pair of shorts. As I was making my way back to the clothing section I passed the magazine rack and…BAM…something hit me right between the eyes. I felt like I had been hit by a bulldozer. Staring back at me was the most picturesque, beautiful woman I had ever seen. There she was, like an angel, on the cover of that month’s SPIN magazine – Susanna Hoffs of the Bangles. I’m not sure I believe in love at first site…but that was definitely the first time I felt incredibly attracted to a woman. I didn’t know a lot about the Bangles in general, but I knew I would soon be finding out much, much more.

Southern Belle Smack: The NXT Season Three Debate… Is it Doomed to Fail?

June 9, 2017September 7, 2010 by Cryssi

Season three of NXT is no doubt the most talked about season so far in the show’s history. Last week, during the finale of season two, Josh Mathews and Michael Cole made a historic announcement by telling us that season three is going to be comprised entirely of Diva rookies. When the average wrestling fan hears the term ‘Diva’, he automatically assumes that a hot girl with a nice set of puppies will walk out to the ring. Or what’s worse, is average fan may believe Diva time is really bathroom time. The majority of average wrestling fans are ignoramuses, but the point remains the same. What the term ‘Diva’ actually stands for is overcoming the odds in WWE land. That’s exactly what six rookie Divas have a chance to accomplish starting this week on NXT.

The decision to make NXT 3 about the Divas was met with a lot of well documented controversy. Fans, pro wrestling media personnel, and “writerz” took to their Twitters, Facebooks, MySpaces, etc. to make their feelings known about this upcoming all Diva show. A nice chunk of these people took one look at the pros and decided not to watch. Some people decided to just talk a lot of smack and back up their verbal BS with weak arguments and ridiculous ‘facts’. The saving grace in all of this were the real Diva fans. They chose to remain open-minded and optimistic.

The all Diva season of NXT could go one of these two ways: it could either be a success and the WWE could find their next breakout Diva or it could go the opposite way and be an epic failure.

Mr. Glamazon’s Hitting the Ropes (Issue #15) – Miss Elizabeth Tribute

June 9, 2017September 5, 2010 by David

Recently I was having a bad day at work so I needed something to lift my spirits. When I got home the family was out on a play date, so I went downstairs, threw on my blue Glamasuit, and watched a replay of Extreme Rules 2010. As always, Beth’s title victory did the trick. I perked right back up.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think back to April 25, 2010, Baltimore, MD, when my beloved Glamazon pinned Michelle McCool to capture the WWE women’s championship. I have such great memories of that night. Sitting in the front row. Cheering like a little kid. Jumping around as the ref counted three. I’ve watched the match 12,809 times and I enjoy it every time. To me the match is perfect. (I’d say it was “flawless” but, you know, I don’t want to have to pay royalties…).

But I finally admitted something to myself the other night. As much as I treasure the match, it wasn’t “perfect”. I have been so in love with the result that I overlooked 2 aspects of the match that sadly affect its historical impact. First of all, the match was booked as an “Extreme Makeover” match. WTF?!? Were the rules ever fully explained? Two premier workers shouldn’t decide the women’s title by using ironing boards and make-up tables. Too “gimmicky”. Secondly, the match was on the Extreme Rules PPV, a show people will ultimately forget (seriously, name 3 matches without heading to Wikipedia). This wasn’t exactly WrestleMania. So even though I was overwhelmed with joy and excitement that night, I have to finally admit the match wasn’t perfect.

Which got me thinking…

Has there ever been a perfect match?

Obviously this is a very subjective topic. I think it would be very, very hard to get two people to agree on the definition of “perfection”. So how would I define the “perfect match”? Glad you asked…

Dr Mike Lano’s Tribute to Luna Vachon

February 1, 2013August 28, 2010 by Melanie

We are honoured to share this article from Dr Mike Lano, Pro Wrestling Illustrated photographer and columnist since 1966, with all of you. Mike was kind enough to send Diva Dirt his tribute to former WWE star, Luna Vachon, who passed away yesterday.

The Beatiful “Monster” with a Huge Heart
By Dr Mike Lano

I’d known Luna Vachon (we still called her Angel) since ’85 and we kept in touch during her up and down years from the Kevin Sullivan 80’s period angle on. At the last Cauliflower Alley reunion we saw her at (and she absolutely loved coming and seeing all her peers and “family” as she said), she was so proud, “overwhelmed” were her words again at being one of our top honorees. She cried and was so taken with emotion after getting her plaque and crystal trophy as our female wrestler of the year and had to have Papa Paul help her at the podium, as she was so full of emotion seeing Harley Race, Nick Bockwinkel, Manny Fernandez, and many other people she cited later.

She was equally proud of how long she’d been clean and sober, and this is an especially tough loss for everyone. What a sweetheart, which was at odds with her outward appearance she cultivated. Just a big heart, so sweet to everyone. She was the first person calling me after Penny Banner’s passing; one of the top top legends male or female in the industry and a class person and big CAC supporter. Luna worked everywhere after Florida. Briefly for NWA/WCW, a few long runs with WWF/WWE, the real ECW, SMW, Japan, Puerto Rico, Memphis for Jerry Jarrett, all over Canada, you name it and she did it. And she was always gracious in helping train others, a fact she and Bret Hart talked about in Vegas a few years back. She was very proud of her family but also other terrific Canadian wrestling families like the Harts, Sharpes and Burkes.

Mr. Glamazon’s Hitting the Ropes – Issue #14

June 9, 2017August 8, 2010 by David

“CHANGE”

That was the title of the email. Short, simple, just one word. Uh oh. I just knew this wasn’t going to be good. Like when the phone rings too late at night and you don’t want to answer it because you know it’s never good news. My heart started beating really, really fast. “Oh dear God I’m afraid to open it,” I thought to myself. I stared at the screen for 5 solid minutes. Finally I clicked the email message and read the bad news from the casting agency.

“I’m sorry to say the client has decided to only use the girl. I know you’re disappointed. I’ll try to make it up to you.”

The client? World Wrestling Entertainment.

Another few moments passed. I really don’t know how long I sat there staring at my computer screen, honestly. I took a deep breath, walked upstairs and told my wife, “Well, you’ll never believe it. They’re not using me tomorrow.” She could see the disappointment in my face. Nothing “life or death”, but real disappointment. She felt badly for me, she tried to lift my spirits, but I was pretty down in the dumps.

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