Column: The Demise of the Diva Search
In 2004, the WWE initiated an exciting new concept called The Diva Search, where ten WWE Diva hopefuls competed for a $250, 000 contract with the company. Christy Hemme would go on to take out the inaugural prize, followed by Ashley Massaro in the 2005 competition, Layla El in 2006, and Eve Torres in 2007. There was no competition held in 2008, which led to the demise of the Diva Search.
Long-time WWE fans will remember the inaugural Diva Search in 2003 though, where Jaime Koeppe won a WWE Magazine photoshoot, as opposed to a contract and television time with the company. However, the new concept developed in 2004 is what the Diva Search will be remembered as.
While the competition seemed to get more painful to watch as the years went by, and moved from the flagship show Raw and special episodes to crown the winner, to B-show SmackDown!, the contest did deliver some memorable moments. The pie eating contest hosted by The Rock in 2004, for example. Or the many Miz stuff-ups in 2006. Ashley giving out her personal phone number to entice fans to vote for her (which ultimately worked out for her). And who could forget the infamous beef between Carmella DeCesare and pretty much everyone in the first round?
But more importantly, the Diva Search was responsible for delivering some of the top WWE Divas today, and a big part of the roster is made up of Diva Search contestants. Here’s a rundown of the Diva Search talent currently employed by the WWE: Maria and Michelle McCool from 2004, as well as Candice Michelle who, as possibly the most successful Diva Search alum, didn’t even make it into the televised voting stage; Layla, Maryse, Milena Roucka (who is known on television as Beth Phoenix’s intern, Rosa Medez), and the Garcia/Bella twins, who like Candice Michelle, didn’t make the final round of eliminations but can now be seen on SmackDown!, from 2006; and Eve Torres and Tiffany from the final year.
Others who have been and gone include Christy Hemme, who was fired after little more than a year with the company; Carmella DeCesare, who “wrestled” Christy at the Taboo Tuesday pay-per-view before being released; Amy Weber, who quit after being the victim of backstage pranks by Randy Orton; Joy Giovanni, who was released from the WWE in 2005; Ashley Massaro, the 2005 winner, who was released last year; Kristal Marshall, who enjoyed a relatively successful WWE career until being let go after her “wedding” to Teddy Long on SmackDown! (she is also the mother of two of Bobby Lashley’s children); Rebecca DiPietro; Amy Zidian, and Lena Yada. Of all of the Diva Search competitions, 2005 is the only year of the competition that has no contestants currently represented in WWE.
It is obvious that the first year has been the most successful, with Maria, Michelle McCool and Candice Michelle having been with the company the longest of all the Divas, bar Lilian Garcia, and the latter two picking up the coveted Women’s Championship and Divas Championship respectively. They, along with Maryse, are the only Divas produced by the Diva Search that have been lucky/legitimately talented enough to win gold.
The filtering system for the Diva Search voting was obviously not as successful as it could’ve been, with legitimate women wrestlers like Candice Michelle and the Bella’s slipping through the cracks, while others who were chosen for their looks or prior experience (in modeling or Playboy, predominantly) made the cut initially. But those who had the wrestling chops and charisma needed to be a WWE Diva eventually made it into the company, proving that the Diva Search isn’t really needed anymore. WWE talent from the indies have managed to come up to the big leagues without the benefit of a biased contest, such as Natalya, Alicia Fox, Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Melina, Jillian Hall, Katie Lea, Kelly Kelly and the newly rehired Gail Kim, just like the Divas did in the days before the Diva Search.. And those who entered the Search for the wrong reasons and subsequently gained WWE contracts were exposed as not having the right qualities for a Diva, either by company executives or the fans.
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Maybe they finally wised up and are saving the money instead of continuing the foolishness of these women. I say bring back the good old days when the women started out as demure “managers” or “valets” then eventually started interferring in the matches. The storylines would take months to play out instead of a few short weeks then on to the next. These would also play out for years if the participants really wanted them to. I can’t stand watching Vicki Guerrerra but I will give her props for rousing the fans. I can do without fake women acting slutty on my t.v.. The Fabulous Moolah would make mincemeat of everyone one of them!
I never understood why WWE did the diva search in the first place. At first I thought they were looking for actual female wrestlers, but no that wasn’t the case at all. The funny thing is the women who were in the diva search can’t wrestle. I would name a few of them now but its obvious.
I thought the original Tough Enough competition was a good way for both female and male wrestlers to break into the company, as it was about learning the ropes and earning a position in the company rather than a $1 million or $250,000 contract. From the original Tough Enough we got Nidia, Jackie Gayda and Linda Miles, the first two appearing at WrestleMania in the Diva Battle Royal this weekend, and they proved that they were legitimately talented in the ring, and also worked as valets and managers, as Imissvintagewrestling mentioned. Some of the Diva Search contestants did prove their worth in the ring, but ultimately the contest was to find eye candy not wrestlers.