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91-485: Barbara Jean Blank Coba (née Blank ; January 15, 1987), known professionally as Barbie Blank and by her ring name Kelly Kelly , is an American model and professional wrestler . Blank has a background in gymnastics and cheerleading, and worked as a model for Venus Swimwear and Hawaiian Tropic . In 2006, Blank was signed to a contract by WWE and, after training in Ohio Valley Wrestling , she debuted on

182-624: A Slammy Award for Divalicious Moment of the Year. At the Money in the Bank pay-per-view in July, Kelly made her first title defense by defeating Bella in a rematch. On August 1, Phoenix won a battle royal to become the number one contender to Kelly's championship, and afterward attacked Kelly to provoke a feud. Kelly successfully defended her championship against Phoenix at both SummerSlam and Night of Champions . Kelly lost

273-449: A gimmick generally refers to a wrestler's in-ring persona, character, behaviour, attire, and/or other distinguishing traits while performing which are usually artificially created in order to draw fan interest. These in-ring personalities often involve costumes, makeup and catchphrases that they shout at their opponents or the fans. Gimmicks can be designed to work as good guys/heroes ( babyfaces ) or bad guys/villains ( heel ) depending on

364-457: A house show event on November 5, but her appearances were canceled due to Hurricane Sandy . Blank eventually made her first appearance for Northeast Wrestling on December 4. At House of Hardcore 43 in May 2018, Blank made a surprise appearance and helped Chelsea Green defeat Paredyse by tripping his valet, Rebel , off the ring apron. Blank returned to WWE on February 13, 2017, by being featured in

455-566: A six-person mixed tag team match . Kelly, Knox and Test went on to lose to Dreamer, Sandman, and Wilson. Kelly and Knox progressed into a storyline with CM Punk in September, in which Kelly developed a liking for Punk, flirting with him and watching his matches, and Knox became increasingly jealous. This led to a match between Knox and Punk, during which Kelly cheered for Punk. At December to Dismember , Kelly and Knox faced Ariel and Kevin Thorn in

546-547: A Women's battle royal won by ODB . In late 2007, she also made an appearance in Florida Championship Wrestling , WWE's new developmental territory. Blank debuted for the ECW brand as Kelly Kelly. Originally, she was to be named just 'Kelly', but her ring name was expanded to 'Kelly Kelly' by WWE CEO Vince McMahon . She made her debut on the first episode of the weekly television program on June 13, 2006, becoming

637-574: A backstage interview for WWE's official website during Raw . She later appeared during WrestleMania weekend, including at the Hall of Fame induction ceremony, and appeared on an episode of the WWE Network exclusive Table for 3 alongside Maryse and Eve Torres . On January 22, 2018, Blank appeared at the Raw 25 Years special, being honored as one of the historic women of WWE. A few days later, on January 28 at

728-410: A brief relationship with singer-songwriter Cole Swindell in 2019, but the two broke up three months after making their first public appearance at that year's Academy of Country Music Awards . In February 2018, Blank's father Ron died. In 2019, Blank founded a non-profit charity with Drs. Shawn Carbonell and Luzanne Otte named Cure Glioblastoma , the same disease her father died from. The purpose of

819-466: A cane by Sandman when Knox used her as a shield. She made her ECW in-ring debut on the August 22, edition of ECW During an extreme bikini contest segment between Torrie Wilson and herself, Test and Mike Knox interrupted the contest stopping Kelly before she had a chance to disrobe. Leading Tommy Dreamer and Sandman to come in through the crowd, Sandman took the mic and challenged Test, Knox and Kelly in

910-628: A character based on an authority over other people. These include non-wrestlers like managers , and wrestlers like The Mountie , Big Boss Man , "The Alpha Male" Marcus Cor Von , Consequences Creed , "The Man" Becky Lynch , "The Boss" Sasha Banks , Sean O'Haire 's devil advocate gimmick, and David Otunga 's legal adviser character, ECW 's 911 , and stables New World Order , Right to Censor , The Truth Commission , The Acolytes Protection Agency , 3-Minute Warning , and most recently, The Authors of Pain , The Shield , and The Authority . The evil billionaire/millionaire tyrant character works well as

1001-414: A dead wrestler who returned for vengeance. Raven was the leader of five stables; Raven's Nest , The Flock , The Dead Pool , The Gathering , and Serotonin . The Brood was a vampire stable, composed of Gangrel , Christian and Edge . Alexa Bliss was also given a different gimmick after her alliance with Bray Wyatt in late 2020s, appearing suddenly and sometimes attacking the other wrestlers,

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1092-1976: A demonic but somewhat-bumbling figure in horror face paint who claims to be "very nice, very evil" and attempts to put curses on his opponents. Exaggerating the characteristics of a wrestler's (on occasion fabricated ) origin is one of the most commonly exploited gimmicks, in which overarching characteristics of a character play up to clichés and stereotypes . A long list of wrestlers in this category includes: Arab ( The Sheik , The Sultan , Muhammad Hassan ), African ( Kamala , Abdullah The Butcher , Akeem ), American ( The Patriot , Hulk Hogan , 'Hacksaw' Jim Duggan , Jack Swagger ), Australian ( Outback Jack , Nathan Jones ), Austrian ( Walter ), Bulgarian ( Rusev ), Canadian ( Team Canada (TNA) , Team Canada (WCW) ), Chinese ( Xia Li , Boa ), Cuban ( Razor Ramon ), English ( William Regal , Lord Alfred Hayes , Gentleman Jack Gallagher ), French/Québécois ( La Résistance ), German ( Fritz Von Erich , Baron von Raschke ), Hawaiian ( Crush , Leilani Kai ), Indian ( The Great Khali , Jinder Mahal ), Iranian ( The Iron Sheik , Ariya Daivari ), Irish ( Finlay , Sheamus ), Italian ( Full Blooded Italians , Santino Marella ), Jamaican ( Kofi Kingston ), Japanese ( Yokozuna , The Orient Express , Mr. Fuji ), Mexican ( The Mexicools ), Native American ( Chief Jay Strongbow , Tatanka ), New Zealander ( The Sheepherders ), Nigerian ( Apollo Crews ), Pacific Islander ( Jimmy Snuka , The Wild Samoans , The Headshrinkers ), Puerto Rican ( Carlito Colón , Primo and Epico ), Polish ( Ivan Putski ), Russian ( Ivan Koloff , Nikolai Volkoff , Lana ), Scottish ( Drew McIntyre , Roddy Piper ) and Swiss ( Claudio Castagnoli ). Masked wrestlers made their appearance in Europe ( Theobaud Bauer in France, 1865) and

1183-589: A feud with Phoenix's ally, Jillian Hall. At the Survivor Series pay-per-view in November, Kelly was part of the victorious team in a five-on-five elimination match. During the match, she eliminated Victoria, before being eliminated by Maryse . The following month at the Armageddon pay-per-view, Kelly teamed with Maria , Michelle McCool , and James in a winning effort against Hall, Maryse, Victoria, and Natalya . On

1274-417: A few others, their real name. One notable exception was made for David Otunga because of his real marriage to singer Jennifer Hudson at the time, which gave WWE some mainstream exposure. Low Ki used the alias "Senshi" during his second TNA stint to reserve his primary ring name for other use. A similar example is the team known as The Dudley Boyz in ECW and WWE and Team 3D elsewhere. WWE trademarked

1365-674: A four-month reign. She retired from WWE in 2012, but has since returned for occasional appearances and matches. On the Raw Reunion special on July 22, 2019, she pinned Gerald Brisco to win the WWE 24/7 Championship , becoming the first woman to win the title. She is a two-time champion in WWE. Blank has also appeared on a number of television shows and was a main cast member of the reality television program WAGS . She made her film acting debut in Disturbing

1456-408: A joke, dancing and finding out his opponent to win the 24/7 Championship in a strange and funny way. Characters who do charity are depicted as a heroic gimmick due to real-life charity . Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Sweet Daddy Siki , Brother Love , "Make a Difference" Fatu , Dude Love , and most recently, "The Doctor of Hug-o-nomics" Bayley , and tag-team Men on a Mission . Usually

1547-474: A masked character which allows for the identity of the wrestler in question to be concealed. Razor Ramon was portrayed by both Scott Hall and Rick Bognar and Diesel was portrayed by Kevin Nash and then Glen Jacobs . Occasionally, a wrestler uses a gimmick as a tribute to another worker; such is the case of Ric Flair 's Nature Boy persona which he took on as an homage to the original Nature Boy, Buddy Rogers . When

1638-586: A minority of the roster, with most shows containing an abnormally high proportion of clean sportsmanly matches between two "blue-eyes" (as faces were known backstage in the UK). This would remain the case for several decades to come. Gimmick matches were a rarity, midget wrestling failed to catch on, while women were banned by the Greater London Council until the late 1970s. During the Golden Age of pro wrestling in

1729-459: A mixed tag team match, during which Knox refused to tag in before leaving her. On the following episode of ECW , Kelly defeated Ariel with a roll-up in her first singles match. Afterward, Knox made his way to the ring with flowers, but ended up performing his signature swinging reverse STO on her, ending their relationship and giving her a scripted injury—removing her from television for six weeks. She returned on January 16, 2007, to announce she

1820-496: A more individualistic and narcissist form of character. He was one of the first pro-wrestlers to use entrance music, " Pomp and Circumstance " which always played as he made his way to the ring. In Britain, television took British wrestling to the next level when in 1964, it went full-time as part of the World of Sport show. The style of wrestling at the time was unique with strong emphasis on clean technical wrestling. Heels made up

1911-584: A music video for the Timbaland song " Throw It on Me ", featuring The Hives . On April 11, 2008, Blank along with Mickie James , Melina Perez , and Layla El appeared in an episode of Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp as trainers. Six days later, she appeared as a "Soccerette" on the British football show Soccer AM . She appeared a second time on Soccer AM in 2009. On June 14, 2011, Kelly and The Bella Twins appeared on an episode of The Price Is Right . Blank

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2002-464: A period of time off, and she returned on Raw on August 6, defeating Eve. On September 28, 2012, Blank was released from her WWE contract. In a December 2012 interview, Blank stated she needed time off to heal a neck injury, and had plans to model. Blank was set to appear at her first independent wrestling show in Waterbury, Connecticut , at a Northeast Wrestling event on November 4, 2012, followed by

2093-446: A real-life Hollywood actor/actress. These include "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan , The Rock , and most recently, Batista , John Cena , The Miz , and David Otunga 's A-list character, and tag-teams The Hollywood Blondes , and MNM , and most recently, The Bollywood Boyz , despite being of Indian descent and being billed from the famous Indian filming district of Bollywood , Mumbai ( Bombay ), instead which they were named after (although

2184-489: A sidekick companion during segments while addressing the fans. And recently, The New Day pursued a joyous gimmick, giving them a character heavily associated with the fans. Damien Sandow also falls under this category due to his 'stunt double' gimmick in late 2014 where he copied whatever his on-screen mentor The Miz did, due to the latter using a gimmick of an arrogant movie star. R-Truth also influenced his character with some of his comedic activities, such as breaking out

2275-418: A superhero, into Nikki A.S.H. (Almost a Superhero). TNA 's Dean Roll's ring name, Shark Boy , became the inspiration for the 3D film, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D . Similarly to superheroes and supervillains, supernatural characters add to entertainment value. Most famously in this category is The Undertaker , considered one of the most respected wrestlers in the business, whose gimmick

2366-426: A television anchor. She was also a Hawaiian Tropic and Venus Swimwear bikini model before she entered professional wrestling. In 2006, while working as a model , Blank was seen by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) official John Laurinaitis , who was interested in signing her to a contract. WWE contacted her modeling agency and invited her to their developmental territory , Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), for

2457-430: A tryout. Despite having no previous wrestling experience she was offered a contract, which she signed in May 2006. Even after being called up to the main roster she continued to fly back and forth to OVW's base city Louisville, Kentucky , once a week to work shows; first as a ring announcer and referee , then as a wrestler. One of her first matches took place at the September 6 television tapings where she participated in

2548-751: A variation of it, sometimes modifying the spelling to better fit their gimmick , such as Dave Bautista becoming Batista (later reverting to his real name for his Hollywood acting career), Patricia Stratigeas becoming Trish Stratus , Jonathan Good becoming Jon Moxley , Bryan Danielson becoming Daniel Bryan (when he wrestled in WWE), Richard Fliehr becoming Ric Flair and Randall Poffo becoming Randy Savage . Others simply use part of their name, such as Bill Goldberg using Goldberg , Nicole Garcia-Colace using Nikki Bella , Mike Mizanin using The Miz , Cody Runnels using Cody Rhodes , and Michael Wardlow using Wardlow . Many female wrestlers go solely by their first name such as. It

2639-1807: A villainous gimmick, initiated by Gorgeous George , due to the jealousy of the good looks the fans want to have for themselves. Wrestlers that followed on with this trend include Sonny Kiss , Angel Garza , "The Untouchable" Carmella , Lana with her catchphrase, "I am the best in the world", "Dashing" Cody Rhodes , "The Black Machismo" Jay Lethal , "The Artist Collective" Sami Zayn , "The Masterpiece" Chris Masters , Byron Saxton , "The Swiss Superman" Antonio Cesaro , Dolph Ziggler with his "perfection" gimmick, The Miz with his catchphrase, "AWESOME", Randy Orton , "The Glamazon" Beth Phoenix , Carlito Caribbean Cool , "The Phenominal" AJ Styles , "Glorious" Bobby Roode , "The Almighty" Bobby Lashley , "The Golden Standard" Shelton Benjamin , Scotty 2 Hotty , "The Rated R Superstar" Edge , The "Great One" Rock , "The World's Strongest Man" Mark Henry , Val Venis , "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels , "Big Sexy" Kevin Nash , Lex Luger 's "The Narcissist" character, "Beautiful" Bobby Eaton , Ravishing Rick Rude , "The Model" Rick Martel , "Adorable" Adrian Adonis , Hulk Hogan , "Macho Man" Randy Savage , Jesse "The Body" Ventura , "The Nature Boy" Ric Flair and his daughter , "Handsome" Harley Race , "Classy" Freddie Blassie , AEW's "Pretty" Peter Avalon , and Powerhouse Hobbs , TNA's Mr Pec-tacular , Brian Christopher's Grand Master Sexay , Billy Gunn's Mr Ass , Curt Hennig's Mr Perfect , Paul Orndorff's Mr Wonderful , NXT's Tyler Breeze , Lacey Evans , and "The Finest" Kona Reeves , and tag-teams The Mexicools , and Too Cool , as well as women's tag-teams The Beautiful People , LayCool , Fire and Desire , and The IIconics . Hollywood movie stars are occasionally villainous due to fame outside of wrestling as

2730-566: A wrestler acts outside their gimmick this is known as 'breaking kayfabe ', a term showing pro wrestling's linkages to theatre , where the more common term " breaking the fourth wall " is used. Gimmicks are annually rated for the Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards by the publication's owner, professional wrestling journalists, and various industry insiders, such as Dave Meltzer , promoters, agents and performers, other journalists, historians, and fans. The two awards are given to

2821-416: A wrestler to perform as more than one character for a variety of wrestling promotions. In Mexico, a masked wrestler's identity is often not even a matter of public record, and being unmasked, usually as a stipulation of losing a match , is considered a great humiliation. It is a major taboo for a Mexican wrestler who has lost his mask to start wearing one again, though this has occasionally been violated, as in

Kelly Kelly - Misplaced Pages Continue

2912-590: Is a highly respected tradition in Mexican lucha libre for performers to hide their true identities, usually wrestling under masks, and revealing a luchador's identity without their permission is considered a serious offence with real-life consequences. Professional wrestlers are often referred to by their contemporaries by their ring name. In interviews, Bret Hart regularly referred to Mark Calaway, Curt Hennig, and Kevin Nash by their ring names ( The Undertaker , Mr. Perfect , and Diesel ). Ring names are often trademarked by

3003-752: Is a horror-themed character of an undead, macabre and paranormal dark presence prone to scare tactics. He was managed by the ghostly character that was Paul Bearer and tagged with his half-brother Kane in The Brothers of Destruction stable. Other wrestlers displaying supposed supernatural powers include Matt Hardy (as his Broken/Woken persona), and his younger brother Jeff Hardy (as his Brother Nero/Willow character), Mordecai , Waylon Mercy , Jake "The Snake" Roberts , Papa Shango , The Boogeyman , Abyss , and most recently Asuka , Aleister Black , and Bray Wyatt's The Fiend , and stables The Three Faces of Fear , and The Dungeon of Doom . Japanese Onryo portrays

3094-623: Is also an ex- amateur wrestler , NFL player and UFC champion. Welsh wrestler Mason Ryan is also a former Gladiator and football player. English wrestler Wade Barrett was also a former bare-knuckle fighter as well as Elijah Burke who is also a former amateur boxer . Former MMA fighters Ronda Rousey and Shayna Baszler also uses their MMA background as part of their characters as well as former American Ninja Warrior competitor Kacy Catanzaro , former kung-fu fighter Xia Li , and Matt Riddle , who always wrestles barefooted during matches, presuming that he had an MMA background career in

3185-448: Is also common for wrestlers of all genders to use a nickname in addition to their real name for marketability and other reasons. Ricky Steamboat is an atypical instance of a wrestler adopting a ring name to sound less intimidating, as his legal name of Richard Blood was considered unfitting for his babyface persona. Some (mostly independent ) wrestlers still go to great lengths to ensure that their real names are not publicly known. It

3276-414: Is often a rare gimmick in professional wrestling due to its controversial nature. Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Friar Ferguson , and most recently, "Bolieve" Bo Dallas , and "The Monday Night Messiah" Seth "Freakin'" Rollins . Whilst being way beyond over the limit from some sheer violence is scary in some matches, hardcore technician gimmicks are also another popular choice for gimmicks, due to

3367-822: The 2011 supplemental draft , where she received a push and began feuding with The Bella Twins . On May 22 at the Over the Limit pay-per-view, Kelly unsuccessfully challenged Brie Bella for the WWE Divas Championship. The following month, on the Power to the People special edition of Raw on June 20, Kelly won a fan vote to determine the challenger for the Divas Championship that night. Kelly went on to win her first WWE Divas Championship by defeating Brie Bella. Her win later garnered her

3458-501: The Backlash pay-per-view. In July, Kelly was moved to the Raw brand and debuted for the brand by teaming with Mickie James to defeat Layla and Jillian Hall . She quickly became involved in a feud with Beth Phoenix, facing her on multiple occasions in both singles and tag team matches with a variety of partners, including Mickie James and Candice Michelle . In September, Kelly transitioned into

3549-690: The Batman comics have inspired wrestling attire for Sting and Alexa Bliss respectively. Finn Bálor 's Demon King persona is visually based on Spider-Man villains Venom and Carnage . Sandman's character name is also based on Spider-Man villain Sandman as well as Rhyno , whose character name was based on a pun on the Spider-Man villain Rhino . Raven's character name was based on DC Comics superhero, Raven . Kenny Omega 's taunts were inspired by video games since he

3640-583: The ECW brand in June 2006 as 'Kelly Kelly'. Primarily appearing in a non-wrestling role, she was a member of Extreme Exposé with Layla and Brooke Adams . Beginning in late 2007, she began participating in more wrestling matches, and unsuccessfully challenged for both the WWE Divas Championship and the WWE Women's Championship on multiple occasions. In June 2011, she won the WWE Divas Championship, commencing

3731-536: The Money in the Bank pay-per-view in July, but was unsuccessful. On August 31, Kelly announced that she would be a mentor on season three of NXT , with Naomi as her rookie. Throughout the second half of 2010, Kelly continued to feud with LayCool, and gained an ally in Natalya in October. In November, Kelly's NXT rookie, Naomi was named runner-up to the winner, Kaitlyn during the season finale. On January 30, 2011, at

Kelly Kelly - Misplaced Pages Continue

3822-469: The Royal Rumble event, Blank competed in the first women's royal rumble match , where she entered at number 19, and was eliminated by Nia Jax . In October 2018, Blank participated in a battle royal at WWE's first all-female pay-per-view WWE Evolution , in which she was eliminated by Mandy Rose . On July 22, 2019, Blank returned during Raw Reunion , where she pinned Gerald Brisco backstage to become

3913-706: The Royal Rumble , Kelly prevented the Acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero from interfering in the World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and Dolph Ziggler . On the following SmackDown , Kelly and Edge defeated LayCool and Ziggler in a two-on-three handicap match to retain Edge's World Heavyweight Championship. Afterward, Guerrero fired Kelly in storyline. At the Elimination Chamber pay-per-view later that month, Kelly

4004-474: The best and worst gimmick of that year. Pro wrestling's history has been tied to the use of gimmicks from its infancy. From its circus origins in the 1830s, showmen presented wrestlers under names such as "Edward, the steel eater", "Gustave d’Avignon, the bone wrecker", or "Bonnet, the ox of the low Alps" and challenged the public to knock them down for 500 francs. During the late 19th century-early 20th century, when wrestler Frank Gotch rose to prominence,

4095-732: The leprechaun Hornswoggle , El Torito and other various dwarfed versions of other various wrestlers . Education is a rare gimmick in wrestling due to the fact that, most times, the wrestler is a former real-life student or scholar of a school , a college , a university , or a TAFE , who also worked as a cheerleader , a coach , a dean , a librarian , a teacher , or even a principal . Wrestlers who used this gimmick include NXT wrestlers, e.g. Alex Riley etc., Bobby "The Brain" Heenan , Sgt. Slaughter , Dean Douglas , Jonathan Coachman , Michelle McCool 's "sexy teacher" character, The Miz 's and Jack Swagger 's "student" amateur background characters, Damien Sandow 's "Intellectual Savior of

4186-437: The promotion that creates a character or gimmick for a performer. It is common to see one performer use a variety of ring names throughout their career, even if their overall persona remains similar. This is especially true in WWE , which has largely forced most wrestlers that have debuted since 2006 to use a WWE-owned ring name instead of a ring name that they used on the independent circuit or, such as with Daniel Bryan and

4277-728: The "Dudley Boyz" name, leading them to have to change their name when they went to TNA. The members' individual names were also trademarked by WWE, forcing them to have to change their names. WWE partially repealed the policy in 2015, allowing wrestlers who were well known in other promotions such as Samoa Joe , A.J. Styles , Shinsuke Nakamura , Austin Aries , Bobby Roode , and Eric Young to use their long-standing ring names (or, in Nakamura's and Roode's cases, their real names) as well as wrestlers who sign "Tier 2" NXT brand contracts such as Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa , who wrestle both on NXT and

4368-585: The 1980s–1990s, a rise of cartoonish, outlandish gimmicks became popular with the increase of the World Wrestling Federation's popularity. The WWF contributed to the explosion of gimmicks by becoming the most colorful and well-known wrestling brand because of its child-oriented characters, soap opera dramatics and cartoon-like personas. Most notable was the muscular Hulk Hogan , who marked the 1980s with his "Real-American" gimmick and made his main events into excellent ratings draws. His dominant role in

4459-1074: The 1994 movie The Crow , based on the comic book of the same name . Other wrestlers with superhero and supervillain gimmicks include late WWE Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes ' sons Gold and Stardust , Big Van Vader , Bam Bam Bigelow , Pierre Carl Ouellet , Dr. Luther , the magician Phantasio , Icarus , Super Eric , Dexter Lumis , Samoan Rosey during his "the Super Hero in Training" (the S.H.I.T.) phase and his tag-team partner The Hurricane and valet Super Stacy , Earthquake/Avalanche and his tag-team partner Typhoon in The Natural Disasters stable, and tag-teams The Road Warriors , Demolition , KroniK , The Assassins , The Super Assassins , The Machines , and most recently, The Ascension , and The Viking Raiders/War Machine . Some of these characters are brought during very short periods of time for entertainment value. The Joker and Harley Quinn from

4550-934: The 80's, The Honky Tonk Man worked with a Elvisesque character. Elias also works well with his musician guitar character. Rapping was demonstrated by R-Truth / K-Kwik 's original rapper character along with Road Dogg and John Cena worked during the first years of his career with a rapper gimmick. AEW tag team The Acclaimed also begin each of their matches with a different rap. Other music genre types were demonstrated by CM Punk 's straight edge iconoclast hardcore punk , party boys No Way Jose and Adam Rose , Cameron Grimes , Rick Boogs , Rockstar Spud , Heath Slater , Lance Archer , Chris Jericho , Jeff Jarrett , Marty Jannetty , The Honky Tonk Man , Disco Inferno , One Man Gang , Buck Zumhofe , WWE's Brodus Clay and his fun-loving, funk dancing gimmick "The Funkasaurus" and Fandango who includes salsa dancing in his routine, and AEW's Jack Evans who usually does breakdancing in

4641-531: The Giant (7 ft 4 in), The Great Khali (7 ft 3 in), Big Show (7 ft 2 in), Awesome Kong and Nia Jax (123 kg). Similarly to juggernauts, since its beginnings in the circus circuit, the professional wrestler's stereotype has been that of small, but powerful and strong like those of dwarves of Norse mythology . Various wrestlers have banked on the small size which has influenced their in-ring style and persona. Notable examples of these kind include

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4732-794: The January 7, 2022, episode of SmackDown , Blank was announced as a participant in the women's Royal Rumble match at the namesake event . In what was her third appearance at the Royal Rumble, she entered the match at number 4 and was quickly eliminated by Sasha Banks . Blank has appeared in six WWE video games. She made her in-game debut in SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 . Blank also appears in SmackDown vs. Raw 2009 , SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 , SmackDown vs. Raw 2011 , WWE '12 and WWE '13 . In April 2007, Blank, along with Ashley Massaro , Layla El , Brooke Adams , Torrie Wilson , and Maryse , appeared in

4823-408: The May 18 episode of Raw , Kelly won a battle royal to become the number one contender to the WWE Divas Championship . The following week, she challenged Maryse for the championship and won by disqualification, with Maryse retaining the title. Kelly lost a rematch by pinfall two weeks later on June 8. In June, she competed in a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender, but the match

4914-401: The October 29 episode of Raw , Kelly won a battle royal to earn a match against the WWE Women's Champion , Beth Phoenix . Kelly lost the match the following week on Raw . Kelly continued to feud with Layla, and they were on opposite sides of a 10-Diva tag team match at Survivor Series , which Kelly's team won. In April 2008, Kelly was part of the losing team in a five-on-five Divas match at

5005-745: The Peace , as Amanda. On August 16, 2020, Blank unveiled her new YouTube channel which features video blogs on her daily life. Blank has her own wine label called B Tasteful in collaboration with Smith Devereux Winery. Blank is also a fashion influencer , serving as an ambassador on Instagram for brands including Fashion Nova and PrettyLittleThing . While training at OVW, Blank lived in Kentucky . Following this, Blank lived in Tampa, Florida , prior to moving to Miami . She then returned to living in Tampa in 2010. Blank

5096-699: The Peace , which was released on January 17, 2020. Barbara Jean Blank was born on January 15, 1987, in Jacksonville, Florida , to a Jewish father and Christian mother. She was a fan of professional wrestling as a child, and cites Stone Cold Steve Austin as her favorite wrestler. While growing up, she participated in gymnastics for ten years, before she was forced to quit due to an injury. She later took up cheerleading . She attended University Christian School and graduated from Englewood High School . She then attended Florida Community College at Jacksonville , where she studied broadcast journalism , hoping to become

5187-517: The Ruthless Aggression era following the Attitude era, the emphasis of gimmicks became more realistic with wrestlers portraying themselves or actual people without wild exaggeration, freakishness or fantastical qualities. It is also more common for the wrestlers to use their actual names. Wrestlers like Randy Orton , Batista , Bobby Lashley , John Cena , and Brock Lesnar are prime examples. All

5278-622: The United States (Mort Henderson as "Masked Marvel" in 1915) considerably earlier than in Mexico, but it was the latter that popularised the use of masks. This, in some cases to signify a high-flyer style, influenced by Lucha Libre . A specific masked gimmick may be used by more than one wrestler at a wrestling company's request since their identity can be permanently concealed. This is the case of Mexican Sin Cara and Japanese Tiger Mask . Masks also allow

5369-603: The Unwashed Masses" character, and "The Librarian" Peter Avalon and his manager Leva Bates , and tag-teams The Steiner Brothers , The Spirit Squad , and most recently, Team Rhodes Scholars , American Alpha , and Chase University . Bad News reporter characters are a villainous gimmick; due to any "bad news" reported to the fans by a "bad guy" (heel); but is quite rare since that fans are not quite interested in it either. Wrestlers who used this gimmick include Bad News Brown , and most recently, "Bad News" Barrett . Religion

5460-577: The case of Rey Mysterio . Other wrestlers who have used masks in their performances include: The Masked Superstar , Mexican-American Kalisto , Lince Dorado , Gran Metalik , or Japanese legend Jushin Thunder Liger . A high number of wrestlers who start their careers in another sport incorporate their athletic abilities as part of their act. That is the case for Olympic medallist Kurt Angle , who previously competed in freestyle wrestling and alludes to it in his attire and wrestling style. Brock Lesnar

5551-470: The championship to Phoenix at Hell in a Cell in October, ending her reign at 104 days. In rematches on SmackDown and at Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Kelly failed to regain the title. Kelly spent early 2012 participating in several tag team matches. At WrestleMania XXVIII in April, Kelly and Extra correspondent Maria Menounos defeated Beth Phoenix and Eve in a tag team match. In June, WWE granted Kelly

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5642-1059: The charity is building awareness and solutions for brain cancer. On May 29, 2020, Blank got engaged to bodybuilder Joe Coba in Sedona, Arizona . They got married on April 9, 2021, in Oak Glen, California . Their wedding was featured on the Brides magazine. On March 28, 2023, Blank announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In April, she revealed she is expecting twins, and she gave birth to them on September 10; son Jaxon Matthew and daughter Brooklyn Marie. Ring name Ring names are much more common in professional wrestling than any other sport; famous examples include Terry Bollea becoming Hulk Hogan , Michael Shawn Hickenbottom becoming Shawn Michaels , Roderick Toombs becoming Roddy Piper , Dwayne Johnson becoming The Rock , Christopher Irvine becoming Chris Jericho , and Phillip Jack Brooks becoming CM Punk . A number of wrestlers adopted their real name or

5733-480: The crowded independent circuit by adopting absurdist comedy gimmicks intended to be understood by post-kayfabe fans as purely fictional characters. Two such wrestlers whose independent-scene popularity got them noticed and eventually signed by the internationally televised promotion All Elite Wrestling are Orange Cassidy , an emotionless slacker who puts as little effort as possible into his matches and frequently wrestles with his hands in his pockets; and Danhausen ,

5824-797: The fans being over with getting used to watching sheer violence as they don't shy away from it either. These include Abdullah the Butcher , and Bruiser Brody , which came popular into other professional wrestling companies like ECW wrestlers, e.g. Terry Funk , Hardcore Holly , New Jack , and Mick Foley/Mankind/Cactus Jack , etc., CZW wrestlers, e.g. John Zandig , Necro Butcher , Wifebeater , Nick Mondo , and Nick Gage , etc., AEW wrestlers, e.g. The Blade and The Butcher , etc., Japanese Wrestlers Atsushi Onita , Toshiaki Kawada , and Jun Kasai , and tag-teams The Motor City Machine Guns , and most recently, The Mechanics , and Heavy Machinery . Music influences are another popular choice for gimmicks. In

5915-476: The fans. Such showmanship was unheard of for the time; and consequently, arena crowds grew in size as fans turned out to ridicule George. Gorgeous George's impact and legacy on wrestling gimmicks was enormous, demonstrating how fast television changed the product from athletics to performance. Before him, wrestlers' gimmicks imitated "ethnic terrors"—Nazis, Middle Eastern Muslims (Arabs, Turks, Persians, Afghans, etc.), Japanese, Russians, etc.—but his success birthed

6006-435: The first female 24/7 Champion . Kelly then lost the title to Candice Michelle , with Melina as the special guest referee . She returned to the ring again on January 26, 2020, at the Royal Rumble , entering at number 21 before being eliminated by Charlotte Flair . That year, Blank also appeared in a backstage segment with The Street Profits the following night on Raw and on the November 22 edition of Watch Along . On

6097-517: The focus became on contests largely legitimate (see catch wrestling ), which largely resulted in the abandoning previous character gimmicks. It was not until the First Golden Age of Professional Wrestling in the United States during the 1940s–1950s, when Gorgeous George created pro wrestling's first major gimmick. His heel character focused on his looks and quickly antagonized the fans with his exaggerated effeminate behavior, drawing jealousy to

6188-477: The independent circuit to keep their ring names (or, in Gargano's case, his real name). Gargano and Ciampa have since signed exclusive WWE contracts. "In-house" WWE wrestlers still use WWE-owned ring names. In rare cases, the rights to a wrestler's ring name may be owned by a company with little or no connection to professional wrestling, such as Marvel Comics ' ownership of the name Hulk Hogan until early 2003, which

6279-592: The industry at that time led to this era to be also known as "Hulkamania". Around this time, wrestling became a form of entertainment rather than an official sport. Other wrestlers from this era with similarly vivid and outlandish characterization include The Iron Sheik , The Ultimate Warrior , Randy Savage , The Undertaker , Sting , Goldust , Roddy Piper , Ric Flair , "The Heartbreak Kid" Shawn Michaels , Big Daddy Cool Diesel , Kwang , The Bushwhackers , Big Boss Man , Tatanka , Razor Ramon , Sgt. Slaughter , Irwin R. Schyster , among many others. Beginning with

6370-519: The name "Bollywood" was borrowed from the word "Hollywood" but with a "B" instead of a "H" to describe a famous filming district in Mumbai (Bombay), in India, which it was named after). Authority figures are apparently villainous but sometimes as heroic characters as wrestlers and non-wrestlers (e.g. referees , general managers, security , police , etc.) as well depending on the storyline. Some wrestlers also use

6461-400: The past before debuting in WWE along with Mojo Rawley 's "hyperactive" wrestling style due to being a former NFL player before debuting WWE as well as the stable The Four Horsemen . The theatrical nature of professional wrestling easily blends with comic hero and villain characters , made popular in the 1980s by legend The Ultimate Warrior and Sting , whose character was inspired by

6552-695: The prefix "Stone Cold" Steve Austin. Numerous boxers have used ring names or nicknames as their mode of identification during their professional boxing careers, particularly during the late 19th century and the early 20th century. The ring name "Kid" was particularly popular, indicating the boxer's comparative youth. Since the mid 20th century, ring names for boxers have typically been less common, although nicknames have become more popular in recent years. Famous examples of boxers who used ring names include: Gimmick (professional wrestling) Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s In professional wrestling ,

6643-540: The ring during entrances or when he's won a match, and tag-teams The Public Enemy , Badd Company , The Rockers , The Rock 'n' Roll Express , The Rhythm and Blues , and most recently, The Vaudevillains . AEW 's Adam Williams is also a professional wrestler and a real-life guitarist. Whilst humor has long been present in professional wrestling matches and many wrestlers incorporate elements of comedy in their act, full-on comedic gimmicks are not commonly seen. These are sometimes reserved for wrestlers who not always have

6734-407: The said wrestlers are depicted as less-exaggerated average people. Although rare, colorful and cartoon-like characters remain in the WWE, such as Shinsuke Nakamura (a wildly random, erratic mixed martial arts enigma, emotionally charged by the sound of violins) and Matt Riddle (a stereotypical carefree, barefoot surfer Valley boy ). Outside WWE, some wrestlers have made names for themselves on

6825-405: The same routine; Kelly would dance and strip until she was stopped by Knox. Knox began forcing Kelly to accompany him to ringside so he could keep an eye on her, making her his de facto valet . As a result, she found herself involved in the feud developing between Knox and his tag team partner Test and the team of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman . This included her being inadvertently hit with

6916-524: The same things that Bray Wyatt would do. Since its beginnings in the circus circuit, the professional wrestler's stereotype has been that of large, powerful and strong, most notably Kane upon his arrival to the WWF/E. Various wrestlers have banked on the larger size which has influenced their in-ring style and persona. Notable examples of these kind include Swede Tor Johnson (181 kg), Gorilla Monsoon (182 kg), Giant González (8 ft 0 in), André

7007-794: The stereotypical physique required in the industry and instead exploit their entertainment abilities. Initiated by English wrestler Les Kellett , wrestlers who fall under this category are Doink The Clown which was majorly portrayed by Matt Osborne until his death in 2013, which inspired others like Scottish comedian and actor Grado , Ring of Honor 's Colt Cabana , Santino Marella , James Ellsworth , and Eugene's "mentally disabled boy" character, Japanese Wrestlers Stalker Ichikawa , Gran Naniwa , Kuishinbo Kamen and Toru Yano , Charlie Haas during his impersonations run, and WWE 's 1990s turkey character Gobbledy Gooker , and rooster character Red Rooster , WCW's Brian Pillman , and Al Snow along with his mannequin prop called "Head" which he used as

7098-707: The teams faced off in a rematch with the opposite result. The following week, Kelly took part in a 10-Diva Dress To Impress battle royal, to determine the number one contender for Maryse's Divas Championship, but the match was won by Torres. During the 2010 WWE Draft on April 26, Kelly was drafted to the SmackDown brand, making her the first drafted female wrestler on television. She quickly began to feud with LayCool (Michelle McCool and Layla), and gained an ally in Tiffany . After defeating both Layla and McCool in singles matches, she received another WWE Women's Championship match at

7189-458: The tournament to determine a new Divas Champion, after Melina was forced to vacate the championship due to injury. She was eliminated by Alicia Fox in the first round. Throughout early 2010, Kelly was involved in several backstage segments with the guest hosts of Raw . At WrestleMania XXVI , Kelly teamed with Phoenix, Kim, James, and Eve Torres in a losing effort to McCool, Layla, Maryse, Fox, and Vickie Guerrero . The following night on Raw ,

7280-478: The wrestler's desire to be popular or hated by the crowd. A tweener gimmick falls between the two extremes, such as wrestlers who manifests many heel and face traits such as Randy Orton 's viper gimmick. A wrestler may portray more than one gimmick over their career depending on the angle or the wrestling promotion that they are working for at that time. Promotions will use gimmicks on more than one person, albeit at different times, occasionally taking advantage of

7371-409: The wrestler's gimmick changes, either subtly or dramatically. After debuting in WWE as the " Connecticut Blueblood " Hunter Hearst Helmsley, Paul Levesque's character later morphed into Triple H . A more drastic change sometimes occurs when a wrestler turns heroic or villainous , such as when Hulk Hogan joined the villainous nWo (New World Order) and became "Hollywood" Hulk Hogan. His new attitude

7462-422: The youngest Diva on the WWE roster, aged 19. Her character , an exhibitionist , was introduced performing a striptease for the crowd. The next week, while performing another striptease, Kelly was interrupted by her on-screen boyfriend, Mike Knox , who came to the stage and covered her with a towel before dragging her backstage. Her stripping became a weekly segment known as Kelly's Exposé and usually followed

7553-408: Was a big fan of them. Mantaur 's character name was also based on a pun on the word Minotaur , a half-man, half-bull creature from Greek Mythology . Luchasaurus ' character name is a portmanteau of " lucha libre " and " dino saurus ". Tag-team The Super Smash Brothers 's name was based on the video game franchise Super Smash Bros. Nikki Cross also changed her gimmick and name like that of

7644-596: Was due to Hogan being advertised as " The Incredible Hulk Hogan" early in his career, while Marvel owned the trademark for their comic book character. Sometimes, a wrestler will buy the rights to their own ring name; for example, Steve Borden owns the rights to the name Sting and licenses it to the musician of the same name . The wrestler formerly known as Test took this one step further and legally changed his name to "Andrew Test Martin". Jim Hellwig, known as The Ultimate Warrior , had his name legally changed to simply "Warrior". In many cases, ring names evolve over time as

7735-595: Was enhanced by changing his costume color scheme from his famous red and yellow to nWo's black and white. Steve Williams adopted the ring name Steve Austin to avoid confusion with the then-more established performer "Dr. Death" Steve Williams . Austin would wrestle under that name for several years before signing with the WWF and being given the name "the Ringmaster". This gimmick failed to catch on, and Austin reverted to his established name, reaching his greatest level of success with

7826-505: Was in a two-year relationship with wrestler Andrew "Test" Martin , that had ended prior to his death in March 2009. In 2011, Blank met ice hockey player Sheldon Souray at a Maxim party, and the pair began dating. They got married in Cabo San Lucas , Mexico on February 27, 2016, and split time between Las Vegas and Los Angeles . The couple separated and filed for divorce in 2017. She had

7917-412: Was newly single and bringing back Kelly's Exposé . The following week, she joined forces with Layla and Brooke to form Extreme Exposé . The trio performed a weekly dance segment on ECW for the next several months. On November 1, Brooke was released from her WWE contract, and Extreme Exposé dissolved as a group. This left Kelly and Layla to enter an ongoing rivalry with more active wrestling roles. On

8008-602: Was nominated as "Favorite Butt Kicker" for the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards . In August 2007, all three members of Extreme Exposé took part in a photo-shoot for FHM . In 2011, Blank was ranked number 82 in Maxim 's Hot 100 , being the first woman from WWE to appear on the cover of Maxim magazine. Blank was later featured on both the front and back covers of Maxim in December 2011. In 2012, Blank ranked number 38 in Maxim 's Hot 100 . Blank

8099-459: Was one of the cast members of the E! reality television series WAGS , which began airing in August 2015 and features a look into the personal lives of the wives and girlfriends of sportsmen . The show was cancelled in 2018. Blank made her acting debut on the January 30, 2017, episode of Days of Our Lives , appearing in a scene as a waitress who gives information to one of the show's main characters. Her film debut came in 2020's Disturbing

8190-421: Was re-hired by SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long , and made her return by attacking Guerrero. She was stopped by LayCool, who were in turn stopped by Trish Stratus . The next week, on SmackDown , Kelly and Edge defeated Guerrero and Drew McIntyre in a mixed tag team match, causing Guerrero to be fired in storyline per the pre-match stipulation. On April 26, Kelly was drafted back to the Raw brand as part of

8281-577: Was won by James. Throughout the remainder of mid-2009, Kelly unsuccessfully competed in several number one contender matches. At the Bragging Rights pay-per-view in October, Kelly, Gail Kim , and Melina comprised Team Raw, but lost to Team SmackDown (Phoenix, Natalya, and McCool). The following month at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, Kelly participated in a five-on-five elimination match, which her team won. She eliminated Layla before being eliminated by Phoenix. In January 2010, Kelly participated in

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