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101-539: The WWE Divas Championship was a women's professional wrestling world championship in WWE . The championship was created by WWE in 2008, and was introduced as part of the WWE brand extension via a storyline by then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero as an alternative to Raw 's WWE Women's Championship . Michelle McCool became the inaugural champion on July 20, 2008, when she defeated Natalya at The Great American Bash . After then-WWE Divas Champion Maryse
202-516: A Winner Takes All triple threat match for the Raw and SmackDown Women's championships in what would be the first time that female superstars would main event WWE's flagship event. Nikki and Brie Bella, twin sisters who were inducted into WWEs Hall of Fame is 2021, came out of retirement for 2022 Women's Royal Rumble. Brie was the first to win a WWE Championship, but Nikki held the championship twice and held that reign longer than Brie. Promotions such as
303-606: A bra and panties match , winning both matches. In the same night, MNM dropped their championships to the Legion of Doom , prompting a new storyline where Melina hired Jillian Hall , a fixer , to assist them. MNM regained the titles on October 28 in a fatal four-Way tag team match. On the Eddie Guerrero Tribute Show , Melina won a Divas battle royal by eliminating the Women's Champion Trish Stratus . The next week, as
404-627: A limbo contest when Chris Jericho was General Manager for the night. Melina made her official debut in WWE as a heel , resuming her role as the manager of MNM , on the April 14, 2005, episode of SmackDown! . The team interrupted the first ever Carlito's Cabana interview segment, where one half of the WWE Tag Team Champions , Rey Mysterio , was a guest. Melina insulted Mysterio and had Mercury and Nitro attack him, leading to MNM's in-ring debut
505-495: A mixed tag team match . After Melina's arrival on Raw , Mick Foley began to mention her in promos and on his WWE.com columns, playing on their real-life friendship, and they soon formed an on-screen friendship. At SummerSlam , Melina was involved in Foley's "I Quit" match against Ric Flair , when Flair threatened to hit her with a barbed wire baseball bat, causing Foley to quit the match to save her. The next night on Raw ,
606-536: A photo op with the Women's Championship belt in the ring, but was interrupted by Mickie James, resulting in another storyline feud between the two Divas. On April 24, at a house show in Paris , Melina lost the Women's Championship in a Triple Threat match to James when James pinned Victoria , but on the orders of Jonathan Coachman , she was entitled to a rematch on the same night, where she pinned James by putting her hands on
707-495: A six-way match . On November 5, Melina defeated Renee Michelle to capture the MCW Women's Championship for the first time. On October 5, 2017, she left the title vacated due to injury, ending her reign at 350 days. After a two-year absence of in-ring activity, Melina returned on June 11, 2018, at promotion A Matter of Pride Wrestling to face off against The Boy Diva Rick Cataldo. The following month Melina attacked Cataldo with
808-534: A villainess . Melina made her NWA in-ring debut on Into the Fire , on December 14, teaming with Belle as they unsuccessfully challenged Kay and ODB . Following NWA's 18 month hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic , Melina resumed her role as Thunder Rosa's manager, and began a feud with Kamille and a debuting Taryn Terrell , turning face in the process. At NWA When Our Shadows Fall , on June 6, 2021, Melina teamed with Rosa in
909-574: A Cell match. At the 2017 Money in the Bank pay-per-view, the first-ever Women's Money in the Bank ladder match was held with the winner receiving a contract for a SmackDown Women's Championship match. The following month, WWE would hold a women's wrestling tournament called the Mae Young Classic , named after the late Mae Young . In 2018, the January Royal Rumble pay-per-view would feature
1010-501: A bouquet of flowers given to Cataldo as a sign of affection by Vinny Pacifico. On April 4, 2019, Melina defeated Sonny Kiss at A Matter of Pride's Divamania in a match that qualified her to compete in the Chris Kanyon Memorial Battle Royal to determine the company's inaugural Champion; she was eliminated by eventual winner, Eddy McQueen. In August 2019 Perez faced Jamie Senegal in singles match at A Matter of Pride in
1111-618: A brand-new Women's Championship, which would later be called the Raw Women's Championship , to replace the Divas Championship. The match for the new title took place at the event between the reigning Divas Champion Charlotte and her opponents Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks in a triple threat match . Charlotte was the last Divas Champion. With the first WWE brand extension in 2002, a storyline division in which WWE assigned its employees to different television programs and touring companies,
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#17328846720481212-527: A contract to return to WWE but Perez informed in February 2021 that, while WWE and she talked, they did not come to an agreement. She would make another appearance on January 4, 2021, at WWE Raw Legends Night. On January 29, 2022, Melina made a surprise return opening the 2022 Royal Rumble match with Sasha Banks . She was, however, eliminated by Banks in less than a minute. In November 2011, Perez wrestled her first match outside of WWE by defeating Lexxus at
1313-477: A junior heavyweight version of the NWA World Women's Championship (the predecessor to the original WWE Women's Championship ) in a tournament back in 1958, was recognized by most NWA promoters as champion by default. In WWE, female professional wrestlers are members of one of the promotion's four women's divisions who compete in both singles competition and tag teams . WWE has six active women's championships:
1414-529: A losing effort against Terrell and Kylie Rae , despite Melina's wrestling on a retorn ACL. Melina turned heel once again and briefly feuded with Kylie Rae, leading to a match on the June 29 episode of NWA Power , which Melina lost. A few months later, Melina won a number one contenders triple threat match against Chelsea Green and Kylie Rae for a shot at Kamille 's NWA World Women's Championship at NWA Hard Times 2 , which she lost. Melina made her TNA debut on
1515-407: A men's promotion, had a small women's division that competed with women wrestlers from other promotions. All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling (est. 1968) was the dominant joshi puro organization from the 1970s to the 1990s. AJW's first major star was Mach Fumiake in 1974, followed in 1975 by Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda (the "Beauty Pair"). In the early 1980s, Jaguar Yokota and Devil Masami became
1616-633: A new WWE Women's Championship , which has a separate title history from the original. WWE then reintroduced the brand extension in July 2016 and the Women's Championship (now Raw Women's Championship) became exclusive to Raw. In August 2016, SmackDown created the SmackDown Women's Championship as a counterpart title. In WWE's NXT brand, women compete for the NXT Women's Championship, which was established in 2013. The NXT UK brand would create its counterpart title,
1717-520: A part of a new storyline, MNM kidnapped Stratus, tied her up and gagged her for Melina, who then challenged her to a match for the Women's Championship. The two fought at Survivor Series , with Melina losing to Stratus with the help of Mickie James . During this time, MNM defended their titles against Rey Mysterio and the World Heavyweight Champion Batista . Melina was placed in a storyline where she tried to make Batista call off
1818-449: A six-woman tag team match, and as a result she relinquished the Divas Championship on January 4. Melina made her return on the August 2, 2010, episode of Raw , attacking WWE Divas Champion Alicia Fox after a six-woman tag team match in which she, Jillian Hall, and Tamina defeated Eve Torres , Gail Kim, and Natalya. At SummerSlam , Melina defeated Fox to capture the Divas Championship for
1919-442: A storyline as John Hennigan 's ex-girlfriend. The storyline had Matt Cappotelli introduce her to the ring as a way to taunt Hennigan. Melina, however, turned on Cappotelli and aligned herself with Hennigan, who later changed his ring name to Johnny Nitro. Soon after, the duo began teaming with Joey Matthews , later known as Joey Mercury. The trio became known as MNM and on November 10, Melina managed Mercury and Nitro to win
2020-574: A tag team match at SWE Speed King 2016, teaming with Nixon Newell participating against the team of Alex Windsor and Kay Lee Ray . The match was declared a no contest. On October 2, Melina entered the SWE Queen of the Ring tournament. She defeated Lana Austin and Viper to advance to the finals, when she defeated the Queen Of Southside champion Kay Lee Ray, winning the tournament and the championship in
2121-406: A three-year hiatus, Melina returned to the independent circuit at Maryland Championship Wrestling 's Ladies Night event as the enforcer in the MCW Women's Championship main event match between Amber Rodriguez and Mickie James; Melina turned heel by attacking James during the match before being attacked by referee Lisa Marie Varon , after which James won the title. On August 5, Melina appeared as
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#17328846720482222-452: A unified division with a title: WWE , Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), Ring of Honor (ROH), and All Elite Wrestling (AEW), in addition to a number of independent promotions with women's wrestling divisions and championships. TNA's female wrestlers are branded as the Knockouts , while ROH's female talent were formally known as the Women of Honor , and WWE's female talent were known as
2323-546: A victorious effort against Velvet Sky , but lost to Sky the following day in a rematch. From June 30 to July 2, 2012, Melina participated in World Wrestling Council 's (WWC) Anniversario weekend in Puerto Rico . On the first two nights, Melina defeated Velvet Sky in singles matches, but on the final night, she and Davey Richards were defeated in a mixed tag team match by Sky and Xix Savant. On June 19, 2015, after
2424-707: A villainess at Lucha Underground ' s Ultima Lucha helping Johnny Mundo in his match against Alberto El Patron by hitting El Patron with his title belt while the referee was knocked down. On October 16, Melina made her debut for Japanese promotion World Wonder Ring Stardom , during their first American tour in Covina, California . She teamed with Santana Garrett in a tag team match to defeat Hudson Envy and Thunder Rosa . On June 20, 2016, Melina announced her official in-ring return at Southside Wrestling Entertainment (SWE), taking part at SWE's Queen of The Ring tournament. On October 1, Perez made her official in-ring return in
2525-478: A winning effort. Melina continued her feud with Rick Cataldo at A Matter Of Pride, notably attacking him on his wedding night and trying to convince Rick's husband Vinny Pacifico-Cataldo to stand up for himself against his abusive life partner. Melina debuted for Outlaw Wrestling on June 20, 2019; teaming with Bull James in defeating Anthony Greene and the Platinum Hunnies, and picked up her first singles win for
2626-569: A women's division. The top of the division is the CMLL World Women's Championship . Keiko "Bull" Nakano won the first CMLL championship in 1992. That same year, wrestling promoter Antonio Peña left the CMLL to form a new promotion called the Asistencia Asesoría y Administración (AAA). In addition to the annual Reina de Reinas Championship (Queen of Queens Championship), AAA also organizes
2727-447: Is a three-time WWE Women's Champion , and a two-time WWE Divas Champion . After winning her second WWE Divas Championship, Perez became the first woman in WWE history to become a multiple-time champion with both the Women's and Divas titles. Famed for her flexibility, utilized during her entrance and in her in-ring maneuvers, Perez was called "one of the best wrestlers in the world" by Bret Hart , and cited by WWE as having "perhaps
2828-493: Is an American model and retired professional wrestler . She is best known for her tenure in WWE under the ring name Melina . Perez most recently wrestled for the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). In 2000, Perez began training to be a professional wrestler at Jesse Hernandez 's School of Hard Knocks, and made her debut in 2001. In late 2002, Perez auditioned for WWE's reality show Tough Enough III , but
2929-470: Is another one of Shimmer's sister promotions and was founded as a developmental program for the latter company. In 2018, they began a partnership with Impact Wrestling, which saw Impact talent compete at Rise events. Women's wrestling has maintained a recognized world champion since 1937, when Mildred Burke won the original World Women's title . She then formed the World Women's Wrestling Association in
3030-580: Is organized by wrestling federations called promotions . Some promotions are exclusively for women, while others have separate divisions for women. Among the nations that have women's professional wrestling are Australia , Bolivia , Canada , Japan , Mexico , the United Kingdom , and the United States . In the United States, there are currently four major professional wrestling promotions that have
3131-569: The 2009 WWE draft , then Divas Champion Maryse was one of the people drafted to the Raw brand, in the process making the championship exclusive to Raw. On January 4, 2010, WWE vacated the title after the current Divas Champion Melina sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament . A tournament was started two weeks later on Raw , where former Divas Champion Maryse qualified over Brie Bella , Alicia Fox qualified over Kelly Kelly , Eve Torres qualified over Katie Lea Burchill , and Gail Kim qualified over former Divas Champion Jillian Hall . In
WWE Divas Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
3232-559: The 2019 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view . Impact's women's championship is the Knockouts World Championship , which debuted on October 14, 2007. Its inaugural champion was Gail Kim , who won the title at Bound for Glory 2007 . The promotion's tag team championship is known as the Knockouts World Tag Team Championship . The title was introduced at No Surrender 2009 and its inaugural champions were
3333-708: The Divas until 2016. Three notable women-only promotions are Shimmer Women Athletes (est. 2005) in Illinois ; the World Wrestling Network 's Shine Wrestling brand (est. 2012) in Florida , which is a sister to Shimmer; and Women of Wrestling (WOW) (est. 2000, 2012) in Los Angeles . Shimmer is recognized as the earliest and most prominent promotion to take women's wrestling more seriously. In addition to Shine, Rise Wrestling
3434-503: The NXT UK brand. The Fabulous Moolah is recognized as WWE 's first Women's Champion , with her reign beginning in 1956. In 2002, WWE began what was called the WWE brand extension , where wrestlers and championships became exclusive to one of WWE's brands. At first, the Women's Championship could be defended on any brand, but later that year, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. In 2008, WWE created
3535-539: The NXT UK Women's Championship , in 2018. The WWE Women's Tag Team Championship was announced on the December 24, 2018 edition of Monday Night Raw . The inaugural champions were The Boss 'n' Hug Connection (Sasha Banks & Bayley) who defeated The IIconics (Peyton Royce & Billie Kay), The Riot Squad (Liv Morgan & Sarah Logan), Nia Jax & Tamina, Mandy Rose & Sonya Deville and Naomi & Carmella at
3636-597: The Naked Women's Wrestling League showcased nude females "battling" in the ring for titillation. The NWWL broadcast shows around the world, and its wrestlers were featured in magazines such as Penthouse , Playboy , and Maxim . In Japan, women's professional wrestling is called joshi puroresu ( 女子プロレス ) , or joshi puro for short. Women's wrestling is usually handled by promotions that specialize in joshi puroresu , rather than by divisions of otherwise male-dominated promotions. Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ,
3737-532: The OVW Southern Tag Team Championship , holding it for over two months. During her time in OVW, Melina, Nitro, and Steven Adkins came up with Melina's trademark split ring entrance. Melina made her first Raw appearance on November 29, 2004, when Randy Orton was the guest General Manager and hosted a Diva lingerie fashion show. She made another Raw appearance in December, participating in
3838-533: The One Night Stand pay-per-view, Melina competed in the first ever women's "I Quit" match against Beth Phoenix, but was unsuccessful. The next night on Raw , Melina teamed with former rival Mickie James in a tag team match against Beth Phoenix and Katie Lea in a losing effort. On June 23, 2008, Perez suffered a heel injury after falling from the turnbuckles during a tag team match with Mickie James against Natalya and Victoria. Melina returned from injury on
3939-529: The Pro Wrestling Women's Alliance (PWWA) in 2007. This independent promotion is affiliated with Pro Wrestling Alliance Australia , as well as with Shimmer Women Athletes . They also had affiliations with Global Force Wrestling of the United States while the latter was active. It is the only all-female wrestling promotion in Australia. In Bolivia , female wrestlers called Fighting Cholitas dress in
4040-629: The Raw brand. Melina and Nitro debuted on Raw on May 29, with Nitro losing to WWE Champion John Cena . Melina continued to manage Nitro during his successful hunt for the WWE Intercontinental Championship , and in another storyline with Trish Stratus. The storyline turned into a tag team feud when Carlito teamed with Stratus after he saved her from the attacks of Melina and Nitro. At Saturday Night's Main Event XXXIII on July 15, Melina and Nitro lost to Carlito and Stratus in
4141-462: The SmackDown Women's Championship . Becky Lynch would become the inaugural champion at Backlash after winning a Six-pack elimination challenge . The following month, at Hell in a Cell , Charlotte would face Sasha Banks in a match for the Raw Women's Championship in what would be the first time a women's match was the main event of a WWE pay-per-view, as well as the first-ever women's Hell in
WWE Divas Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
4242-667: The WWE Divas Championship as a counterpart title for the SmackDown brand. The two titles were eventually unified in September 2010. The Women's Championship was then retired in favor of keeping the Divas Championship, which became briefly known as the Unified WWE Divas Championship. The brand extension ended in 2011. In April 2016 at WrestleMania 32 , the Divas Championship was retired and subsequently replaced with
4343-699: The WWE Raw Women's Championship (which is the successor to the WWE Divas Championship , which in turn succeeded the original WWE Women's Championship created in 1956) for the Raw brand, the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship for the SmackDown brand, the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship , the NXT Women's Championship and NXT Women's Tag Team Championship for the NXT brand, and the NXT UK Women's Championship for
4444-513: The WWE Women's Championship was originally to be defended on both brands. At some point that year, however, it became exclusive to the Raw brand. Thereafter, only Divas on the Raw brand were able to compete for the title, while the Divas on the SmackDown brand were unable to compete for a women's-exclusive championship. However, on a few occasions, the regulation was bypassed with Melina , Ashley Massaro , Torrie Wilson , and Nidia challenging for
4545-709: The Women Superstars Uncensored November 19 pay-per-view. Perez appeared on the World Wrestling Fan Xperience (WWFX) Champions Showcase Tour in Manila, Philippines on February 4, 2012, where she wrestled under her real name. On February 5, 2012, episode of WWFX , Melina defeated Jillian Hall. Melina appeared at the Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE) event, signing autographs and serving as Eric Young 's valet as he became
4646-536: The Women of Honor banner, culminating in the creation of the Women of Honor World Championship in December 2017 and the announcement at Final Battle 2017 of a tournament to crown the first champion. Stars from Japan 's World Wonder Ring Stardom also participated in the tournament. Sumie Sakai became the inaugural Women of Honor Champion when she won the title at Supercard of Honor XII in 2018. In 2015, WWE revamped its women's divisions by hiring mainly independent wrestlers as opposed to models, initially known as
4747-855: The World Mixed Tag Team Championship , in which tag teams of one woman and one man compete. In 2000, businessman Luciano Alberto Garcia de Luna started an all-woman promotion company called Lucha Libre Femenil (LLF) in Monterrey . Current notable independent promotions include Pro-Wrestling: EVE , Bellatrix Female Warriors , The British Bombshells, and Fierce Females. Notable British women wrestlers include: Lady Blossom , Xia Brookside , Nikki Cross , Blair Davenport , Sadie Gibbs , Jamie Hayter , Laura James , Jetta , Klondyke Kate , Katie Lea , Dani Luna , Millie McKenzie , Tegan Nox , Paige , Jemma Palmer , Kay Lee Ray , etc. Pro wrestler Madison Eagles and her husband Ryan co-founded
4848-426: The " Diva's Revolution " and later known as the "Women's Revolution". NXT TakeOver: Respect , held on October 7, 2015, saw then- NXT Women's Champion Bayley defend her title against Sasha Banks in a 30–minute Iron Man match in the main event . This was the first women's match to headline a major WWE event, and the first time in WWE history that a women's match had this stipulation. A new WWE Women's Championship
4949-402: The "junior heavyweight" class in men's wrestling. Arsion 's Sky High of Arsion Championship (est. 1999) and NEO Japan's High Speed Championship (est. 2009) are two such titles. In 2010, former Arsion and JDStar promoter Rossy Ogawa, retired wrestler Fuka Kakimoto , and veteran wrestler Nanae Takahashi started a new joshi puro promotion, World Wonder Ring Stardom . Stardom, considered
5050-489: The "primal scream". On January 29, 2007, Melina became the number one contender for the WWE Women's Championship after defeating Maria in a number one contender's match. On the February 5 episode of Raw , Melina received her title match against Mickie James but was unsuccessful. After pinning James in a mixed tag team match , Melina was granted another title match. On the February 19 episode of Raw , as part of her first major singles push , Melina defeated James to win
5151-530: The 1990s include Manami Toyota , Bull Nakano , Akira Hokuto , Cutie Suzuki , Aja Kong , Megumi Kudo , Shinobu Kandori , Kyoko Inoue , Takako Inoue (who is unrelated to Kyoko), Dynamite Kansai , and Mayumi Ozaki . Some joshi have a high-flying style that precedes the X Division of men's wrestling in North America. Since, for cultural reasons, women wrestlers are not divided into weight classes , these wrestlers compete for special titles comparable to
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#17328846720485252-544: The August 1 episode of Raw , Melina participated in a #1 contender's battle royal, which was won by Beth Phoenix. This would be her final match with WWE, as she was released later that week. On the July 22, 2019, episode of Raw , Melina made her first appearance in WWE in almost eight years at the Raw Reunion , acting as a referee in 24/7 Championship bouts between Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, and Alundra Blayze . PWInsider reported in September 2020 that Perez had signed
5353-555: The August 5, 2021, episode of Impact , where she was revealed as the challenger for Deonna Purrazzo 's Impact Knockouts Championship at NWA EmPowerrr . On the August 19 episode of Impact! , she made her in-ring debut, defeating Brandi Lauren . After the match, she was attacked by Purrazzo and Matthew Rehwoldt but was saved by Trey Miguel , setting up a mixed tag team match at Emergence . At Emergence, they lost to Purrazzo and Rehwoldt. The feud ended at NWA EmPowerrr when Melina unsuccessfully challenged Deonna Purrazzo for
5454-508: The Championship. After the match, Melina and Phoenix engaged in a confrontation over a fan of Phoenix's named Rosa Mendes , who had attacked Melina. On January 25, 2009, Melina won her third WWE Women's Championship at the Royal Rumble by defeating Phoenix. She retained her championship against Beth Phoenix on February 16 episode of Raw , and again during a dark match at No Way Out . On
5555-444: The Divas Championship match. At The Great American Bash , McCool defeated Natalya to become the inaugural champion. When Maryse won the title from McCool in December 2008, she dislocated her kneecap at a live event later that month. Similar to how Trish Stratus kept the Women's Championship when she was sidelined with a herniated disc in 2005, Maryse was able to keep the Divas title upon her return in late January 2009. As part of
5656-515: The March 9 episode of Raw, Melina was defeated by WWE Divas Champion Maryse , in a champion vs. champion Lumberjill Match . At WrestleMania 25 , Melina participated in the "Miss Wrestlemania" Battle Royal , where she was not victorious. On the April 13, 2009, episode of Raw , Melina was drafted back to SmackDown as part of the 2009 WWE Draft , thus making the WWE Women's Championship exclusive to
5757-648: The May 5 episode of Raw , Melina unintentionally attacked Phoenix with her boot during a lumberjill match with Mickie James. The following week, Phoenix walked out on Melina during a tag match against James and Maria, when Melina accidentally bumped Phoenix off the apron. Melina was then attacked by Phoenix during a backstage segment following the match, leading to Melina turning face . On the May 19 episode of Raw , Melina commentated during Beth Phoenix's match against Maria, which Phoenix won, and Melina would afterwards attack Phoenix with her boot before being attacked by Phoenix. At
5858-470: The November 24 episode of Raw , teaming with former rivals Mickie James and Candice Michelle to defeat Phoenix, Jillian Hall, and Katie Lea Burchill. The following week, she made her singles return by defeating Hall. Following the match, Melina stated her intentions to take the WWE Women's Championship from Beth Phoenix. On December 29, Melina won a six-woman battle royal to become the number one contender for
5959-415: The WWE Women's Championship for the first time in her career and became the first woman of Mexican American descent to win the title. The feud between the two Divas continued and Melina later retained the title in a rematch during the first ever Women's Falls Count Anywhere match in WWE history. In March, Melina was placed in an angle where she became jealous of SmackDown! Diva Ashley Massaro , who
6060-415: The WWE Women's Championship in a triple threat match against then-champion Beth Phoenix and Mickie James. Melina was defeated and pinned after suffering a DDT from James, followed by a delayed fisherman suplex , while she was completely unconscious, from Phoenix. In April 2008, Melina, along with then-ally Beth Phoenix , competed at WrestleMania XXIV in a tag team match, defeating Maria and Ashley. On
6161-431: The Women's Championship to Candice, and failed to recapture the title at The Great American Bash . At SummerSlam , Melina participated in a battle royal to determine the number one contender for the WWE Women's Championship. Melina scored two eliminations and lasted until the final four, before being eliminated by Torrie Wilson and Michelle McCool. On the December 29, 2007 episode of Raw , Melina once again challenged for
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#17328846720486262-408: The Women's Championship; this ended her reign as Divas Champion and began a new reign as Women's Champion. Women%27s professional wrestling Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Professional wrestling is a dramatic enactment of wrestling as a spectator sport . As is the norm for this sport, women's professional wrestling
6363-433: The brand. She began a feud with Michelle McCool, who was named as the number one contender to the title. McCool attacked Melina after her victory over Alicia Fox on the June 19 episode of SmackDown . Melina would then lose the Women's Championship to McCool at The Bash after an interference from Alicia Fox; she failed to regain the championship at Night of Champions . On the September 29 episode of SmackDown, Melina
6464-537: The championships. The unified championship would henceforth be known as the Divas Championship, with the Women's Championship title being retired. On the September 20, 2010, episode of Raw, Melina was defeated by Layla in a match for the WWE Divas Championship. On the October 25 episode of Raw, Melina and Gail Kim were defeated by LayCool in just over a minute. On the December 20 episode of Raw , Melina became
6565-450: The early 1950s and recognized herself as the first champion, although the championship would be vacated upon her retirement in 1956. The National Wrestling Alliance however, ceased to acknowledge Burke as their Women's World champion in 1954, and instead acknowledged June Byers as champion after a controversial finish to a high-profile match between Burke and Byers that year. Upon Byers' retirement in 1964, The Fabulous Moolah , who won
6666-432: The final twenty-one, before being eliminated in the final cut of the first episode. After she was eliminated from the contest, trainer Al Snow encouraged her to keep trying to pursue her dream as a wrestler. On November 27, 2003, episode of SmackDown! , Melina was seen as a Native American alongside John Cena during a feast. Perez debuted in WWE's then- developmental territory OVW in March 2004, being placed in
6767-489: The first-ever women's Royal Rumble match in the main event, which would be the longest women's match in WWE history. The following month, at the 2018 Elimination Chamber pay-per-view , the first-ever women's Elimination Chamber match took place. Later that year, WWE would present its first all-women's pay-per-view event: WWE Evolution . The Women's Evolution would culminate at WrestleMania 35 in 2019, where Charlotte Flair , Becky Lynch , and Ronda Rousey would compete in
6868-419: The match by visiting him in his locker room and attempting to seduce him. The storyline had the two engage in anal intercourse, after which he simply thanked her for the "warm-up" before leaving to take part in the match, where he and Mysterio defeated MNM for the titles. The storyline played over to the next episode of SmackDown! when, before MNM invoked their rematch clause, Melina held a press conference in
6969-420: The match, Melina and Nitro, as part of the storyline, attacked Mercury, blaming him for the loss. Later that night, Melina lost a singles match against Jillian Hall, and after slapping General Manager Theodore Long in anger, she and Nitro were fired from the SmackDown! brand . The team then broke up because off-screen, Nitro and Mercury did not get along, and WWE management decided to send Nitro and Melina to
7070-471: The match, guest timekeeper The Gobbledy Gooker was revealed as Maryse by attacking Melina. The following week, Melina was pinned by Maryse in a tag team match. On the December 7 episode of Raw , Maryse defeated Gail Kim , and following the match, Maryse proceed to attack Kelly Kelly but was stopped by Melina. On December 29, at a WWE live event in Manchester, New Hampshire , Melina tore her ACL during
7171-615: The most impressive arsenal of offensive maneuvers in Diva history." Melina Nava Perez was born on March 9, 1979, in Los Angeles and was raised in the High Desert . Perez is of Mexican descent, and speaks English and Spanish fluently. Perez began her career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic , Anaheim . During her modelling career, she has won many modelling competitions such as Group USA Bridal Show, Group USA Fashion Show, and Ms. California Belleza Latina. Melina
7272-462: The new FWE Heavyweight Champion. At the Empire City Showdown , on August 20, Melina made a further appearance for FWE in a segment with Charlie and Jackie Haas . On the April 28 episode of FWE Television , Melina was defeated by Winter with Lita as the special guest referee in a FWE Women's Championship match. Melina debuted for North East Wrestling on March 23, 2012, competing in
7373-545: The next week on SmackDown! in a title match. The team won the match against Mysterio and Eddie Guerrero , starting their first WWE Tag Team Title reign. While managing the Tag Team Champions, Melina's character was developed to be more egotistical, as she declared herself "the most-dominant Diva in WWE". She made her official in-ring debut on June 30 against Michelle McCool , and had her first pay-per-view match against Torrie Wilson at The Great American Bash in
7474-406: The number one contender to the Divas Championship and turned heel when she slapped then champion Natalya, who had attempted to congratulate her following her victory. When the two fought for the Divas Championship on January 24, 2011, on Raw , Melina was defeated. Following this loss, Melina would be relegated to mainly competing on WWE Superstars in various tag team matches, usually in defeat. On
7575-474: The premier joshi promotion in modern times, was purchased by New Japan Pro-Wrestling parent company Bushiroad in 2019. In April 2024, Rossy Ogawa (formerly of AJPW and Stardom) founded a new women's promotion called Dream Star Fighting Marigold or Marigold . In Mexico, professional wrestling is called lucha libre ("free fight"), and women wrestlers are called luchadoras . The Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL), or World Wrestling Council, has
7676-413: The process. At the same day, Melina wrestled SWE KirbyMania, in an eight-man tag team match . She teamed with Jessicka Havok , Leah Vaughan , and Nixon Newell, and defeated the team of Alex Windsor, Kasey Owens, Kay Lee Ray and Viper. On October 29, at SWE 6th Anniversary Show, Melina successfully defended her championship against Alex Windsor, Dahlia Black, Kay Lee Ray, Nixon Newell, and Ruby Summers in
7777-436: The promotion on August 15, defeating Solo Darling. Melina began turning heel during her match against Kimber Lee on September 26; feigning an injury before attacking Lee and defeating her. Post-match, Melina cemented her heel turn by attacking Lee and an injured Willow Nightingale , leading to a grudge match on November 9, which Melina won over Nightingale. In April 2021, Melina debuted for Southwest Wrestling Entertainment as
7878-536: The record for longest individual reign at 301 days. Jillian Hall had the shortest reign at five minutes. Layla was the oldest Divas Champion, having won at the age of 34, while Paige was the youngest Divas Champion in history at 21 years of age, and was also the only woman to win the title in her debut. The final champion was Charlotte , who was in her first and only reign. She defeated Nikki Bella on September 20, 2015, at Night of Champions in Houston, Texas to win
7979-598: The ring where she claimed that Batista had sexually harassed her. During the tag team match, Mark Henry aided MNM in winning back the WWE Tag Team Championship. The storyline with Henry continued into the next year. On the first SmackDown! of 2006, Melina announced that Henry was her personal protection against Batista. He accompanied her and aided the other members of MNM in matches against Batista and Mysterio. At Judgment Day on May 21, 2006, MNM lost their titles to Paul London and Brian Kendrick . After
8080-413: The ropes to regain the title and become a two-time WWE Women's Champion. On May 7, 2007, Melina began feuding with Playboy cover girl Candice Michelle after she was defeated in a tag team match alongside Victoria against Candice Michelle and Mickie James. Melina continued to lose to Candice in various tag team matches, as well as in non-title bouts over the next few weeks. At Vengeance , Melina lost
8181-419: The scheduled triple threat match for the Divas Championship between Charlotte , Becky Lynch , and Sasha Banks was instead going to be for the new WWE Women's Championship (does not share the same lineage as the original WWE Women's Championship ). It was also announced that the Divas Championship would be retired, and all female performers would become WWE Superstars in the process, coincidentally retiring
8282-403: The second time in her career. After the match, she was attacked by Michelle McCool and WWE Women's Champion Layla. On the 900th episode of Raw , after winning a match, she was challenged by either Layla or McCool to a Lumberjill match at Night of Champions , to unify the WWE Women's and WWE Divas Championships. McCool would win that match, after Layla attacked Melina during the match, to unify
8383-415: The semifinals, Maryse defeated Eve Torres, and Gail Kim defeated Alicia Fox. On February 22 episode of Raw , Maryse defeated Gail Kim to win the vacant championship, making her the first person to hold the title on more than one occasion. It was announced on the August 30 episode of Raw that the Divas Championship would be unified with the Women's Championship at a match at Night of Champions . With that,
8484-613: The stars of a second wave of women wrestlers who succeeded the glamor-oriented generation defined by the Beauty Pair. That decade later saw the rise of the " Crush Gals " Chigusa Nagayo and Lioness Asuka , a tag team who achieved a level of mainstream success as women wrestlers that not only was unprecedented in Japan, but unheard of in the history of women's professional wrestling. The Crush Gals' long-running feud with Kaoru "Dump" Matsumoto and her Gokuaku Domei ("Atrocious Alliance") stable
8585-645: The storyline had Vince McMahon order Foley to join the Kiss My Ass club . After begging Foley not to go through with it, Foley "joined the club" to save Melina's job, only to have her suddenly turn on him by delivering a low blow and firing him at the behest of McMahon. The storyline was concocted by Foley to refresh the idea of the Kiss My Ass club. It was also around this time that Melina added another characteristic to her gimmick: screaming loudly at ringside while managing or in tag team action, which became known as
8686-501: The team of Sarita and Taylor Wilde . The titles were initially deactivated on the June 20, 2013 episode of Impact! , but their return was announced at Bound for Glory 2020 . At Hard To Kill , Fire N Flava ( Kiera Hogan and Tasha Steelz ) won a tournament to become the tag team champions. ROH's has sporadically featured women's wrestling matches at its shows, dating back to a former working relationship with Shimmer. By 2017, ROH had been regularly featuring women's wrestling under
8787-402: The term "Diva". On January 4, 2010, WWE vacated the title after then Divas Champion Melina sustained a torn anterior cruciate ligament . A tournament was started two weeks later on Raw . On February 22 episode of Raw , Maryse defeated Gail Kim to win the vacant championship, making her the first person to hold the title on more than one occasion. The following is a list of dates indicating
8888-521: The time, received a minor update, replacing the long-standing scratch logo with WWE's current logo originally used for the WWE Network that launched earlier that year in February. On April 6, 2014, AJ Lee became the first and only woman to defend the Divas Championship at WrestleMania for WrestleMania XXX . On the WrestleMania 32 pre-show, former WWE Diva and Hall of Famer Lita announced that
8989-531: The title (known briefly as the WWE Unified Divas Championship) became accessible to both WWE brands and the champion could appear on both shows, a situation made permanent by the ending of the brand extension in 2011. On September 16, 2012 Eve Torres became the first ever three-time WWE Divas Champion after defeating Layla at Night of Champions . In August 2014, the Divas Championship belt, along with all other pre-existing championship belts in WWE at
9090-542: The title while on the SmackDown brand, but none were successful. As a result, WWE created the WWE Divas Championship and introduced it on the June 6, 2008 episode of SmackDown when then SmackDown General Manager Vickie Guerrero announced the creation of the title. On the June 6 and July 4, editions of SmackDown , Natalya and Michelle McCool won their respective Golden Dreams match (also involving Maryse , Victoria , Kelly Kelly , Cherry , and Layla ) to qualify for
9191-460: The title. Charlotte was originally scheduled to defend the title at WrestleMania 32 against Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch , but during the event it was announced that the scheduled triple threat match would instead be for the new WWE Women's Championship (also known as the Raw Women's Championship from 2016 to 2023), with the Divas Championship subsequently being retired. Charlotte won the match and
9292-549: The traditional clothing of the Aymara people . They were the inspiration for the comic book Super Cholita , which premiered in 2007. NCW Femmes Fatales is an independent promotion founded in 2009; its headquarters are in Montreal . In 2023, wrestler Nikki Cross completed her master's degree in history; her dissertation was on the subject of women's wrestling. Melina Perez Melina Nava Perez (born March 9, 1979)
9393-451: The transitions of the Divas Championship between the Raw and SmackDown brands. There were 26 total reigns and 1 vacancy. The inaugural champion was Michelle McCool , who defeated Natalya to win the title at The Great American Bash on July 20, 2008. Eve Torres and AJ Lee held the record for most reigns as Divas Champion with three each. AJ Lee held the record for most combined days as champion with 406 days, while Nikki Bella held
9494-771: The villainous manager for Big Cazz XL (the former Big Cass in WWE). On May 7, 2022, Melina was defeated by Scarlett Bordeaux at WrestlePro Mayhem. On September 16, 2022 Melina was defeated by Mandy Leon in a fatal four way match for the MCW Women's Title at MCW Ladies Night, which also featured Gia Scott and Leila Grey . Melina made her National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) debut on the November 19, 2019, episode of NWA Power (taped on October 1, 2019), aligning with Marti Belle and Thunder Rosa after helping them defeat NWA World Women's Champion Allysin Kay and Ashley Vox, establishing herself as
9595-573: Was body painted by artist Mark Greenawalt for a modeling photo shoot in 2007 where she posed with her WWE Women's Championship belt. Perez began training at Jesse Hernandez 's School of Hard Knocks in San Bernardino, California , and made her in-ring debut in November 2001. Many officials stated that she had the most natural ability of any woman who came through their school. In late 2002, Perez auditioned for World Wrestling Entertainment 's reality show Tough Enough III , making it through to
9696-580: Was drafted to Raw as part of the 2009 WWE draft , she took the title with her. McCool won a match against Melina to unify the WWE Divas and Women's titles at the Night of Champions pay-per-view on September 19, 2010, creating the Unified WWE Divas Championship; it eventually dropped the "Unified" moniker. The youngest woman to win the Divas Championship is Paige , at age 21. The title was retired in 2016 at WrestleMania 32 , after WWE Hall of Famer Lita revealed
9797-444: Was eliminated in the first round, and was inspired by Al Snow to continue pursuing her wrestling career. In March 2004, Perez signed a contract with WWE, and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's developmental territory , where she began managing Johnny Nitro and Joey Mercury , dubbed MNM , to three reigns as WWE Tag Team Champions , as well as Nitro to two reigns as WWE Intercontinental Champion . Perez
9898-564: Was extremely popular in Japan; their televised matches were some of the highest-rated broadcasts in the history of Japanese television, and the promotion regularly filled arenas to capacity. In the 1990s, US wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer rated several joshi puroresu matches five stars —a rarely-awarded perfect score on the Cornette scale—in his periodical the Wrestling Observer Newsletter . Prominent joshi wrestlers of
9999-542: Was once again defeated by McCool in a rematch for the championship, thus convincingly ending their feud. On October 12, Melina was traded back to the Raw brand, and won the WWE Divas Championship from Divas Champion Jillian Hall, who had won the belt from Mickie James only a few minutes earlier, this win also made Melina the first Latina American to hold the title. On the November 23 episode of Raw , Melina teamed up with Mickie James and Kelly Kelly to defeat Jillian Hall and LayCool (Michelle McCool and Layla ). After
10100-540: Was receiving attention because of her appearance in Playboy . The angle had Melina claim in her blogs that no Playboy cover models were capable of fighting her. This resulted in scheduled matches against former Playboy cover girls Torrie Wilson and Candice Michelle , with both women losing to Melina. The storyline came to an end at WrestleMania 23 , where Melina pinned Ashley in a Lumberjill match to retain her Women's Championship. After WrestleMania, Melina organized
10201-403: Was unveiled and contested at WrestleMania 32 on April 3, 2016, between then- Divas Champion Charlotte Flair , Becky Lynch and Sasha Banks in a triple threat match. After Wrestlemania, the Diva's Championship and the "Diva's" branding would be retired. Following the 2016 WWE Brand Extension , the new Women's Championship would become exclusive to the Raw brand, resulting in the creation of
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