''WWE Diva Search'' (formerly ''WWE Raw Diva Search'') is an American talent competition that was produced and held by

World Wrestling Entertainment World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and va ...

(WWE). The first winner was Jaime Koeppe, but she did not receive a contract like subsequent winners of the contest. Other winners included

Christy Hemme Christina Lee Hemme ( ; born October 28, 1980) is an American former professional wrestler, singer and model. She is best known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (now known as Impact Wrestling) as a ring announcer and one of the o ...

Ashley Massaro Ashley Marie Massaro (May 26, 1979 – May 16, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, reality television contestant and model. She was best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and for her appearance on '' Survivor: ...

Layla El Layla El (born 25 June 1977) is an English real estate agent and retired professional wrestler, dancer and model. She is best known for her tenure with WWE from 2006 to 2015, where she performed under the mononymous ring name Layla. She dance ...

Eve Torres Eve Torres Gracie (born Eve Marie Torres on August 21, 1984) is an American actress, dancer, model, martial arts instructor, and former professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with WWE, where she was the first ever three-time WWE ...

and

Eva Marie Natalie Eva Marie Nelson (born September 19, 1984) is an American actress, fashion designer, model, and professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, from 2013–2017 and 2020–2021, where she performed under the ring name ...

. In addition to the winners of the yearly contest, WWE has hired several contestants as

Divas Diva (; ) is the Latin word for a goddess. It has often been used to refer to a celebrated woman of outstanding talent in the world of opera, theatre, cinema, fashion and popular music. If referring to an actress, the meaning of ''diva'' is clo ...

, the name that WWE gave at the time to the female performers. As of 2021,

Maryse Ouellet Maryse Mizanin (; née Ouellet; born January 21, 1983) is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress, and glamour model. She is currently signed to WWE, appearing on the Raw brand alongside her husband The Miz, under the ring name Maryse. After ...

is the sole remaining female talents signed with WWE to come from the contest. There were many failed attempts at bringing back the competition over the years following the cancellation of the 2008 season, and was at one point going to return in 2019 under the new name ''Superstar Search''. But those plans were scrapped.

2003

The first WWE Diva Search took place in between July 1 and August 24, 2003. However, unlike the later Diva Searches, the first Diva Search winner did not receive a contract. She received a photoshoot for an issue of ''

WWE Magazine ''WWE Magazine'' was the official professional wrestling magazine of WWE. This incarnation of the magazine contains lifestyle sections, a monthly calendar, entertainment, work out tips, and other information. It was announced in July 2014 that ...

''. Jaime Koeppe was named the first WWE Diva Search winner largely due to the Yahoo! Groups fan network her promoter, Amelia Wysocki (Then named, DJ Wysocki) managed on her behalf. The four that competed that year in the 1st WWE Diva search were Jamie Koeppe, Terri Mitchell, Paige and Marsha. Fans voted online and WWE made the final decision. The competition was held the night before

SummerSlam SummerSlam is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 1988 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. Dubbed "The Biggest Party of the Summer", it is considered WWE's secon ...

at Jillian's in Phoenix, Arizona.

2004

Official themes

The 2004 WWE Raw $250,000 Diva Search featured four official theme songs. * " Open Your Eyes" by

Alter Bridge Alter Bridge is an American rock band from Orlando, Florida. The band was formed in 2004 by vocalist and rhythm guitarist Myles Kennedy, lead guitarist Mark Tremonti, bassist Brian Marshall and drummer Scott Phillips. After their former ba ...

* "Real Good Girl" by Jim Johnston"Real Good Girl" by Jim Johnston was written exclusively for the 2004 WWE Raw $250,000 Diva Search competition. The song was later featured in WWE ThemeAddict: The Music, Vol. 6. * "Time and Time Again" by Chronic Future * "

Walk Idiot Walk "Walk Idiot Walk" is the first single released from Swedish band the Hives' third album, '' Tyrannosaurus Hives'' (2004). It was written by Randy Fitzsimmons and produced by the Hives with Pelle Gunnerfeldt. Upon its release in June 2004, the so ...

" by

The Hives The Hives are a Swedish rock band that rose to prominence in the early 2000s during the garage rock revival. Their mainstream success came with the release of the album '' Veni Vidi Vicious'', containing the single "Hate to Say I Told You So". ...

"Walk Idiot Walk" was also used as the official entrance theme for Christy Hemme after winning the competition.

Top 28

Open casting calls were held in Los Angeles, NYC, and Chicago in June and July to narrow the field down from thousands to 28 women. The following 28 finalists were chosen from each of the locations:

Finalists

Notes

In 2004, WWE decided to make an extension of the Diva Search, which included a one-year contract worth $250,000 and was held on ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

''. Over 7,000 females applied to be a part of the contest. The final ten contestants were chosen on a casting special aired on Spike TV on July 15, with guest judges

Triple H Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as ...

, Randy Orton,

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jerich ...

and

Edge Edge or EDGE may refer to: Technology Computing * Edge computing, a network load-balancing system * Edge device, an entry point to a computer network * Adobe Edge, a graphical development application * Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed ...

. They began airing the weekly Raw Diva Search segments on July 19. Despite reported claims by the company that the contest would be handled in a classy manner, the contest involved prospective divas performing suggestive acts on live

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

, such as "seducing" a male wrestler. Fans were allowed to vote for the winners, but the outcome of the voting process was questioned by media outlets. The eventual winner of the competition was Christy Hemme, who went on to pose in ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

'' and competed at

WrestleMania 21 WrestleMania 21 was the 21st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event too ...

for the WWE Women's Championship where she was accompanied to the ring by Lita, but ended up with

Trish Stratus Patricia Anne Stratigeas (; born December 18, 1975) better known by the ring name Trish Stratus is a Canadian professional wrestler, actress and yoga instructor. She is currently signed to WWE. Often regarded as one of the greatest Women's Pe ...

retaining the title. Finalists (winner Hemme, runner-up Carmella DeCesare, Amy Weber, and Joy Giovanni) took part in a segment titled "Diss the Diva" on August 30, 2004, which was censored at several points due to foul language and obscenities from the contestants when they were asked to taunt one another verbally. Backstage, the four contestants bickered with and disliked each other, as well. Also, during an earlier segment in the competition, Maria Kanellis gave DeCesare the

middle finger The middle finger, long finger, second finger, third finger, toll finger or tall man is the third digit of the human hand, located between the index finger and the ring finger. It is typically the longest digit. In anatomy, it is also calle ...

. Despite only one winner being crowned in the competition each year, WWE hired a large number of the contestants from past contests and immediately placed them in on-camera in non-wrestling roles. From the 2004 Diva Search, Michelle McCool, Amy Weber, Candice Michelle, Maria Kanellis, and Joy Giovanni all received contracts after losing the contest. Several of the girls were sent to

Ohio Valley Wrestling Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg. ...

to train. Candice Michelle would become the first Diva Search contestant to win a championship on the main roster, defeating Melina for the

WWE Women's Championship WWE (formerly the WWF, WWWF, and its predecessor, Capitol Wrestling) has maintained several women's professional wrestling championships since acquiring The Fabulous Moolah's NWA World Women's Championship in 1984. Whenever brand division has be ...

at Vengeance: Night of Champions.

Gia Allemand Gia Marie Allemand (December 20, 1983 – August 14, 2013) was an American actress, model, and reality television contestant. She was known for appearing in ''Maxim'' and competing on two ABC reality shows '' The Bachelor: On the Wings of Love'' ...

was a contestant for the Diva Search. It is unknown what season she was in. Allemand died on August 14, 2013 at 29.

2005

Official theme

The 2005 WWE Raw Diva Search featured one official theme song. * " Be Yourself" by

Audioslave Audioslave was an American rock supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine members Tom Morello (lead guitar) ...

"Be Yourself" was also used as the official entrance theme for Ashley Massaro after winning the competition.

Contestants

Notes

For the 2005 WWE Raw Diva Search, the eight finalists began appearing on ''Raw'' on June 27. One contestant was eliminated each week until there were a final three. Contestant Leyla Milani accidentally exposed herself by falling out of her top while attempting to navigate an obstacle course on the July 4 edition of ''Raw'', leading to a "disqualification" in the contest. Ashley Massaro was declared the winner on August 15 and received $250,000. As in 2004, other contestants were hired by WWE, including Kristal Marshall,

Trenesha Biggers Trenesha Biggers (born December 25, 1981) is an American former model and professional wrestler. She is best known for her appearances with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Rhaka Khan; she also appeared with WWE as Trenesha, co ...

(eliminated in the Top 25) and Elisabeth Rouffaer.

Leyla Milani Leyla Milani Khoshbin (born April 2, 1982) is a Canadian-American model, TV host, and retired actress. Milani was born in Toronto to Iranian parents, and she is married to Iranian entrepreneur, real estate investor, and author, Manuchehr (Manny) ...

would later appear on

Deal or No Deal ''Deal or No Deal'' is the name of several closely related television game shows, the first of which (launching the format) was the Dutch '' Miljoenenjacht'' (''Hunt/Chase for Millions''). The centerpiece of this format is the final round (a. ...

as a briefcase model. Alexis Ondrade would later appear on Flavor of Love (season 1) under the nickname "Smiley". She would later appear in other "Of Love" spinoff shows under the same nickname or her real name "Leilene Ondrade". Massaro died on May 16, 2019 at the age of 39.

2006

Official themes

The 2006 WWE Raw Diva Search featured three official theme songs. * " Face Down" by

The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus is an American rock band that was formed in Middleburg, Florida, in 2003. The band has released five studio albums to date. The current members are Ronnie Winter (lead vocals), Joey Westwood (bass), Josh Burke (lead ...

* "

Move Along ''Move Along'' is the second studio album by the American rock band The All-American Rejects, released on July 12, 2005, by Interscope Records. It spawned three top 15 singles, which helped the album ship 2 million units to be certified double ...

" by

The All-American Rejects The All-American Rejects is an American rock band from Stillwater, Oklahoma, formed in 1999. * "

Out Here All Night ''Out Here All Night'' is the second album by rock band Damone. The title track has been featured in several video games, including ''Madden NFL 07'', ''Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam'', ''WWE Diva Search'', and the '' Rock Band'' series as download ...

" by Damone

Contestants

Notes

The eight finalists made their first appearance on WWE programming on ''

'' on July 10. The Diva Search had an awkward beginning on July 10 with an introductory segment on ''Raw'' featuring new host

Mike Mizanin Michael Gregory Mizanin (born October 8, 1980) is an American professional wrestler, actor, and television personality. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name The Miz. Mizanin first gained fame ...

. During the segment, Mizanin appeared to have forgotten his lines and stammered on for several minutes when trying to explain the voting procedures for the contest. When introducing the contestants, Mizanin mispronounced names and looked uncomfortable in his new role as Diva Search emcee. Each week, the contestants appeared on both ''Raw'' and '' SmackDown!''. The final three appeared on a special that aired on August 16, 2006 on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

, where the winner was announced. Layla El won the 3rd annual Raw Diva Search and was placed on ''SmackDown!'' in late 2006. WWE also hired several of the eliminated Diva contestants including Maryse Ouellet,

The Bella Twins The Bella Twins were a professional wrestling tag team who performed on WWE and consisted of identical twin sisters Brie Bella and Nikki Bella (real names Brianna and Nicole). Each of the Bella Twins are a former WWE Divas Champion. Brie is the f ...

, Rebecca DiPietro, Brooke Adams, Amy Zidian, and Milena Roucka.

would become the first Diva Search contestants to be inducted into the

WWE Hall of Fame The WWE Hall of Fame is a hall of fame which honors professional wrestlers and professional wrestling personalities maintained by WWE. Originally known as the "WWF Hall of Fame", it was created in 1993 when André the Giant was posthumously i ...

as part of the

class of 2020 ''Class of 2020'' is a 2020 Hindi web series created and produced by Vikas Gupta for Ekta Kapoor's video on demand platform ALTBalaji. It stars Rohan Mehra and Joyita Chatterjee in lead roles. The web series revolves around the lives of a few t ...

2007

Official theme song

The official theme song for the 2007 WWE Diva Search was "Let it Roll" by

Velvet Revolver Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup consisting of Guns N' Roses members Slash (lead guitar), Duff McKagan (bass, backing vocals) and Matt Sorum (drums, backing vocals), alongside Dave Kushner (rhythm guitar) formerly of pun ...

from the band's second studio album, Libertad, which was released on July 3, 2007. At the time of release, Velvet Revolver was an American hard rock supergroup that featured vocalist

Scott Weiland Scott Richard Weiland (; né Kline, October 27, 1967 – December 3, 2015) was an American singer and songwriter. During a career spanning three decades, Weiland was best known as the lead singer of the rock band Stone Temple Pilots from ...

, guitarists

Slash Slash may refer to: * Slash (punctuation), the "/" character Arts and entertainment Fictional characters * Slash (Marvel Comics) * Slash (''Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'') Music * Harry Slash & The Slashtones, an American rock band * Nash ...

and

Dave Kushner David Kushner (born November 16, 1966) is an American musician perhaps best known as the rhythm guitarist for the hard rock supergroup Velvet Revolver. Kushner has also been a member of Wasted Youth, Electric Love Hogs, Loaded, Danzig, Jan ...

, bassist

Duff McKagan Michael Andrew "Duff" McKagan (born February 5, 1964), sometimes credited as Duff "Rose" McKagan, is an American musician. He played bass for twelve years in the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he achieved worldwide success in the late ...

and drummer

Matt Sorum Matthew William Sorum (born November 19, 1960) is an American drummer. He is best known as both a former member of the hard rock band Guns N' Roses, with whom he recorded three studio albums, and as a member of the supergroup Velvet Revolver. ...

. "Let it Roll" was only used as the official theme song for the competition and was not used as the official entrance theme song for the winner of the competition
Special thanks to Velvet Revolver

Contestants

Notes

The first competition was on WWE.com on September 10, which was also when the voting started. The winner was announced on the October 29 edition of ''Raw''. Unlike past Diva Searches, this Search was the first to take place exclusively on WWE.com with most of the pre-taped segments TV. Taryn Terrell,

Angela Fong Angela Carolyn Fong (born February 3, 1985) is a Canadians, Canadian professional wrestling, professional wrestler, Model (person), model, ring announcer, cheerleader and actress. She is best known for her time at WWE from 2007 to 2010 under the r ...

and Lena Yada were called up to the roster despite being eliminated. Taryn Terrell and Angela Fong would find more success in other promotions. Taryn Terrell competed for

Total Nonstop Action Impact Wrestling (stylized as ''IMPACT! Wrestling''), is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Nashville, Tennessee. It is a subsidiary of Anthem Sports & Entertainment. Founded by Jeff and Jerry Jarrett in 2002, the prom ...

, where she held the

TNA Knockouts Championship The Impact Knockouts World Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship owned by Impact Wrestling. It is primarily contested for in Impact's women's division, known as the Impact Knockouts. The championship debuted on Oct ...

for a record-setting 279 days, which would be later broken by

Taya Valkyrie Kira Renée Magnin-Forster (born October 22, 1983) is a Canadian professional wrestler, fitness competitor, and model better known by the ring name Taya Valkyrie. She is currently appearing for Impact Wrestling, where she is a current two-tim ...

. Terrell currently wrestles and does commentary for National Wrestling Alliance. Angela Fong wrestled for Lucha Underground under the ring name "Black Lotus". She had a singles match against El Dragon Azteca Jr. at Ultima Lucha Dos.

2013

Official theme song

The 2013 WWE Diva Search featured one official theme song. * "Top of the World" by

CFO$ CFO$ () was an American songwriting and production duo consisting of John Paul Alicastro and Michael Conrad Lauri. They were primarily known for creating entrance music and program themes for World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE). Career CFO$ ...

The song was also used for WWE's reality TV Show by the name of

Total Divas ''Total Divas'' is an American reality television series that aired from July 28, 2013, to December 10, 2019, on E!. The series gave viewers an inside look into the lives of female WWE wrestlers from their work within WWE to their person ...

Contestants

The

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four W ...

reported in February 2013 that WWE held an un-aired diva search in the

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

area. Among the prospects that participated were future WWE performers

Alexa Bliss Alexis Cabrera (née Kaufman; born August 9, 1991) is an American professional wrestler. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Alexa Bliss. In 2013, Bliss signed a contract with WWE and was a ...

Lana Lana may refer to: *Lana (given name) *Francesco Lana de Terzi (1631–1687), Italian Jesuit priest and scientist *Lana (wrestler), professional wrestler and pro wrestling manager *''Wild Energy. Lana'', a 2006 Ukrainian fantasy novel Sciences *L ...

, JoJo, Devin Taylor, and Veronica Lane, with the former winning the contest. Other participants were Maysa Quy, Olivia Karpinski and Sarah Backman who were all models.

Notes

Former contestant Lana competed against

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bor ...

for the

WWE SmackDown Women's Championship The WWE SmackDown Women's Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion WWE, defended on the SmackDown brand division. It is one of two women's world titles for WWE's main ros ...

WWE Money in the Bank WWE Money in the Bank is a professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming event, produced annually since 2010 by WWE, the world's largest professional wrestling promotion. The event is named after the Money in the Bank ladder match, ...

of 2017 but was not successful. Also another former contestant by the name of Alexa Bliss became a very successful female wrestling star in the WWE after working for and wrestling in WWE's NXT and attempting to go for the WWE NXT Women's Championship by entering the NXT Women's Championship tournament where Paige was successful at winning the Inaugural version of the NXT Women's title tournament but later on was forced to vacate the NXT Women's title due to being on the main roster and also due to having the WWE Divas Championship after that Alexa entered the second NXT Women's title tournament but afterwards lost to

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

after being successful at beating

Alicia Fox Victoria Crawford (born June 30, 1986) is an American retired professional wrestler and former model known for her time with WWE under the ring name Alicia Fox. Crawford debuted on '' SmackDown'' on June 13, 2008, using the Alicia Fox name and ...

in the tournament. Afterwards Alexa went on to face

Sasha Banks Mercedes Justine Kaestner-Varnado (born January 26, 1992) is an American professional wrestler and actress. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Sasha Banks. Banks previously wrestled o ...

and Bayley in NXT for the NXT Women's Championship individually in separate matches and on separate occasions but was not successful. Later on in Alexa Bliss career Alexa was called up to the main roster and became a multi-time WWE Women's Champion winning all the WWE SmackDown Women's Championships, WWE Raw Women's Championships, and WWE Women's Tag Team Championships multiple times.

Future

During

WrestleMania 31 WrestleMania 31 was the 31st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view and livestreaming event produced by WWE. It took place on March 29, 2015, at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco Bay Area town of Santa Clara, California. Nine ...

, WWE announced that new shows will air on the

WWE Network WWE Network is a subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and digital television Digital television (DTV) is the transmission of television signals using digital encoding, in contrast to the earlier analog television t ...

, including a returning ''WWE Diva Search'', which was expected to premiere in the fall of 2015. There was no additional information given until July 2016, when WWE surveyed fans about potential new WWE Network shows, including a new season of Diva Search under a new name (''WWE Superstar Search'') due to the fact that the term "Diva" was ultimately phased out that year. In addition, the show would've been hosted by Lita and

. WWE originally announced on January 25, 2019 that the competition would return as a competition show, similar to ''NXT Seasons 1-5'' re-entitled, ''WWE Stars'' in association with Bunim-Murray Productions including casting. But on September 29 that year, Squared Circle Sirens reporter Casey Michael confirmed it was cancelled. At that time, the focus of the WWE Women's Division has shifted from sex appeal to true athleticism not to mention the fact that indie wrestlers, mixed martial artists and other athletes have pretty much replaced the models when it came to hiring women.

Winners

References

{{World Wrestling Entertainment Search Recurring events established in 2003 2000s American reality television series 2004 American television series debuts Diva Search Spike (TV network) original programming USA Network original programming UPN original programming WWE webcasts

2003

2004

Official themes

Top 28

Finalists

Notes

2005

Official theme

Contestants

Notes

2006

Official themes

Contestants

Notes

2007

Official theme song

Contestants

Notes

2013

Official theme song

Contestants

Notes

Future

Winners

See also

References