The wrestling business is not always fair to the female performers in the industry. There are less jobs, less leverage and shorter shelf lives for female wrestling stars. If you have a favorite women’s wrestler right now, appreciate her while you can. Female wrestlers tend to leave the business by choice or get fired before they hit their mid-thirties. The shallow and weird stigma that only younger women should be featured on television has been a WWE staple for years and led to many gals getting cut unexpectedly. A lot of the talent will leave by choice knowing how short the time is and look to get a head start on their future.
Brie Bella is rumored to be on the way out of WWE soon because she wants to start a family with recently retired husband Daniel Bryan. Considering the popularity of the reality show Total Divas and the Bellas merchandise making great money, her departure shows how different things can be for women in the business as they may be forced to leave if wanting to have children. For the wrestlers that look to continue a career in the wrestling business after leaving WWE, there are slim pickings. You can make a living in the right situation but the outreach between WWE and any other promotion is staggering.
The brand of a female star is likely to suffer after WWE. TNA has been irrelevant for a few years and the move there will likely not be seen by most of the former audience a performer is used to in WWE. ROH and the rest of the independents offer the underground appeal but just don’t have the funds to market a product in the same way. It’s easy for the average fan to forget about a performer once they leave WWE. There are many female wrestlers that have had great stories in their post-WWE stories and are just as attractive, if not more today. We’ll look at those as we break down the top fifteen hottest divas you forgot about.
15 15. Mickie James
The legendary Mickie James has been gone from WWE for almost six years but she has added to her legacy. James delivered a successful body of work in TNA, tried to progress her country singing and has become a mother all in that time frame. Between the huge changes and different challenges, James goes down as one of the most influential female performers in the history of the business and is still a gorgeous woman. You can find James at Global Force Wrestling shows and local independent wrestling events on her lighter schedule but the pipe dreams of Mickie falling in love with you are over as she’s currently married to former TNA star Magnus.
14 14. Serena Deeb
Serena Deeb was one of the more underrated female performers in WWE during her time in the company and was most known for her role in The Straight Edge Society. Under the guidance of heel cult leader CM Punk, Deeb shaved her head and renounced drinking to join the faction. Her unfortunate firing was caused by her being seen drinking in real life and breaking the gimmick in public. Many believe CM Punk called for the release. Regardless, Deeb appears to be happy today and might actually be more beautiful than you remember. She is currently spending her time writing and continuing to further her love for yoga.
13 13. Shelly Martinez
Most wrestling fans remember Shelly Martinez as Ariel, the sexy vampire from WWE’s incarnation of ECW. Plenty of fans would argue she was the highlight of the show with her commitment to the gimmick and giving the viewer thoughts they never expected they would have about vampires. Martinez has been involved in wrestling business since her departure from WWE and still dabbles in the sport occasionally. Between wrestling and modeling, Martinez is still very much in the public eye and shows that with her popular Instagram page featuring many half-naked selfies, which no one has ever complained about for good reason.
12 12. Kelly Kelly
Kelly Kelly was one of the more heavily pushed female wrestlers in WWE history. The company signed her at the age of 18 and had high hopes of her becoming one of the biggest stars in the company. Kelly was never the best wrestler but was pushed due to her stunning looks. Following her WWE departure in 2011, Kelly Kelly stepped away from the wrestling business altogether and focused more on modeling. She married NHL player Sheldon Souray and has become one of the featured stars of WAGS, a reality show on the lives of the most attractive trophy wives of athletes.
11 11. Kaitlyn
The former Kaitlyn in WWE achieved great success in short time, including winning the Divas Championship and having a memorable feud against best friend A.J. Lee. With an expertise in bodybuilding and fitness work, Kaitlyn decided to leave WWE in hopes of becoming successful in other fields that didn’t involve falling down for a living. Under her real name of Celeste Bonin, she has started a clothing line called Celestial Bodiez that features workout gear. Bonin proves she’s still “got it” with daily gratuitous half-naked selfies on social media showcasing her assets in an attempt to sell the clothing line. While removed from the wrestling business, Bonin recently visited WWE and was seen on Xavier Wood’s UpUpDownDown video game vlog.
10 10. Eve Torres
Eve Torres was a three-time WWE Divas Champion before leaving the company despite hitting her peak as a performer. After years of trying to find her character, Eve became one of the best heels in the women’s division but decided it was time to end the WWE chapter of her life. Torres focused her attention to becoming a lead instructor of an empowered self-defense program for women. With her marriage to jiu-jitsu legend Rener Gracie, the two have worked together to create a lot of success in the program. The couple recently had their first child but Torres is already looking as stunning as you remember her.
9 9. Christy Hemme
As the first ever Diva Search winner and one of the few WWE Divas to have her own Playboy cover, Christy Hemme is definitely one of the most attractive women in wrestling history. Hemme has achieved success for over decade in TNA after WWE decided to let her go. Between TNA roles as a wrestler, manager, ring announcer and writer, Hemme has been in just about every field of the business. Hemme is still the lead ring announcer and gave birth to her first child about a year ago. You have to wonder if Hemme is superhuman as she was in ridiculously great shape just a month or two following giving birth and is back to being one of the best looking women in wrestling.
8 8. Victoria
There’s no doubt Victoria was one of the most underrated female wrestler in WWE during her time. The company put more emphasis on gimmick matches and showing skin but there was a small change occurring. Victoria was one of a few women expected to have good matches on a consistent basis and she typically delivered. At the age of 45, she is still gorgeous and looks to be in her early thirties. With most of her work coming in the form of running the Squared Circle wrestling themed restaurant in Chicago, you can only spot Victoria at the rare convention but she’s still a beauty.
7 7. Ashley Massaro
The former Diva Search winner, Playboy cover girl and Survivor contestant did a lot in her short time with WWE. Ashley Massaro chose to leave the WWE to be a full-time parent and has not kept a full-time wrestling schedule but still makes random appearances. Massaro has been seen at PWS independent wrestling shows, various fan conventions and hosting night club appearances. While she isn’t into social media as much as some of the other ladies on this list, Massaro still posts stunning bikini pictures every now and then. Massaro also showed she’s not someone to mess with when she posted an unflattering nude photo of Tammy Sytch from Sytch’s webcam shows on Twitter after Sytch trashed her for no reason.
6 6. Maryse
Maryse was an absolute bombshell that played the arrogant heel character perfectly. With a long reign as Divas Champion, Maryse become an asset to WWE and was positioned as one of the top female stars in the company. She left the WWE to focus her attention to another career in real estate, as well as keeping up with her modeling gigs. You can still spot Maryse at various WWE events such as the Hall of Fame with her real-life husband The Miz. The French bombshell is still as attractive as ever and has many fans wanting her to return for one more run in WWE.
5 5. Brooke Adams
The forgotten Extreme Expose featured a trio of dancing divas and was just a footnote in the WWE careers of Kelly Kelly and Layla. For Brooke Adams, it would be her entire stint with the company as she was released shortly after the faction ended. Adams emerged in TNA years later and fulfilled her potential as a big star for the Knockouts division. With an impressive body of work, Brooke’s time in TNA was known for two things – her huge improvement as an in-ring performer and just being one of the best looking women in the business. Brooke left the company and very recently announced she was pregnant.
4 4. Gail Kim
The best example of a woman finding a way to succeed outside of the WWE has been Gail Kim. WWE never valued her and Kim has stated she felt it was because Vince McMahon didn’t think she was physically attractive. If that’s true, McMahon is a complete fool and has missed out on a star. Before there was a Divas Revolution, there was Gail trying to build up a credible division for female performers in North America. She has succeeded in TNA but it’s easy to forget how great she truly is. Kim may be the best female wrestler of our generation and one of the most beautiful women to ever step foot in a wrestling ring.
3 3. Katie Lea Burchill
WWE never collected on the potential of Katie Lea Burchill and didn’t know what they had. The stunning English import was the complete package of delivering in the ring, having an interesting charisma during character work and being flat out beautiful. Many women in wrestling are spotlighted in a strategic way to convince the viewer just how attractive they are but Katie possessed a unique beauty that was on display any time she was on a television screen. Between her forgotten run in TNA as Winter and her inconsistent independent wrestling appearances, it’s easy to forget how talented she is but may be the most attractive women in the business.
2 2. Maxine
The late great Dusty Rhodes viewed Maxine as one of the most talented performers in the WWE development system when she was there. That included most of today’s stars such as Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose, Roman Reigns, Paige and anyone else to come up in the FCW system. Maxine had the “it factor” but didn’t get to fulfill her potential until going to Lucha Underground as Catrina. Today, she is one of the most attractive women in the business and absolutely owns her role in Lucha Underground. Catrina uses her sex appeal and confidence to deliver a movie-worthy villain. While her time as Maxine showed how attractive she was, you won't realize how sexy she is until you see her as Catrina.
1 1. Maria Kanellis
Maria Kanellis was a very successful WWE diva. Between working as interviewer, wrestler, model and appearing on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice, you’d have assumed her career peaked after WWE released her. Kanellis has completely reinvented herself and is doing the best work of her career. Maria became a star for Ring of Honor and New Japan before making the recent move to TNA as one of the bigger names the company hopes to rebuild around. WWE just showed us a microcosm of what Maria could do. Today, she stands as the sexiest woman in the wrestling business and the most successful female performer outside of the WWE. Any fan that hasn’t followed her since she stepped outside of the mainstream spotlight should find her work as soon as possible.