American professional wrestler, valet, glamour model, and reality television participant
Professional wrestling career[edit]
World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE[edit]
Diva Search (2005)[edit]
Massaro initially found out about
World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE)
2005 Raw Diva Search
when she met a WWE casting director during a swimsuit pageant.
[4]
After beating the seven other chosen finalists, Massaro was declared the winner on the edition of August 15, 2005 of
Raw.
[5]
Her winnings included $250,000 and a one-year contract with WWE.
[3][5]
Feud with Vince's Devils and Mickie James (2005–2006)[edit]
A week later on
Raw,
Candice Michelle
and
Torrie Wilson
attacked Massaro after pretending to welcome her to
Raw.
[4][6]
Massaro's storyline feud with Wilson and Michelle continued over the next couple weeks, as the duo, along with their
enforcer
Victoria
(dubbed as the "Skankateers" by commentator Jim Ross), made things difficult for Massaro.
[7]
Massaro made her in-ring debut on the August 29 episode of
Raw, in losing effort to Victoria.
[8]
On the September 5 episode of
Raw, Massaro was defeated by Wilson due to interference from Victoria and Candice.
[1]
Massaro evened the score on the September 12, 2005 episode of
Raw
when she brought out the returning
Trish Stratus
(who then turned face), and the duo proceeded to attack them.
[9]
On the September 18 episode of
Raw, The pair defeated the trio—who became known as the
Ladies in Pink
(and later Vince's Devils).
[1]
This led to a tag team match at
Unforgiven, where the team of Stratus and Massaro defeated Wilson and Victoria.
[10]
The following night on
Raw, Massaro accompanied Trish where she defeated Wilson. After the match, The duo were attacked by The Vince Devils.
[1]
The feud continued into
WWE Homecoming, where Stratus and Massaro defeated Wilson, Candice, and Victoria in the first ever three on two
Bra and Panties match
by stripping all three of their opponents.
[11]
Massaro continued to wrestle matches through the rest of 2005 and was involved in the annual
Fulfill Your Fantasy Diva Battle Royal
at
Taboo Tuesday
for her first shot at the
WWE Women's Championship.
[12]
Massaro eliminated Candice Michelle before being eliminated by Victoria.
[12]
At
New Year's Revolution
in January, Massaro won the first ever
Bra and Panties Gauntlet match
by being the final wrestler left still wearing her clothes.
[13]
Following WWE tradition, to please the fans, she removed them herself before making her exit.
[13]
Through the early part of 2006, Massaro became the victim of a series of attacks from
Mickie James.
[14]
At the
Royal Rumble, James defeated Massaro with then Women's Champion, Trish Stratus, as the special guest referee.
[15]
Massaro got her revenge one week later by pinning James in the rematch on
Raw.
[16]
During the edition of February 20, 2006 of
Raw, however, Massaro suffered a fractured left
fibula
while being eliminated from the
Women's Battle Royal,
[17]
and her feud with James was cut short.
[14]
She underwent surgery to insert a five-inch metal plate and eight screws into her leg.
[4]
During her recovery, Massaro still occasionally appeared on
Raw
as part of the Stratus/James feud, albeit in a non-active role.
[14]
Massaro returned on the March 20, 2006 episode of
Raw, being kidnapped by James to lure Stratus in to saving her but James was successful and attacked Stratus.
[1]
SmackDown! (2006–2007)[edit]
Massaro,
Paul London,
and
Brian Kendrick
defeated
Idol Stevens,
K.C. James
and Michelle McCool in a Six-Person Mixed Tag Team match.
[23]
Following the victory, Massaro became the valet for London and Kendrick, accompanying them to the ring for their matches on
SmackDown!
and pay-per-views.
[14]
On the October 27 episode of
SmackDown!, Ashley participated in a “Trick or Treat Battle Royal which was won by Kristal.
[1]
On the edition of December 19 of
SmackDown!, Ashley teamed up with
Layla
in a winning effort defeating
Jillian Hall
and Kristal in a tag-team match.
[1]
On the edition of January 2 of
SmackDown!, Ashley competed against Hall in a winning effort.
[1]
On the January 26 episode of
SmackDown!, Ashley teamed up with London and Kendrick in a losing effort to the MNM (Mercury & Nitro & Melina) in a six-person mixed-tag-team match.
[1]
During the edition of February 16, 2007 of
SmackDown!, Massaro unveiled her
Playboy
cover.
[24][25]
Surrounding the release of the magazine, Massaro engaged in a feud with Jillian Hall, who was jealous over the attention Massaro received due to the
Playboy
cover.
[4][26]
At
No Way Out, Massaro won the first ever Diva Invitational by removing her top to reveal her
breasts
which were covered with
Playboy
bunny pasties.
[27]
Massaro also began a feud with then
WWE Women's Champion,
Raw's
Melina, who was angry over the publicity Massaro had been receiving because of the cover.
[28]
On the March 9 episode of
SmackDown!, the rivalry was taken to the next level when a catfight broke out on the inaugural edition of
Miz TV.
[28]
On the March 16 episode of
SmackDown!, Ashley teamed up with London and Kendrick in a losing effort to the MNM (Mercury & Nitro & Melina) in a six-person mixed-tag-team match.
[1]
On the March 23 episode of
SmackDown!, Ashley would get a catfight after Melina attempted to make an interference during Kendrick and Paul's match with MNM.
[1]
On the March 26 episode of
Raw, Ashley teamed up with
Torrie Wilson
and
Candice Michelle
in a winning effort defeating Melina, Hall and Victoria.
[1]
At
WrestleMania 23, Massaro unsuccessfully challenged Melina for the WWE Women's Championship in a
LumberJill match
to retain her title.
[14][29]
After WrestleMania, Massaro continued as a valet for
WWE Tag Team Champions
Paul London and Brian Kendrick.
[1]
In storyline, on the April 13 episode of
SmackDown!, Massaro was attacked by Jillian Hall.
[30]
In reality, Massaro had loosened a screw in her ankle, which had been inserted the previous year after she legitimately fractured her tibia and fibula while in a battle royal.
[4][31]
Massaro returned on the June 1, 2007 episode of
SmackDown!, helping McCool defeat Hall after she distracted her.
[1]
This return was short lived when on the edition of June 8 of
SmackDown!, Massaro was suspended indefinitely after accidentally spilling
Mr. McMahon's
coffee on him.
[4][32]
In reality, Massaro was taking time off to participate on the show
Survivor.
[14]
Various storylines and departure (2008)[edit]
Massaro returned on January 7, 2008 to the Raw brand, winning a Lingerie Pillow Fight against
Maria, Jillian Hall, Melina, and
Mickie James.
[33]
On the January 14 episode of
Raw, Ashley teamed up with
Mickie James
and Maria in a losing effort to the team of
Beth Phoenix,
Jillian Hall, and Melina in a 6 person-tag-team match.
[1]
Ashley began a storyline with Maria and
Santino Marella
at the January 21, 2008 episode of
Raw, attempting to convince Maria to pose for Playboy but was interrupted by Marella.
[1]
At the
Royal Rumble
pay-per-view, Ashley again attempted to convince Maria by telling her that
Hugh Hefner
wanted her to pose for Playboy before Maria could answer Marella interrupted and objected to the proposal. Ashley would then beat down Marella's surprise Big Dick Johnson when he attempted to perform a strip tease.
[1]
At the
No Way Out
pay-per-view, Ashley would appear with Maria in a segment at the Playboy Manison.
[1]
On the March 24, 2008 episode of
Raw, Ashley interfered in the match between Maria and Melina.
[1]
After the match, Santino Marella came down to the ring so Jerry “The King” Lawler (whom was tired of Marella's actions over previous weeks) knocked Santino out of the ring. Which set up the six person mixed-tag-team match, in which they lost to Marella, Melina and Phoenix.
[1]
Massaro replaced Candice Michelle, who was out with an injury, in the
Playboy Bunnymania
Lumberjack match at
WrestleMania XXIV
teaming up with Maria, losing to
Beth Phoenix
and Melina after the interference from Marella.
[34]
On the April 14 episode of
Raw, Ashley teamed up with Maria in a losing effort to the team of Melina and Hall in a tag-team match.
[1]
Massaro also participated in a
12 wrestler Tag Team match
at
Backlash, where Phoenix pinned her to get the win for her team.
[14]
On the April 28 episode of
Raw, Ashley competed in her last match by teaming up with Michelle McCool,
Cherry,
Kelly Kelly, Maria and James in a winning effort defeating Layla, Melina, Phoenix,
Natalya, Hall and Victoria.
[1]
Massaro was released from her WWE contract on July 9, 2008.
[35][36]
A week prior to her release, she announced that she had asked to be let go from her contract due to her daughter being sick.
[14]
Independent circuit (2017)[edit]
In September 2017, Ashley Massaro returned to professional wrestling by competing in Zero1 Professional Wrestling USA with former WWE diva
Jillian Hall.
[37]
Other media[edit]
Survivor[edit]
Massaro was a contestant on
CBS's
Survivor: China, which was the fifteenth season of the show, in 2007.
[38][39]
Massaro approached the WWE with the idea of doing the show, and after going through the casting process, she found out she made the show ten days before she had to leave for
China
to film.
[40]
Prior to the experience, Massaro had never been camping before, so to train for the show she had to get used to being out in nature again.
[40]
She was assigned to the Zhan Hu tribe in the first episode and quickly began quarreling with fellow contestant Dave Cruser.
[41]
In the second episode, Massaro was voted off after six days with a 6–1 vote.
[41]
Modeling and acting[edit]
Filmography[edit]
Personal life[edit]
Massaro had one daughter, Alexa, who was born on July 23, 2000.
[53]
When her daughter became sick in mid-2008, Massaro asked for an early release from WWE to care for her.
[14]
She had several
tattoos, including a black and pink
nautical star
on the back of both of her elbows;
[4]
a pink and red
dragon
surrounding
kanji
lettering that translates to 'Trust No One' going down the right side of her torso;
[54]
symbols on the small of her lower back; and a butterfly on her right hip. She also had several
piercings, including a '
Monroe'
(a piercing near the upper lip that resembles a
beauty mark)
[55]
and '
Snakebites'
(a piercing on each side of the lower lip).
[38][56]
In November 2016, Massaro joined a
class action
lawsuit against WWE, litigated by Konstantine Kyros, who has been involved in a number of other lawsuits against them, alleging that the company concealed risks of injury which caused them neurological damage. Massaro also alleged that she was sexually assaulted at a US military base during a WWE tour of
Kuwait
and that WWE apologized but persuaded her not to report it to the appropriate authorities.
[57]
On May 16, 2019, Massaro died at the age of 39 in
Long Island, New York, after being transported from her home to a hospital 10 days shy of her 40th birthday. Although an official cause of death was not given, officials say it was "non-criminal".
[58][59][60]
Championships and accomplishments[edit]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
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External links[edit]
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