After The Bella Twins, Brie Bella & Nikki Bella, made an unexpected return to the WWE on Monday’s RAW, F4WOnline.com is reporting that this is just the beginning of WWE trying to bring former Divas back to the company and The Bella Twins’ return was apparently about six or seven weeks in the making when WWE decided that the Divas division was worth saving. WWE is reportedly offering more money to the former Divas than what they made in their most recent run and Brie & Nikki were the quickest to accept WWE’s initial offer to return to the company. For those wondering, The Bella Twins are under contract to the WWE now and their appearance on RAW was not a one-off. While it is not known which Divas WWE are looking to bring back into the company, one can assume that they are only pursuing Divas that left or were released on good terms and, of course, Divas who are not under contract with TNA (like Victoria, Gail Kim, or Mickie James).
Over the last couple of years, WWE has lost or released a host of Divas that could potentially return to the company in the near future. Names such as Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres, Maryse, and Michelle McCool have all been discussed for possible returns in the future as all four of them left on reasonably decent terms with the company. Eve Torres and WWE agreed on her departure from the company back in January so Eve could join her fiance as a teacher at the jujitsu academy, Gracie University. Kelly Kelly (Barbie Blank) was released from the company in September as Kelly Kelly wanted to pursue other endeavors outside of the WWE, such as acting and modeling, which led to WWE agreeing on Kelly Kelly’s release. Maryse (Ouellet) has been out of the WWE since October of 2011 when the French-Canadian Diva was released from her contract due to Maryse’s desire to pursue a full-time modeling career and WWE not having any future plans for her. Michelle McCool opted to leave the WWE after Extreme Rules in 2011 to spend more time with her real-life husband Mark Calaway (The Undertaker) and, together, McCool & Calaway have one daughter. In the cases of both Maryse and Michelle McCool, their relationships with contracted WWE talent (Maryse with The Miz and McCool with Undertaker) may lead to their spouses convincing them to return.
WWE are reportedly not interested in the likes of Kharma, Maxine, Beth Phoenix, or Melina for different reasons. Kharma (Kia Stevens) was let go in July of last year due to weight gain and, at last word, Kharma was looking to get involved with a reality show where she would lose weight on the air (akin to The Biggest Loser). Maxine (Karlee Perez) was granted her release from the WWE in June of last year as she wanted to pursue “other options” outside of the wrestling business. Beth Phoenix’s (Elizabeth Carolan) contract with the WWE expired in October and both sides opted not to renew it as Phoenix wanted to retire from the wrestling business to spend more time with her boyfriend, WWE Hall of Famer Edge (who has refused to be signed to a Legends contract with the WWE), who was getting set for neck surgery late last year. Edge’s shaky relationship with the WWE will likely keep WWE from even trying to bring Phoenix back. When it comes to Melina (Perez), she is probably the least likely to be asked for a return. While talented in the ring, Melina made a name for herself behind the scenes for getting romantically involved with a number of WWE Superstars, all while in a relationship with John Morrison, but, more importantly, Melina developed a poor backstage attitude and was known to throw tantrums when angles were brought up that would see her and Morrison being separated on the road.
There has also been talk of WWE bringing back former Women’s Champion, Lita, but will likely be in the role of a trainer for NXT or an ‘agent’ on the road. Lita has made several WWE appearances over the last year or two and has publicly teased the idea of coming back to the WWE. WWE was initially looking to bring Divas up to the main roster from NXT, but when WWE looked to do so, the majority of the hopefuls were nowhere close to ready for the main roster.
Which former Divas do you want to see return? Post your comments in the box below.
