Vince McMahon's WWE product was plunging rapidly; ratings were down and recent "shock TV" angles just weren't generating fan interest. He knew he needed some new....and something new fast; 2003 was going to be a new year for the McMahon family. Vince decided he needed to put the past behind him and start a new era in the WWE. He had noticed their crowds were more into female matches than male matches so, after a long conversation with Paul Heyman and daughter Stephanie, he figured this could be the future of the company. But he needed something else...something more! Vince needed mainstream attention to pull in the high ratings and maximum advertising dollars he desired so much. The women wrestling each other just wouldn't be enough to achieve that. After vigorous research, Vince found the answer....
Tuesday Smackdown taping was about to start and Vince was absent from the production meeting. He, Stephanie McMahon and Paul Heyman were the creative voices for the show but they were nowhere to be found. So the show began and the Smackdown music hit. As soon as the music started, a limo pulled up with all the WWE divas from both "Raw" and "Smackdown". What was more surprising was that in the limo behind that even more ladies from the past; ladies like Sable, Chyna, and Major Gunns!! Vince suddenly appeared and strutted to the ring with all of the beautiful divas behind him.
"Today marks a new day in the WWE," Vince announced. "Today marks the day our divas will get to show the world how tough the WWE really is. Today marks the day we stop using scripts in our matches! Today marks the day full nudity will be allowed on WWE pay-per-view television. And....." he paused and smiled as the crowd cheered loudly. " ...today marks the day the Divas of the WWE challenge the best fighters among the female celebrities in Hollywood!!"
The crowd erupted in a huge roar!!
After much cheering Vince calmed the crowd down and began to speak again, "This will be a tournament of epic proportions!! We'll finally find out which group is really tougher, the actresses or the athletes! The tournament will be single elimination until only one is left standing! Now the WWE knows all about the stories on Kim & Ginny's website about tough Hollywood females. We're well aware of their exploits. We know all about Jennifer Love Hewitt getting her ass kicked over and over by Hollywood tough girls!!" Vince exclaimed proudly. "We also know all about a woman named "Cat" Bell who thinks she's tough!! And we know ALL about Charlize Theron - hell, you can't miss hearing all about the Theron they love so dearly. The K&G website even gave her a tribute page! We know ALL the celebrities on that website and many others from other web sites who haven't even made it to K&G's yet. We know all and we're going to show them what real tough women are all about!!"
The crowd was deafening!!
Vince waited for the noise to subside, then began again, "Today marks the new era...Hollywood vs. the WWE! It's common knowledge the Hollywood types like to tear each other's clothes off and totally humiliate the loser. Well, this won't be any different! My ladies will humiliate them and prove they're superior!!!" he scoffed. "My 'PPV Divafight' will start in a month. My wife Linda sent out 200 gold postcards to 200 celebrities who were recommended to the WWE by fans, their friends and/or rivals, agents and, in some cases, the women themselves asked to be included!
With that, Vince turned and pointed at the Jumbotron as a list of names scrolled across the big screen:
Now you may wonder why a bunch of pampered actresses would even consider our challenge. Well, the reason is quite simple - greed! The winning woman will be given, tax-free, a prize of ONE MILLION DOLLARS plus a percentage of the PPV profits!
The crowd popped as each name appeared, the applause growing louder than ever with each name! They were going freakin' nuts!! Vince stood smiling proudly with his arms in the air as confetti and balloons spilled down from the ceiling. Vince's music hit and he and the ladies began to walk...no STRUT...toward the locker room.
Once all the women were in the ring, Vince called out his Divas! As the wrestlers climbed into the ring, several of the actresses visibly paled as they got their first up-close look at the muscular builds of the women they'd be facing. As the 32 women milled about, several Divas took the opportunity to bump a couple of the actresses, checking their reaction to unexpected and unwelcome physical contact. Vince and the event staff all watched nervously, but it never escalated beyond those few bumps.
Finally, once everyone was in place, Vince called out his wife Linda who came out looking very stylish in a glittering strapless evening gown. The crowd gasped at the sight of the older woman, then broke into wild applause. Linda curtseyed to the fans as she ducked through the ropes, carefully balancing a large fishbowl in either hand. As Linda stood by his side, Vince announced he would be pulling a slip from each bowl to determine, "...by random selection..." the names of the women who would face one another in the first round. The crowd watched in hushed, expectant silence as Vince drew one name from each bowl and then plastered them on a large board so the camera could project it onto the arena screen. As each pair was announced, the crowd either cheered wildly or booed, depending on whether or not they figured it would e a worthwhile match.
When he was finished, the board was complete and everyone studied it, mentally assessing the chances of the various actresses against the women they'd been drawn to face. Almost everyone but Vince, Linda and Stephanine had, in the excitement, forgotten to tell everyone the rules of the tournament...
JIM: Hello everybody!! Jim Ross here alongside Memphis legend Jerry "The King" Lawler. Vince has decided to go in a new direction with the company tonight. What do you think about that King? Or should I even ask?
KING: Ha!! JR this is great!!! Vince is a true genius. He has brought Hollywood to the WWE. This is totally fantastic. I get to see WWE puppies.....Celebrity puppies.....naked women!. JR. This is heaven!!!
JR: It's widely known that over the past year we have had a lot of issues getting this broadcast up and running. But finally, the courts and the WWE have come to terms and we're finally able to broadcast this innovative extravaganza.
Stephanie McMahon's music hit as she came strutting down to the ring in a business suit. Stephanie looked cocky and confident as always as she strode down to ringside, grabbed a microphone and addressed the crowd.
STEPHANIE: Now for the moment you have all been waiting for. I will be announcing the participants for the first annual "Divafight!!" As everyone knows, it has taken us a long time to put this PPV together since our initial announcement last year. Due to anti-trust issues (and mounting pressure from the FCC) we had to delay the broadcast much to our chigrin. But....Daddy and his lawyers obviously showed them who "The Boss" is because here we are......LIVE.....at Madison Square Garden!!!
The fan's popped big!
STEPHANIE: The line-ups and participants have changed since our original announcement last year. We ended negotiations with several wrestlers and celebrities, but the good news is we've signed some even bigger fish! Now the time is here for the event.! Unfortunately, under our revised format, we'll only have sixteen first round matches instead of the 20 that was planned - but we used the time we had to sign some even bigger (and better) talent, so overall we feel it's a plus for our fans! All sixteen matches will be regular matches but with semi-regular rules.
The Actor's Guild began to grill us about liability issues if we went forward with NO rules but don't worry....nudity is STILL allowed and referee's will be quite lax on disqualications. For example a woman won't be disqualified for a low blow or excessive choking, but she could be disqualified for using a foreign object. Many of these women are out to humiliate each other so we are trying to do the best we can to conform to the sanctions we must follow in order to allow the matches to take place tonight.
It should also be noted that outside interference will NOT be tolerated and a large security force will see to it that doesn't happen. Every match will be one-on-one and the best woman WILL win. After the first 16 matches ......the winners will face each other again so it's possible a celebrity could wrestle another celebrity or a wrestler face another wrestler in the second and third rounds!
The crowd went berserk!!!!
KING: "Here we go JR!!!! I've got goose bumps!"
JR: "Don't get too worked up King. We got a long night ahead of us; save your strength."
STEPHANIE: (Pointing to the Jumbotron screen) "And here are the match-ups as determined by a blind drawing for the first round matches. In the first twelve matches the WWE will be represented by our 'Divas':
'Playboy' Rena "Sable" Mero vs. Demi Moore
Stacey Keibler vs. Shannon Tweed
Nidia vs. Shannon Elizabeth
Terri Runnels vs. Catherine "Cat" Bell
Dawn Marie vs Jennifer Aniston
Ivory vs. Charisma Carpenter
'Playboy' Torrie Wilson vs. 'Playboy' Carmen Electra
Trish Stratus vs. Monica Belluci
Lita vs. Oscar Winner Charlize "Golden Girl" Theron
Jackie Gayda vs. Jennifer Love Hewitt
Victoria vs. 'Xena' Lucy Lawless
Molly Holly vs. Jennifer Connelly
STEPHANIE: For the next three matches, we've contracted for the services of three women who used to affiliated with the WWE in one capacity or another. Here are those three women's first round matches:
Medusa Micelli vs Sarah Michelle Gellar
Kimberly Page vs. Anna Kournikova
Luna Vachon vs. Krista Allen
STEPHANIE: And last.....but not least......I.....STEPHANIE MCMAHON-HELMSLEY.....will be facing off...... against...... PAMELA ANDERSON!! So let's not waste another second, Let's get this underway!!!
The crowd burst out into animalistic cheers as Stephanie turned the microphone over to JR and Jerry "King" Lawler to call the first match