The Most Surprising Losses Of The WWE Divas

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The women's division of WWE has gone through many different eras of talent, and different mindsets of what was entertaining (and also acceptable) when it came to in-ring action for the women, known as "WWE Divas" from the company's Attitude Era through April 2016 when the moniker was dropped when fans began to take women's wrestling more seriously. From Sable, to Dawn Marie, to Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson, to the winners of the "Diva Search," the company's pioneering "Divas" were subject to bra and panties matches, evening gown matches, pillow fights, and more. The WWF Women's Championship was even turned into a sparkling belt designed to look like a butterfly and titled the "Divas Championship."

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Even as women's wrestling continued to evolve throughout the years, WWE often brought in relatively untrained celebrity guests, many of whom were fans of WWE, for matches at its events, WrestleMania in particular. These celebrities would often beat the Divas of the company at their own game, and sometimes, even the raunchy match types caused surprising losses for other better-trained or more popular Divas. The Divas Era of WWE was shocking and surprising for many different reasons as WWE navigated the changing opinions of women's wrestling from sexy matches, to "bathroom break" matches, to the ceiling-shattering bangers we have today. There were quite a few shocking moments when it came to losses taken by some of the Divas, from these celebrity bouts, to major rule-bending. From the "Miss WrestleMania" outrage, to the quickest Divas Championship reign in history, these are the most surprising losses of the WWE Divas.

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In the lead-up to WrestleMania 27, WWE brought in one of the most recognizable faces in pop culture at the time. Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi of MTV's "Jersey Shore" fame appeared on an episode of "WWE Raw" in March 2011 as a guest star and insulted Vickie Guerrero backstage during the episode, before watching ringside as Guerrero — with the help of LayCool's Michelle McCool and Layla — took on Trish Stratus. Following the match, Snooki was taken down by LayCool, with Stratus coming to her aid. Seeing an opportunity for celebrity involvement on the "Grandest Stage of the Them All," Guerrero proposed a six-person mixed tag team match at WrestleMania between LayCool and Dolph Ziggler against Snooki, Stratus, and John Morrison. Vignettes before the WrestleMania match aired with the women fighting at a bar, where Snooki had taken Stratus to "train."

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The six-person mixed tag match ended up being the penultimate match of WrestleMania that year, though it only lasted a few minutes. Morrison hit a Starship Pain onto Ziggler on the outside of the ring, and Snooki hit her own cartwheel splash onto McCool to score the victory. Celebrity wins in WWE aren't always too shocking, but the fact the former dual-women's champions were defeated by a reality TV star came as a surprise for fans of the two Divas.

Snooki has made sporadic appearances throughout the years within the company, including presenting a Slammy Award for Best Ring Gear of the Year to The New Day in 2020; shortly thereafter Snooki expressed interest into getting back into a WWE ring. As of 2024, the "meatball" of "Jersey Shore" has not stepped between the ropes again.

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Another WWE Diva to take a surprising loss was Mickie James on October 12, 2009, when she was defeated by aspiring pop star Jillian Hall for the Divas Championship. James, a four-time Women's Champion before holding WWE's butterfly belt, tried to pin Hall multiple times throughout the match after flurries of offense, but Hall snuck in a victory by catching James on the top rope and rolling her up for a pin, using the ropes as leverage behind the referee's back. From bell-to-bell, the match lasted only 75 seconds. Hall's reign with the Divas Championship wasn't much longer than the match, however.

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After an extremely shocked Hall celebrated in the ring, she lost the belt to Melina not even five minutes later. Melina had just been announced as one of "Raw's" newest Divas via a trade, and the deal was announced by the red brand's guest host of the night, Nancy O'Dell. Hall's loss so quickly was another surprising loss of the Divas Era of WWE, but Melina's victory cemented her spot in the company's history, as the first Latina American to hold the championship.

Hall's surprisingly quick loss to Melina led to a series of matches between the two, and Hall unsuccessfully tried to win the championship back in a rematch a week later. The two would go on to compete in a mixed tag-team match at Survivor Series that year, with Hall and Chavo Guerrero losing to Melina and Santino Marella. Hall didn't spend much time in WWE after and only held the championship once for those few minutes. Jillian Hall returned to WWE in the 2021 Women's Royal Rumble as a surprise entrant.

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In a moment that helped inspire the "Give Divas a Chance" fan movement in WWE, a total of 24 Divas suffered an egregious loss at WrestleMania 25, not against another Diva or even a WWE legend, but rather, Santino Marella dressed in drag, calling himself "Santina," Santino's sister. Marella entered the Miss WrestleMania battle royal during WrestleMania 25, which featured 24 other Divas competing for a shot at the crown and title "Miss WrestleMania." Mae Young served as the special guest timekeeper for the match, and Divas legend Candice Michelle was the person to crown Marella in the middle of the ring following his victory.

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The match featured the likes of Kelly Kelly, Mickie James, the Bella Twins, Natalya, and more, and lasted just shy of seven and a half minutes, the shortest match on the show, even though it had the most amount of competitors. Marella won by eliminating Beth Phoenix, with whom he would team with and have storylines with in the future. After the shocking loss suffered by Phoenix and the other true Divas of WWE, the company eventually established a proper battle royal for the women at WrestleMania, and the first was held at WrestleMania 34 in 2018. The inaugural match was held on the kickoff show and won by Naomi, who eliminated Bayley to win. Despite the surprising win at WrestleMania 25, Santina Marella disappeared for years, before making a surprise return, to the chagrin of many fans, during the Women's Royal Rumble in 2020.

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One of the staples of the early Divas era, specifically in the Attitude Era of the then-WWF, was the evening gown match. The rules of the stipulation were relatively simple. Two Divas would compete in the ring dressed in evening gowns, and the winner of the match would be determined by who ripped the dress off their opponent, leaving them embarrassed in their underwear in front of the crowd. In May 1999, Sable — the extremely popular and perpetually "over" with the fans — was the Women's Champion. Sable was set to compete in an evening gown match against Debra McMichael.

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When both women were in the ring, Val Venis' music hit and he sauntered down the ramp, distracting Debra, allowing for Sable to rip off her dress. Sable was declared the winner, and while she was being interviewed by Michael Cole in the ring, WWF commissioner Shawn Michaels, who had been on commentary for the match, interrupted. He said as commissioner, he saw the rules of an evening gown match a "little bit different" than the champion did, explaining that the woman who had her evening gown taken off was the winner. WWF Women's Championship in hand, Michaels awarded the win and the belt to Debra, leaving Sable seething in the ring. Following the surprising loss of the top Diva in WWF at the time, Debra held on to the title for a month, before losing it to Ivory that June, due to interference from Sable's ally Nicole Bass.

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WrestleMania is the hottest event for WWE when it comes to many things, and bringing in celebrities for matches is a tradition that will seemingly never end. In 2012, the celebrity guest appearance for 'Mania in Miami Gardens, Florida was "Extra" co-host and longtime WWE fan Maria Menounous. Menounous teamed with Kelly Kelly to take on Beth Phoenix and Eve Torres. Menounous began feuding with Phoenix in October 2009, when she accompanied fellow "Access Hollywood" star Nancy O'Dell, who guest hosted an episode of "Raw." Phoenix was angry that she had been traded to "WWE SmackDown" by O'Dell, and got in a confrontation with both women, leading to a six-woman tag team match that night, in which Menounos' team defeated Phoenix's. In 2011 during another guest appearance, Menounous appeared in an eight-woman tag team match, winning for her team by pinning Phoenix. Phoenix and Eve stormed the set of "Extra" in March, where they interrupted an interview between Menounous and Kelly, and Phoenix challenged Menounous to the match at WrestleMania.

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Menounous got the surprising victory over Phoenix, after Kelly knocked the "Glamazon" into Eve on the apron. Phoenix and Eve's loss was extra surprising, as it was announced Menounos had suffered cracked ribs prior to the event. The victory over the Divas wasn't Menounos' last venture into WWE. In April 2013, she inducted Bob Backlund into the WWE Hall of Fame at Madison Square Garden. That year, at SummerSlam Axxess, she teamed with Natalya to defeated Brie Bella and Eva Marie. Though she hasn't appeared in a WWE ring since, Menounos still holds a surprising, but impressive, record of 4-0 throughout her wrestling career.