Kelly Kelly Barbara Jean " Barbie " Blank ( January 15 , 1987 ) is an American model , former professional wrestler , and professional wrestling valet best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) , better known by her ring name Kelly Kelly . Blank has a background in gymnastics and cheerleading . She studied broadcast journalism , hoping to become a television anchor , and worked as a model for Venus Swimwear and Hawaiian Tropic . In 2006 , Blank was signed to a contract by WWE and sent to Ohio Valley Wrestling , a WWE developmental territory . She debuted on the ECW brand in June 2006 as ' Kelly Kelly ' , with the character of an exhibitionist and performing a striptease . She continued her stripteases , in a segment known as " Kelly ' s Exposé " , weekly on " ECW " , and also became the valet of her on - screen boyfriend Mike Knox . The following year , she formed Extreme Exposé with Layla and Brooke Adams , and the trio performed a regular dance segment on " ECW " . They later became involved in a storyline with The Miz , which led to the dissolution of the group . Kelly then began participating in more wrestling matches , and was moved to the Raw brand in July 2008 . Throughout the next year , she unsuccessfully challenged for the WWE Divas Championship on several occasions , before moving to SmackDown in early 2010 . There she challenged Lay - Cool for the WWE Women ' s Championship , but was unsuccessful . In April 2011 , Kelly returned to the Raw brand , where she won the WWE Divas Championship for the first time in June , beginning a four - month reign . World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE . Ohio Valley Wrestling ( 2006 ) . In 2006 , while working as a model , Blank was seen by World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) official John Laurinaitis , who was interested in signing her to a contract . As a result , WWE contacted her modeling agency and invited her to their developmental territory , Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) , for a try - out . Despite having no previous wrestling experience she was offered a contract , which she signed in May 2006 . Even after being called up to the main roster she continued to fly back and forth to OVW ' s base city Louisville , Kentucky once a week to work shows ; first as a ring announcer and referee , then as a wrestler . One of her first matches took place at the September 6 OVW TV tapings where she participated in a Women ' s battle royal won by ODB . ECW ( 2006 – 2008 ) . Blank debuted for the ECW brand as Kelly Kelly . Originally , she was to be named just ' Kelly ' , but her ring name was expanded to ' Kelly Kelly ' by Vince McMahon . She made her debut on the first episode of the weekly television program on June 13 , 2006 , becoming the youngest Diva on the WWE roster . Her character , an exhibitionist , was introduced performing a striptease for the crowd . The next week , while performing another striptease , Kelly was interrupted by her on - screen boyfriend , Mike Knox , who came to the stage and covered her with a towel before dragging her backstage . Her stripping became a weekly segment known as " Kelly ' s Exposé " and usually followed the same routine ; Kelly would dance and strip until she was interrupted by Knox , who was upset by her exhibitionism and showing off her body to others . Originally a solo segment , Kelly was joined by the villainous Candice Michelle on the July 11 edition of " ECW " Knox began forcing Kelly to accompany him to ringside so he could keep an eye on her , making her his " de facto " valet . As a result , she found herself involved in the feud developing between Mike Knox and partner Test with Tommy Dreamer and his partner The Sandman , including being inadvertently hit in the groin with a cane by Sandman when Knox used her as a shield . She made her ECW in - ring debut on the August 22 , 2006 episode of " ECW on Sci - Fi " in a losing effort as part of a six - person mixed tag team match which saw herself , Knox , and Test lose to Dreamer , Sandman and Torrie Wilson , in what was the last match of the feud . Following this feud , Kelly and Knox were moved into a storyline with CM Punk in September , in which Kelly was shown to have developed a liking for Punk and Knox was shown to be increasingly protective and jealous . During the next month , Kelly continuously flirted with Punk and was shown watching his matches from the crowd , until Knox stopped her . Subsequently , Kelly ' s character dressed as Punk for ECW ' s Halloween Costume Contest , enraging Knox and leading to a match between the two , during which Kelly cheered for Punk . At December to Dismember , Kelly and Knox took on the team of Ariel and Kevin Thorn in a mixed tag team match , during which Knox refused to tag in before abandoning Kelly , leaving her to be beaten badly by Ariel . On the following episode of " ECW " , Kelly defeated Ariel with a roll - up on her first ECW singles match , after which Knox made his way to the ring with flowers only to throw them in Kelly ' s face and perform his signature swinging reverse STO on her , ending their relationship and giving her a scripted injury — removing her from the program for six weeks . She returned to television on January 16 , 2007 and cut a promo announcing she was newly single and bringing back " Kelly ' s Exposé " . The following week , she joined forces with Layla and Brooke to form Extreme Exposé . The trio performed a weekly dance segment on " ECW " for the next several months , as a successor to Kelly ' s Exposé segment . In June 2007 , The Miz was moved to the brand , prompting a storyline in which all three members of Extreme Exposé were attracted to him . When Kelly shifted her attentions towards Balls Mahoney , Layla , Brooke , and The Miz openly mocked her , and The Miz later prevented her from going on a date with Mahoney , stating that he owned her contract and would fire her if she did so . On November 1 , Brooke was released from her WWE contract , and Extreme Exposé dissolved as a group , leaving Kelly and Layla to enter an ongoing rivalry with more active wrestling roles . On the October 29 episode of " Raw " , Kelly won a battle royal to earn a match against the WWE Women ' s Champion , Beth Phoenix . After the match however , Kelly was attacked by Phoenix and lost the subsequent match between the two the following week on " Raw " . Kelly continued to feud with Layla , and they were on opposite sides of a 10 - Diva tag team match at Survivor Series , which Kelly ' s team won . In December , Layla formed an alliance with Victoria , which expanded to include Lena Yada in January 2008 , and Kelly continued to feud with the trio . At WrestleMania XXIV , Kelly was a ' lumberjill ' for the Divas ' tag team lumberjill match . The following month , Kelly was part of the losing team in a five - on - five Divas match at the Backlash pay - per - view . Raw ( 2008 – 2010 ) . Following the completion of the 2008 WWE Draft , Kelly was moved to the Raw brand on July 7 . Kelly had her debut match as part of the brand that night by teaming with Mickie James to defeat Layla and Jillian Hall . She quickly became involved in a feud with Beth Phoenix , facing her on multiple occasions in both singles and tag team matches with a variety of opponents , including Mickie James and Candice Michelle . During this time , Phoenix was aligned with Hall , and in late September Kelly transitioned into a feud with Hall . At the Survivor Series pay - per - view in November , Kelly was part of the victorious Raw Diva team which defeated the SmackDown Divas in a five - on - five elimination match . During the match , she eliminated Victoria , before being eliminated by Maryse . The following month at Armageddon , Kelly teamed with Maria , Michelle McCool and James in a winning effort against Hall , Maryse , Victoria and Natalya . On April 5 , 2009 , Kelly competed in a Divas Battle Royal at WrestleMania XXV , but the match was won by Santina Marella . On the May 18 episode of " Raw " , Kelly won a battle royal by eliminating Beth Phoenix and Mickie James , to become the number one contender to the WWE Divas Championship . The following week , she challenged Maryse for the championship and won by disqualification , allowing Maryse to retain . Kelly lost a subsequent rematch by pinfall two weeks later on June 8 . Three weeks later , she competed in a fatal four - way match to determine the number one contender , but the match was won by James . Throughout the remainder of mid - 2009 , Kelly unsuccessfully competed in several number one contender matches . At the Bragging Rights pay - per - view in October , Kelly , Gail Kim and Melina comprised Team Raw , but lost to Team SmackDown , consisting of Phoenix , Natalya and McCool . The following month at the Survivor Series pay - per - view , Kelly participated in a five - on - five elimination match , which her team won . She eliminated Layla before being eliminated by Phoenix with a strike to the groin . In January 2010 , Kelly participated in the tournament to determine a new Divas Champion , after Melina was forced to vacate the championship due to injury , but was eliminated by Alicia Fox in the first round . Throughout early 2010 , Kelly was involved in several backstage segments with the guest hosts of " Raw " . At WrestleMania XXVI , Kelly teamed with Phoenix , Kim , James and Eve Torres in a losing effort to McCool , Layla , Maryse , Fox and Vickie Guerrero . The following night on " Raw " , the teams faced off in a rematch with the opposite result . The following week , Kelly took part in a 10 - Diva Dress To Impress battle royal , to determine the number one contender for Maryse ' s Divas Championship , but the match was won by Torres . Brand switches and Divas Champion ( 2010 – 2012 ) . During the 2010 WWE Draft on April 26 , Kelly was drafted to the SmackDown brand . She made her debut on the April 30 episode of " SmackDown " by teaming with Beth Phoenix to defeat Lay - Cool ( Michelle McCool and Layla ) . She went on to feud with Lay - Cool , gaining an ally in Tiffany . Over the next several weeks , Kelly and Tiffany faced Lay - Cool in tag team matches , with Lay - Cool winning on both occasions . On the June 4 episode of " SmackDown " , Kelly made her singles debut for the brand , defeating Rosa Mendes , despite being distracted by Layla and McCool . After defeating both Layla and McCool in singles matches , she received a Women ' s Championship match at the Money in the Bank pay - per - view in July , but was unsuccessful . On August 31 , Kelly announced that she would be a mentor on season three of " NXT " , with Naomi as her rookie . Throughout the second half of 2010 , Kelly continued to feud with Lay - Cool , and gained an ally in Natalya in October . In November , Kelly ' s " NXT " rookie , Naomi was named runner - up to the winner , Kaitlyn during the season finale . In December , Kelly started a storyline with Drew McIntyre who had developed a romantic interest in her . She rebuffed his advances on several occasions , stating he was too aggressive and vindictive . On January 30 , 2011 , at the Royal Rumble , Kelly prevented the Acting General Manager Vickie Guerrero from interfering in the World Heavyweight Championship match between Edge and Dolph Ziggler . On the following episode of " SmackDown " , Kelly and Edge defeated Lay - Cool and Ziggler in a two - on - three handicap match to retain Edge ' s World Heavyweight Championship . Following the match , Guerrero fired Kelly in storyline . At the Elimination Chamber pay - per - view later that month , Kelly was re - hired by SmackDown General Manager Teddy Long , and made her return by attacking Guerrero . She was stopped by Lay - Cool , who were in turn stopped by Trish Stratus . On the following episode of " SmackDown " , Kelly gained revenge on Guerrero when Kelly and Edge defeated Guerrero and McIntyre in a mixed tag team match , causing Guerrero to be fired in storyline per the pre - match stipulation . On April 26 , Kelly was drafted back to the " Raw " brand as part of the 2011 supplemental draft . On May 22 at the Over the Limit pay - per - view , Kelly unsuccessfully challenged Brie Bella for the WWE Divas Championship . The following night on " Raw " , she teamed with Gail Kim , Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix , against The Bella Twins , Maryse and Melina . The match , however ended in a no - contest following an interruption by Kharma . On the 30 May edition of " Raw " , Kelly teamed with Eve to defeat The Bella Twins . The following week on " Raw " , Kelly again scored a victory over The Bella Twins in tag team action , this time teaming with Beth Phoenix . On the June 13 edition of " Raw " , an All - Star special , Kelly was again victorious , in a 7 on 7 diva tag team match , teaming with Beth Phoenix , Gail Kim , Eve Torres , Natalya , A . J . and Kaitlyn to defeat The Bella Twins , Melina , Alicia Fox , Rosa Mendes , Maryse and Tamina . The following month , on the " Power to the People " special edition of " Raw " on June 20 , Kelly won a vote by the fans to determine the challenger for the Divas Championship that night . Kelly went on to win her first WWE Divas Championship by defeating Bella . Her win later garnered her a Slammy Award for Divalicious Moment of the Year . On the June 27 edition of " Raw " , a special " Raw Roulette " edition , Kelly defeated Nikki Bella in a non - title , submission match . After the match , both Bellas attacked Kelly , however Eve Torres made the save for Kelly . WWE . com has been announced that Kelly will have her first title defense on July 17 , at Money in the Bank pay per - view . On the 4th of July special Independence Day edition of Raw , Kelly teamed up with Eve Torres to defeat The Bella Twins in a tag team match . On the July 11 edition of " Raw " , Kelly Kelly defeated Melina in a single match . At the Money in the Bank pay - per - view in July , Kelly made her first title defense , successfully defeating Bella in a rematch . On the July 25 edition of " Raw " , Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres defeated Maryse and Melina in a divas tag - team match . On the August 1 episode of " Raw " , Phoenix won a battle royal to become the number one contender to Kelly ' s championship , and afterward turned heel by attacking Kelly to provoke a feud . Kelly went on to successfully defend her championship against Phoenix at SummerSlam . On the August 30 episode of the " SmackDown " , Kelly teamed up with Alicia Fox in a losing effort to The Divas of Doom in a divas tag - team match . Following SummerSlam , Kelly continued to feud with Phoenix , defeating her at Night of Champions . On the September 19 episode of " Raw " , Kelly teamed up with Eve Torres in a winning effort defeating The Divas of Doom after Eve pinned Natalya for the win . Kelly Kelly dropped the championship to her at Hell in a Cell in October . In a rematch on the October 14 episode of " SmackDown " , Kelly lost once again . Kelly challenged Phoenix for the Divas Championship at , but was unsuccessful . On the March 26 episode of " Raw " , Kelly defeated a villainous Eve with Phoenix in her corner . At WrestleMania XXVIII , Kelly and " Extra " correspondent Maria Menounos defeated Phoenix and Eve in a tag team match . On the April 12 episode of " Superstars , " Kelly Kelly defeated Brie Bella with Nikki Bella . On the April 26 episode of " Superstars " , Kelly defeated Maxine in a singles match . On the May 7 edition of " Raw " , Kelly teamed up with Layla in a winning effort ; defeating Maxine and Natalya . On the May 21 edition of " Raw " , Kelly was defeated by long time rival Beth Phoenix . On June 6 , WWE granted Kelly a time off after going on tour with the company non - stop . Kelly Kelly made her return to WWE on the August 6 episode of " Raw " , where she defeated Eve Torres in singles match . She made an appearance at SummerSlam dancing along with the other WWE Divas " Don ' t Give Up " performed live by Kevin Rudolf . On September 28 , 2012 , Kelly Kelly was released by WWE . In a December 2012 interview , Blank stated she needed time off to heal a neck injury , and had plans to model . Independent Circuit ( 2012 ) . Blank was set to appear at her first independent wrestling show in Waterbury , Connecticut at a North East Wrestling event on November 4 , followed by a house show event on November 5 , but her appearances were canceled due to Hurricane Sandy . On December 4 , Blank made her first independent wrestling show appearance for North East Wrestling . Other media . In April 2007 , Kelly , along with Ashley , Layla El , Brooke , Torrie Wilson , and Maryse , appeared in a music video for the Timbaland song " Throw It on Me " ( featuring The Hives ) . That August all three members of " Extreme Exposé " also took part in a photo - shoot for " FHM Online " . On April 11 , 2008 , Blank — along with Mickie James , Melina Perez , and Layla El — appeared in an episode of " Celebrity Fit Club : Boot Camp " as trainers . Six days later , she appeared as the " Soccerette " on the British football show " Soccer AM " . Personal life . Blank was born in Jacksonville , Florida to a Jewish father and Christian mother . Blank was a fan of professional wrestling as a child , and cites Stone Cold Steve Austin as her favorite wrestler . While growing up , Blank participated in gymnastics for ten years , before she was forced to quit due to an injury . She later took up cheerleading . Blank studied broadcast journalism , hoping to become a television anchor . She was also a Hawaiian Tropic and Venus Swimwear bikini model before she entered professional wrestling . While training at OVW , Blank lived in Kentucky . Following this , Blank lived in Tampa , Florida prior to moving to Miami . She then returned to living in Tampa in 2010 . She now resides in Malibu , California . She describes Trish Stratus as her inspiration in wrestling . Blank was in a two - and - a - half year relationship with wrestler Andrew Martin , that had ended prior to his death in March 2009 . She also previously dated Dave Batista briefly . She is currently engaged to NHL hockey player Sheldon Souray .