Maryse Ouellet Maryse Mizanin ( née Ouellet ) ( January 21 , 1983 ) is a French - Canadian glamour model and retired professional wrestler and valet , better known simply as Maryse . She is best known for her time with WWE between 2006 and 2011 . After spending years modelling , including winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada in 2003 , Maryse was hired by WWE in 2006 , after she participated in the WWE Diva Search competition . Despite her elimination , she was sent to WWE ' s developmental facility , Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) in Louisville , Kentucky . She signed a deal with WWE in August 2006 and was assigned to OVW for wrestling training , where she made her ring debut in December 2006 . She appeared in vignette s on WWE television . During this time , she continued working at OVW , but was later transferred to Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) , another WWE developmental facility , to further her training . In March 2008 , Maryse appeared on " SmackDown " , competing in a swim suit competition . Three months later she made her television in - ring debut . In December 2008 , Maryse captured her first title with the company , the WWE Divas Championship , and would hold onto it for seven months . In April 2009 she was drafted to " Raw " , during the 2009 WWE Draft . She won the Divas Championship for the second time in February 2010 , making her the first wrestler to have held the championship on more than one occasion . She is currently the third - longest reigning WWE Divas Champion in history behind Nikki Bella and AJ Lee , having held the title for 216 days . On October 28 , 2011 , Maryse was released from her WWE contract . Modelling career . Ouellet began her career as a beauty pageant contestant , winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada 2003 and finishing second at the International Finals of Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004 . She was also on the cover of Playboy ' s 2007 Girls of Canada calendar . World Wrestling Entertainment . Diva Search and developmental territories ( 2006 – 2008 ) . In the summer of 2006 , Maryse tried out for World Wrestling Entertainment ( WWE ) ' s Diva Search . She made the final cut and was one of the top eight featured on WWE , but on the July 24 episode of " WWE Raw " she became the second person to be eliminated . Despite her elimination , she was invited to observe workouts and the training facility at WWE ' s developmental territory , Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) . Ouellet later said that she was " very , very excited " , as it was her " dream to become a WWE Diva " . Ouellet was officially signed to a WWE developmental contract on August 24 , 2006 and was assigned to OVW for training . She made her in - ring debut at a live event in December 2006 . In March 2007 , she began wrestling in dark matches prior to the OVW television tapings . In mid - 2007 , Ouellet began managing Sylvain Grenier both in OVW and at the Raw / SmackDown / ECW house shows . When Florida Championship Wrestling ( FCW ) opened in the summer of 2007 , Maryse was transferred to the developmental facility for training , and on September 25 , she made her FCW debut as the valet of Ryan O ' Reilly along with Lacey Von Erich . She then started competing in singles and tag team competition , before managing Ted DiBiase , Jr . in December 2007 . She accompanied him to the ring when he captured the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship . She continued making sporadic appearances in FCW until January 2008 . SmackDown ( 2006 – 2009 ) . On the September 22 , 2006 episode of " SmackDown ! " , Ouellet , known as simply Maryse , was shown on the TitanTron welcoming the Montreal viewers ( in French ) to the season premiere of " SmackDown ! " on the CW Network . Maryse made her first actual television appearance with her entrance theme on the May 21 , 2007 episode of " Raw " to present American rapper Timbaland ' s new music video for the single " Throw It on Me " ( 2007 ) , in which she had appeared . By the time she began appearing regularly on " SmackDown " at the beginning of 2008 , she had adopted a snobby attitude and transformed into a villainess . On the March 7 , 2008 episode of " SmackDown " , Maryse competed in a swimsuit contest , against Victoria , Michelle McCool , Cherry , and Eve Torres . In the end , Maryse and Eve got into a fight . On March 14 , Maryse was the first eliminated from the swimsuit competition . On March 28 , Maryse competed in a " Wet and Wild " match where she teamed with Victoria against Cherry and McCool in a losing effort . On a " SmackDown after the bell video " on WWE . com , the tag team , Deuce ' n Domino dumped Cherry ( who had been their manager ) and replaced her with Maryse . Maryse then insulted Cherry , only for Cherry to slap her . On the May 16 episode of " SmackDown " , she made her television in - ring debut in a losing effort to Cherry , though defeated her in a rematch with a roundhouse kick weeks later . For weeks , Maryse teamed with Victoria and Natalya against Cherry , Michelle McCool and Maria . Maryse then suffered a minor broken nose after receiving a bulldog from Maria . Maryse lost in her first title match for the WWE Divas Championship against Michelle McCool at Unforgiven in September , resulting in a feud between the two Divas . She then came up short once again in title rematch on " SmackDown " . On the September 23 episode of " ECW " , Maryse defeated McCool in a non - title match . After being off television for a month , Maryse returned at November ' s pay - per - view event Survivor Series to participate in the five - on - five SmackDown vs . Raw Divas Elimination match . Maryse was the sole survivor of the SmackDown team , but ultimately was eliminated by Beth Phoenix . On December 19 , Maryse pinned Maria to become the number one contender for Michelle McCool ' s Divas Championship . The next week on " SmackDown " , Maryse beat McCool to become the new Divas Champion in a match with Maria as the special guest referee . On December 28 , 2008 at a house show in Raleigh , North Carolina , Maryse dislocated her knee in a tag team match against The Bella Twins , when one of the twins initiated a dropkick that landed on her kneecap , it was later announced that the injury was not too serious and that she would be able to return in a few weeks . On the January 23 , 2009 episode of " SmackDown " , Maryse returned in a non - wrestling role and sat at ringside commentating , during a Divas ' tag team match . Maryse returned to wrestling on February 20 in a tag team match with Michelle McCool and defeating Maria and Eve Torres . On April 5 , Maryse competed in a Divas battle royal at WrestleMania XXV , but the match was won by Santino Marella . Divas Champion and " NXT " ; Injury & Departure ( 2009 – 2011 ) . On the April 13 episode of " Raw " , Maryse was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 WWE Draft , in the process making the Divas Championship exclusive to the Raw brand . She made her Raw in - ring debut on April 27 , teaming with Beth Phoenix , Rosa Mendes , and Jillian Hall in a loss to Mickie James , Santina Marella ( Santino Marella dressed in drag ) , Brie Bella and Kelly Kelly . Maryse began feuding with Mickie James , after she cost James a battle royal , won by Kelly Kelly , after sprayed hair spray at her eyes . The following week , Maryse lost against Kelly by disqualification , meaning the championship did not change hands and won a subsequent rematch by pinfall two weeks later on June 8 . At the Night of Champions pay - per - view on July 26 , Maryse lost the Divas Championship to Mickie James . She then took a hiatus from WWE to recover after having knee surgery . Maryse made her return on the November 23 episode of " Raw " , disguised as The Gobbledy Gooker , as the guest timekeeper for a divas tag team match . After the match , she revealed herself by attacking Melina . The following week , Maryse made her in - ring return on the November 30 episode , pinning Melina in a tag team match . In early 2010 , a tournament was held for the newly vacated Divas Championship . On the February 22 episode of " Raw " , Maryse defeated Gail Kim in the final round of a tournament for the vacated Divas Championship . The finals were originally to be held on February 21 , 2010 at WWE ' s Elimination Chamber PPV event , but the match was changed to the team of Maryse and Gail Kim against team LayCool ( McCool and Layla ) , which was won by the latter . At WrestleMania XXVI she was on the winning team in a 10 - Diva tag team match . Maryse lost the Divas Championship two months later to Eve Torres on the April 12 episode of " Raw " , and was unsuccessful in an attempt to regain it at the Over the Limit pay - per - view the following month . At the Fatal 4 - Way pay - per - view on June 20 , Maryse competed in a fatal four - way match for the WWE Divas Championship , which involved Gail Kim , Eve Torres and Alicia Fox , however , Fox won the contest . On the June 21 episode of " Raw " , after Ted DiBiase fired Virgil , Maryse became DiBiase ' s new personal assistant . In late September , a mysterious stalker was sending messages to Maryse and Ted DiBiase , but it was unsure who they were aimed at . On the October 4 episode of " Raw " , Goldust was revealed as the mystery stalker , but the messages were not directed to Maryse , but at DiBiase ' s Million Dollar Championship , which he then took . On November 30 , Maryse was announced as a mentor to Brodus Clay for the fourth season of " NXT " along with DiBiase . On the December 13 episode of " Raw " Maryse was involved in a battle royal to determine the winner of the Diva of the Year Slammy Award but was eliminated by Natalya . On the January 25 , 2011 , episode of " NXT " , Brodus Clay traded his Pros , Maryse and Ted DiBiase , for Alberto Del Rio . On the March 8 episode of " NXT " , Maryse became the co - host of the show alongside Matt Striker . She retuned to the ring on the May 2nd episode of Raw to face Kelly Kelly , and the match ended in a no contest when Kharma made her Raw debut by attacking Maryse . On the May 17 edition of " NXT " , Tatsu ended his relationship with her when he noted that she liked things over people . Maryse broke up with Cannon on the June 14 edition of " NXT " when she discovered he was buying her cheap and fake gifts , and Cannon was eliminated from the show that same night . Maryse then spurned the affections of Hornswoggle on the June 21 edition of " NXT " . On August 24 , Maryse underwent surgery for an abdominal hernia and took time off WWE programming . On October 28 , 2011 , Maryse was released from her WWE contract . Independent circuit and retirement ( 2012 - 2013 ) . On October 5 , 2012 , Maryse appeared at the Family Wrestling Entertainment event , Back 2 Brooklyn , performing live commentary . She appeared regularly for the promotion , performing live commentary during women ' s matches , and began appearing on commentary throughout the show . Maryse retired from professional wrestling in late 2013 . Other media . In April 2007 , Maryse appeared in Timbaland ' s music video " Throw It On Me " featuring The Hives . Ouellet also appeared in the January 2009 issue of " Muscle & Fitness " along with Eve Torres and Michelle McCool . She also made a special appearance on " Redemption Song " , which was hosted by WWE wrestler Chris Jericho , along with Candice Michelle , Mickie James , and Eve Torres . Personal life . Ouellet was born in Montreal , but grew up in New Brunswick . In high school , Ouellet was the only girl in her class , and ran the school ' s fashion show . She also began developing a range of makeup products . Ouellet has a tattoo of her father ' s name , Guy , on her left wrist . She has a degree in Business Administration and holds a black belt in martial arts . Ouellet is a native speaker of French , and also speaks English , becoming fluent in English after two years . She is also able to read Spanish , although she cannot speak it . She is married to WWE superstar , The Miz .