Ashley Massaro

**Ashley Marie Massaro** (May 26, 1979 – May 16, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, reality television contestant, television host, model, and radio personality. She was best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and for her appearance on *Survivor: China*.

Massaro made her debut in WWE after winning the WWE Diva Search in 2005. She was first incorporated into the Raw brand, where she had her first wrestling feud against Vince's Devils (a villainous female stable) while aligning herself with Trish Stratus to defeat the team. With Stratus, she was involved in another feud with the then-debuting Mickie James, who was obsessed with Stratus and jealous of Massaro's friendship with her, attacking and causing her to lose matches. Massaro was later drafted to SmackDown and became the valet for the WWE Tag Team Champions, Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Her most high-profile matches were a WWE Women's Championship match against Melina at WrestleMania 23 and a *Playboy Bunnymania* Lumberjill match at WrestleMania XXIV.

Massaro left WWE in July 2008. During her tenure in the company, she had appeared on the covers of several magazines, including the April 2007 issue of *Playboy*, and also made appearances on television and in music videos. In addition, she spent the last two years of her life working as a radio DJ for 94.3 The Shark.

## Professional wrestling career

Ashley M. Massaro was born in New York City on May 26, 1979. She was raised in Babylon, New York, where her brother, father, and uncle competed in amateur wrestling. She graduated in 1997 from John Glenn High School in Elwood, New York, and received a BSc in communication with a minor in business from the State University of New York at Albany.

Massaro initially found out about World Wrestling Entertainment's (WWE) 2005 Raw Diva Search when she met a WWE casting director during a swimsuit pageant. After beating the seven other chosen finalists, Massaro was declared the winner on the August 15, 2005 edition of *Raw*. Her winnings included $250,000 and a one year contract with WWE.

A week later on *Raw*, Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson attacked Massaro after pretending to welcome her to *Raw*. Candice Michelle and Wilson were soon joined by Victoria in their feud with Massaro. Victoria defeated Massaro in her in-ring debut match. Massaro was later joined by the returning Trish Stratus, who helped Massaro fend off attacks from the three Divas. The pair defeated the trio—who became known as the Ladies in Pink (and later Vince's Devils)—on several occasions including at Unforgiven and at *WWE Homecoming* in a 3-on-2 Bra and Panties match.

Massaro continued to wrestle matches through the rest of 2005 and was involved in the annual Fulfill Your Fantasy Diva Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday for her first shot at the WWE Women's Championship. Massaro eliminated Candice Michelle before being eliminated by Victoria.

At New Year's Revolution in January, Massaro won the first ever Bra and Panties Gauntlet match by being the final Diva left still wearing her clothes. Following WWE tradition, to please the fans, she removed them herself before making her exit.

Through the early part of 2006, Massaro became the victim of a series of attacks from Mickie James. At the Royal Rumble, James defeated Massaro with then Women's Champion, Trish Stratus, as the special guest referee. Massaro got her revenge one week later by pinning James in the rematch on *Raw*.

During the February 20, 2006 edition of *Raw*, however, Massaro suffered a fractured left fibula while being eliminated from the Women's Battle Royal, and her feud with James was cut short. She underwent surgery to insert a five-inch metal plate and eight screws into her leg. During her recovery, Massaro still occasionally appeared on *Raw* as part of the Stratus/James feud, albeit in a non-active role.

She returned to television on June 2, now on *SmackDown!*, as a special guest commentator during the Kristal Marshall versus Jillian Hall match. Massaro later aligned herself with Hall, and they feuded with Michelle McCool and Marshall. Massaro won her *SmackDown!* debut match on July 21, when she teamed up with Hall to defeat McCool and Marshall. At The Great American Bash, Massaro won the Fatal Four-Way Bra and Panties match by removing all of her opponents clothing. On the August 4 edition of *SmackDown!*, Massaro broke her knuckle in a match against Marshall.

Massaro recovered from her injury and returned to the ring on the September 8, 2006 edition of *SmackDown!* where she, Paul London, and Brian Kendrick defeated Idol Stevens, K.C. James and Michelle McCool in a Six-Person Mixed Tag Team match. Following the victory, Massaro became the valet for London and Kendrick, accompanying them to the ring for their matches on *SmackDown!* and pay-per-views.

During the February 16, 2007 edition of *SmackDown!*, Massaro unveiled her *Playboy* cover. Surrounding the release of the magazine, Massaro engaged in a feud with Jillian Hall, who was jealous over the attention Massaro received due to the *Playboy* cover. At No Way Out, Massaro won the first ever Diva Invitational by removing her top to reveal her breasts which were covered with *Playboy* bunny pasties. Massaro also began a feud with then WWE Women's Champion, *Raw's* Melina, who was angry over the publicity Massaro had been receiving because of the cover. On an episode of *SmackDown!*, the rivalry was taken to the next level when a catfight broke out between the Divas on the inaugural edition of *Miz TV*. At WrestleMania 23, Melina defeated Massaro in a LumberJill match to retain her title.

After WrestleMania, Massaro continued as a valet for WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick. In storyline, on the April 13 episode of *SmackDown!*, Massaro was attacked by Jillian Hall. In reality, Massaro had loosened a screw in her ankle, which had been inserted the previous year after she legitimately fractured her tibia and fibula while in a battle royal. Massaro returned, but it was short lived when on the June 8 edition of *SmackDown!*, Massaro was suspended indefinitely after accidentally spilling Mr. McMahon's coffee on him. In reality, Massaro was taking time off to participate on the show *Survivor*.

Massaro returned on January 7, 2008 to the Raw brand, winning a Divas Lingerie Pillow Fight against Maria, Jillian Hall, Melina, and Mickie James. Massaro replaced Candice Michelle, who was out with an injury, in the *Playboy Bunnymania* Lumberjack match at WrestleMania XXIV alongside Maria, losing to Beth Phoenix and Melina. Massaro also participated in a 12 Diva Tag Team match at Backlash, but her team lost as she was pinned by Phoenix.  Massaro was released from her WWE contract on July 9, 2008. A week prior to her release, she announced that she had asked to be let go from her contract due to her daughter being sick.

Massaro was a contestant on CBS's *Survivor: China*, which was the fifteenth season of the show, in 2007. Massaro approached the WWE with the idea of doing the show, and after going through the casting process, she found out she made the show ten days before she had to leave for China to film. Prior to the experience, Massaro had never been camping before, so to train for the show she had to get used to being out in nature. She was assigned to the Zhan Hu tribe in the first episode and quickly began quarreling with fellow contestant Dave Cruser. In the second episode, Massaro was voted off after six days with a 6–1 vote.

Massaro competed in Miss Hawaiian Tropic pageants and was crowned Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA in 2002 and Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada in August 2004. Massaro appeared in *FHM*, *Stuff*, *Maxim*, and on the cover of *Playboy* after joining WWE, though she had previously posed for *Playboy* in 2003 and 2004. Massaro tried out for *Playboy* scouts when they were searching for models for the 50th Anniversary Playmate Hunt. She appeared in the accompanying pictorial in the December 2003. In addition, she appeared in both *Femme Fatales* and *Flex* magazines. Massaro also hosted several E! channel *Wild On!* episodes and appeared on *Breaking Bonaduce* as Danny Bonaduce's personal trainer. Massaro guest starred on an episode of *Extreme Makeover: Home Edition* alongside WWE wrestlers John Cena and Batista. In addition, she appeared in campaign ads for both Hawaiian Tropic and Yamaha.

In February 2007, Massaro and Glenn "Kane" Jacobs filmed an episode of the CW's *Smallville* that aired on March 22, 2007. In April 2007, Massaro also appeared as a guest on Fuse TV's show *The Sauce*. On April 20, 2007, Massaro and several other female wrestlers filmed Timbaland's video, "Throw It on Me" featuring the Hives. In 2008, she appeared in Rev Theory's video for "Hell Yeah."

In September 2017, Massaro made a brief return to wrestling by competing in Zero1 Professional Wrestling USA with former WWE Diva Jillian Hall.

## Death

On May 15, 2019, Massaro finished replying to fan mail but did not show up for work at WWSK-FM later that night, prompting another DJ to fill in for her. At 5:23 a.m. the next morning, paramedics responded to a rescue call and discovered Massaro unresponsive at her home in Smithtown, New York. When they arrived at the hospital, she was pronounced dead, 10 days before her 40th birthday.

On May 19 at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view event, WWE paid tribute to Massaro's life and career by projecting a graphic of her at the start of the show. Visitation for Massaro was held that day and the next at the Branch Funeral Home in Smithtown. At the time of her death some news outlets, all citing the website TMZ, stated Massaro's death was a suicide. Others, including CNN and *The Nation*, did not.

The Suffolk County medical examiner's office did not release an official cause of death, citing a New York state privacy law that allows withholding information that "would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy". In September 2021, a *USA Today* article stated that she had died by suicide without citing TMZ, and wrote that her death (along with the suicide deaths of wrestlers Hana Kimura and Daffney in the succeeding two years) had spurred a conversation about mental health in the professional wrestling industry.

Massaro had taken part in a suicide prevention music video by her WWSK co-worker Brian Orlando, who had recorded a song with Brandon B. Brown, Vinnie Dombroski, and Kevin Martin. Following her death, Orlando scrapped plans to release the video. With her family's blessing, it was released in July 2020.