Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich[1] (born September 30, 1978) , better known as Candice Michelle or just Candice, is an American model, actress, and professional wrestler currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment performing on its RAW brand.
After spending years modeling and acting, Candice Michelle was hired by WWE in 2004, after she participated in the WWE Diva Search.[7] Outside of wrestling, Candice is known as the Go Daddy Girl,[8] performing in the company's annual Super Bowl commercials.[9][10] She posed for a cover and nude pictorial in the April 2006 issue of Playboy.[11] On June 24, 2007, she defeated Melina to win her first WWE Women's Championship and become the first former WWE Diva Search contestant to win a WWE title.
World Wrestling Entertainment
2004–2005
In July 2004, Michelle auditioned to be a contestant for World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW Diva Search.[4][23] Despite not being chosen to be in the final ten,[4] she was hired by the company under the gimmick of a makeup artist.[1][7] She competed on RAW in several Diva contests, including lingerie fashion shows and limbo contests, until the end of the year.[24][25]
On June 30, 2005, Candice was moved to SmackDown! where she became involved in an angle between Torrie Wilson and Melina.[1][26] On July 24, Candice made her pay-per-view debut at The Great American Bash where she served as the Special Guest Referee for the Bra and Panties match between Wilson and Melina.[27] She was then moved back to RAW in a trade along with Wilson.[28] In her next angle, Candice and Torrie turned heel by taunting 2005 Diva Search winner Ashley Massaro and joined forces with fellow RAW Diva Victoria.[29] The three-Diva stable became known as Ladies in Pink (later Vince's Devils, a play on the Charlie's Angels television series and films).[30] They continued feuding with Massaro until Trish Stratus returned from a legitimate injury to help Massaro "retaliate" against Vince's Devils.[31] In November, Candice signed on to pose for the April 2006 issue of Playboy.[11]
She had her first shot at the WWE Women's Championship in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday and was eliminated from the match by Ashley Massaro.[32]
2006
In January, Candice appeared at New Year's Revolution in the first ever Bra and Panties Gauntlet match, where she was eliminated by Maria.[33] After winning a number one contender's Diva battle royal on RAW, Candice got her first singles WWE Women's Championship match, but lost to then-champion Trish Stratus on February 27.[34][35] After the match, Candice slapped Wilson, kayfabe blaming her for the loss.[35]
Vince's Devils later broke up when Wilson turned face after Candice and Victoria turned on her during Candice's Playboy cover unveiling.[11] This feud led to a match at WrestleMania 22 in which both Playboy cover girls competed in a Playboy Pillow Fight.[36] Wilson won the match, but the feud continued sporadically in backstage segments where Candice was Vince McMahon's kayfabe "sex slave".[2]
On the July 17 edition of RAW, Candice was the Special Guest Referee during a tag team match of Stratus and Wilson against Victoria and Mickie James. Mickie James entered the match without being tagged in so Candice threw her out of the ring. Afterwards, Victoria tried to clothesline Candice but she ducked out of the way, allowing Stratus to hit the Stratusfaction for the victory. As a result, Candice turned face.[37]
On the RAW following Unforgiven, Candice won a match against Lita.[38] The next week, in her second match against Lita, Candice was pinned after she was speared by Guest Referee Edge, in the first round of the WWE Women's Championship tournament.[39] She later competed in the first ever Extreme Strip Poker segment on ECW on October 10, representing RAW.[40]
On the November 27 edition of RAW, during the Diva battle royal, Candice suffered a legitimate broken nose when Victoria kicked her in the face.[41] She had surgery on November 30 to repair her deviated septum.[42]
2007 Candice as the Women's Champion
Candice returned at New Year's Revolution on January 7, when she went to the ring with Maria to fight off Melina as she tried to interfere in the WWE Women's Championship match between then-champion Mickie James and Victoria.[43] Candice made her in-ring return on January 22 when she and Mickie James defeated Victoria and Melina in a tag team match with Candice scoring the pinfall.[44]
Candice then resumed her feud with Melina, who claimed in her blogs that all Playboy cover models were not capable of fighting her in the ring.[45] Candice took offense to this, which led to a Bra and Panties Match between the two, which she lost.[46] During this time, Candice began training on her off-days to improve her in-ring abilities.[4] Weeks later, Candice was pushed and won tag matches that pitted her with Mickie James against Victoria and Melina. She also picked up several wins against the latter two in singles matches, which culminated at One Night Stand, where Candice defeated Melina in the first ever Pudding Match.[47][48][49] Candice defeated Melina to capture her first WWE Women's Championship at Vengeance, becoming the first ever WWE Diva Search contestant to win the Women's Title.[12] Candice retained her title against Melina in a rematch at The Great American Bash as well as debuting a new finisher called the Candywrapper.[50]
Beth Phoenix became the number one contender for the Women's Title after winning a tri-branded Diva battle royal at SummerSlam.[51] However, at the Unforgiven pay-per-view, Candice successfully retained her title in their match by countering one of Phoenix's moves with a crucifix pin.[52] Their feud continued when Phoenix pinned Candice during a non-title mixed tag team match on RAW on September 24. At No Mercy on October 7, Candice dropped the title to Phoenix, ending her reign as Women's Champion.[53] On October 22, Candice legitimately cracked her clavicle during her rematch for the Women's Title against Phoenix in a two out of three falls match; as Phoenix pushed herself into the turnbuckle causing Candice to fall off onto her head, neck and shoulders and was put out of action for 12 weeks.
Credit: Wikipedia