Divas Unleashed
From the eWrestling Encyclopedia.
| Divas Unleashed | |
|---|---|
| File:Images/divasunleashed.jpg | |
| Federation Name | Divas Unleashed |
| Abbreviation | DU |
| Shows | Friday Night Exile |
| Time open | May 2003 to present |
| Owner | Shane Rockford |
| Based in | Las Vegas, Nevada |
| Federation type | Roleplay Based |
| Pay-per-views | Monthly |
Divas Unleashed (DU) is an all-female wrestling e-federation which launched on May 25th 2003. DU has been running since, with a scandal or two in between, and is still going strong. The company's wrestlers are female only. The aim of company is to combine both scandal and drama with American Joshi style wrestling.
Every week, DU's flagship show Friday Night Exile (soon to move to Sunday Nights) provides hard-hitting matches combined with backstage antics to get everybody talking. Every month or so there is a pay-per-view, with the most prestigious PPV being "Forsaken Destiny", which celebrates the birth of the company. The company has five major titles and an ever-changing list of mysterious and fun divas.
[edit] Origins
Divas Unleashed first started out as Divas Unleashed Wrestling, a collective group of wrestlers formerly employed by various promotions who came together to train, talk and fight.
DUW begun to have free monthly events, mainly battle royals, to showcase the wrestling skills of the women involved in the company. Notable women of this time included Crystal, Katrina, Krysta Taylor, Mya, Tara Lee, Taylor and Tequila.
Soon enough, the concept and company of DUW was purchased by young businessman Shane Rockford who signed all of the willing employees to a new contract with a re-branded Divas Unleashed.
[edit] 2003: Establishment & break-out
Coming soon.
[edit] 2004: Continued growth & success
Coming soon.
[edit] 2005: Expansion onto the world stage
Coming soon.
[edit] 2006: Regeneration & new eras
Coming soon.
[edit] 2007: Contented & centered
Coming soon.
[edit] 2008: Retrenchment & stalled progress
Coming soon.
[edit] 2009: Rebirth of an icon
Coming soon.
[edit] Feminity Wrestling Awards (and Las Vegas)
Divas Unleashed’s headquarters is The First Lady hotel in Las Vegas, which also doubles as a hotel which allows fans to stay at DU HQ. In 2008, Katia won the opportunity to design a floor of the hotel dedicated to her likeness.
The annual awards ceremony of DU is the Feminity Wrestling Awards (FWAs), which are now nicknamed The Femmys. The awards are notable for musical performances from divas, and the red carpet dresses in which Krysta Taylor creates a best and worst dressed list from.
The awards have been hosted in the First Lady’s auditorium every year since 2005, the 2004 awards were held at neighbouring Vegas hotel The Mirage while the First Lady was under construction.
[edit] Image & Advertising
Divas Unleashed has a less wrestling-based, less-serious image compared to its contemporary rivals, focusing more on the glamorous side to sports entertainment and can be notable for it’s laid back sense of humour.
A series of commercials air, some featuring divas, on the television network Sahara promoting the company as well as being distributed on other networks around the world and virally on YouTube. Currently, a new commercial is produced every month.
Divas Unleashed has been notably fronted by the music of Sugababes, Jennifer Lopez, Kylie Minogue, Janet Jackson and more recently, Girls Aloud.
Maya Okosaki is regarded as the face of the company, having been picked in 2007 due to the "qualities she embodies are those every diva should aspire to hold". It was also rumoured she was selected to make DU more accessible to a wider audience.
DU announced plans to venture into Asian territories at the beginning of 2009, and toured Asia through March to May with stops in Nagasaki, Singapore, Hong Kong, a free show in Manila, and a pay-per-view in Tokyo. Plans to go to Osaka were cancelled.
DU plans to continually promote heavily in Asia through the use of music shorts and commercials. These plans were kicked off by a music short called “Waste Management” starring Maya Okosaki, being distributed in two parts, and being shown periodically on Asian TV networks.
In May of 2009, Exile experienced a make-over and move to Sunday Nights as part of a repackaging deal with it's network, Sahara. At the same time of this move, DU announced plans to terminate it's Victoria's Secret sponsorship in favour of a defection to Agent Provocateur.
Tequila cites some of the company’s main influences as being Victoria Beckham, Kylie Minogue, Desperate Housewives, Chyna, Sex and the City, Tyra Banks and the fed is currently experiencing a love affair with Britney Spears.
[edit] Foreign Policy
Divas Unleashed has a friendly attitude to rival chick feds – welcoming them as sisters rather than viewing them as threats. DU has stated that it will only do inter-promotional events with fellow female-based feds, and to date has had a cross-promotional event with 3WL in the form of the pay-per-view "Collision Course", in aid of charity.
Divas Unleashed is rumoured to be in talks to stage a cross-promotional event with Ring of Beauty in 2009. These talks were rumoured to be strained after a series of comments by Tequila and disagreements between the two companies, including a spat over DU's new slogan "Ring of Beauty just an women's fed, Divas Unleashed is a lifestyle" and incidents involving shared talent. It was later stated any interpromotional event with RoB should be considered "unlikely".
DU is rumoured to now pursuing an interpromotional event with 3WL instead.
[edit] Other Projects
Divas Unleashed has drew both praise and criticism for branching outside of the 'norms' of wrestling and expanding into areas of entertainment – with things such as DU's Next Top Model, Divas Unleashed Divo Search: The Search for a Male Reporter, MeloDU, and supporting the musical aspirations of it's divas.
Barracuda Jones, Crystal Deymonaz, Katia, Katrina, KibbyD and Tequila have all released music albums, ranging in genres, with Blonde Ambition also scheduled to release a covers album in the near future. DU put out a Christmas covers CD featuring the vocals of many of its divas, and plans to release a general covers CD in 2009 entitled “World Wide Women”.
There is a rumour that 2009 will see a music concert held at the First Lady in Las Vegas in aid of a women’s charity. If the concert takes place, it will be the first time all of the musical divas have performed together.
[edit] Championships & Active Roster
Championships
- Askai Championship (cruiserweight - 130lbs or less)
- Rockford State Championship
- Tag Team Championships
- Stripped Championship (required to be defended on a stipulation)
- Unleashed Championship
Current Roster
Barracuda Jones
Bobbi Jackson
Carley Monroe
Christine McQuisten
Colleen Roades
Courtney Monroe
Crystal
Crystal Hilton
Darla Daniels
Didgitz
Felicity
Henshin Belleza
Icenique
Katia
KibbyD
Kitty Cummings
Kylie Logan
Laura Seton
Lilith
Makaze
Maya Okosaki
Meggie
Mercedes Vargas
Roxie Rebel
Shane Rockford
Stephanie Sullivan
Suzie Woods
Tara Lee
Tequila
Tiger Lily
Tori Marie
Totally Radd
Tracee Nguyen
Trish Newborn
Veronica Valiant (Samantha Valiant)
Tag Teams
Blonde Ambition
Rebel & Roades
Starlet Enterprises
Teen Spirit
Hall of Fame
Crystal
Felicity
Katrina
Icenique
Kaci
Mya
Mystika
Star
Yuku Shiro
[edit] External links
- Divas Unleashed (official website)
- Divas Unleashed: Odium Ground V (official forums)
- Divas Unleashed (official MySpace)
- Divas Unleashed (official Twitter)
