The 10 Most Cringeworthy Diva Search Moments

For a few years in the mid-2000s, WWE ran a competition called the Diva Search, where a group of women chosen via casting call competed for a cash prize of around $250,000. Many of the contestants ended up signing to WWE. The Diva Search is responsible for introducing wrestling fans to Maria Kanellis, Christy Hemme, Eve Torres, Layla El, and Michelle McCool, among others.

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That said, given that it occurred about a decade before WWE took women’s wrestling seriously, the Diva Search is more infamous than famous. While some of its contestants became notable names, the competition itself is full of some incredibly cringeworthy moments, many of which were sexist or demeaning.

10 The Theme Song (2004)

For the best example of just how weird and degrading the whole Diva Search effort was, look no further than the official unveiling of the contestants during Chris Jericho’s Highlight Reel segment on Monday Night Raw. The segment itself is whatever -- it’s basically “Hey, I’m [First Name] from [Location], woo!” and then the crowd invariably boos -- but the parade of contestants came out to The Hives song “Walk Idiot Walk.” While the music itself is suitably rockin’ for 2004, the lyrics (“see the idiot walk/see the idiot talk”) tell viewers just what WWE thinks of its female talent.

9 Strip Tease Introductions (2005)

Unfortunate entrance music aside, the introduction of the 2004 Diva Search contestants was fairly tame, especially when compared to the 2005 version. In the year since the previous Search, someone had clearly decided that they needed to be more provocative. As a result, when they introduced themselves on Raw, each contestant did a striptease while talking about themselves. On a contest that hasn’t aged well, on a show that hasn’t aged well, in an era that hasn’t aged well, this segment has not aged well.

8 Seducing Kamala (2004)

Like all WWE competitions, contestants on the Diva Search have to take part in oddball challenges that don’t necessarily have any value except to (in theory) amuse fans. One such challenge in the 2004 search had women enter a room one by one with the goal of attempting to “verbally seduce” an actual WWE star for 20 seconds.

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Of course, one of the most enduring bits of WWE comedy involves a hot person giving sexual attention to an ugly freak, so for each woman, the curtain opens to reveal Kamala, the Ugandan Giant. The result is attractive women talking dirty to a racial stereotype while he slaps his belly and makes unintelligible noises.

7 Rob Schneider Being A Sleaze (2005)

On one episode of Raw during the 2005 Diva Search, contestants had to take part in an American Gladiators style “Queen of the Mountain” competition with the object of knocking your opponent off a platform with a pugil stick. That’s all fine, but in the ring for the segment is Rob Schneider, making an appearance to promote his film Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. It’s a weird segment, as Schneider delivers an awkward “You can do it!” line from The Waterboy and gets weirdly handsy with the Divas.

6 Ice Cream Selling (2004)

In one 2004 Diva Search segment, contestants were basically challenged to cut backstage promos to sell ice cream. As you might expect, there’s a lot of seductive licking and sprinkling of toppings for some reason, but eventual Diva Search winner Christy Hemme does a fun job working a “devious little girl” gimmick while trashing the set. But the cringeworthy part happens with contestant Joy, who rubs ice cream and toppings all over her chest while wearing a bikini. It is awkward.

5 Hot Dog Eating Contest (2005)

Shockingly, one of the least offensive segments was the 2005 hot dog eating contest. You might expect a lot of sexually suggestive uses of Ballpark franks, but it seems like the contestants are actually too focused on the actual act of eating hot dogs to care about that. The contest ends with a tie based on the length of two Divas’ half-eaten buns (?), leading to an “eat off” of a hot dog without a bun. Once again, this also isn’t that sexual, but it’s very awkward when you realize there’s an entire arena of wrestling fans who paid to attend this show. Also, shoutout to the crowd sign that says “Degrading Towards Women.”

4 The Miz Botches The One Thing He Does Best (2006)

When The Miz first showed up on WWE TV, they appropriately used him as an MTV-style host of SmackDown, a role that fit the former Real World cast member pretty well. Eventually, he debuted on Raw as the host of the 2006 Diva Search and ended up getting started on the worst foot possible.

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In introducing the first segment of the Search, Miz stumbled and seemed to completely forget his lines. All in all, it was an embarrassing moment for a performer whose job involves a large amount of talking for a living.

3 Bikini Boot Camp (2005)

This segment just might be the blueprint for the entirety of the game show era of NXT. Basically, the Divas dressed up in sexy army-themed bikinis, Sgt. Slaughter made a crude “blow my whistle” joke, and the contents had to run an obstacle course. Of course, there’s the segment of the course where the contestants have to hop in a potato sack, and of course, Jerry Lawler on commentary marks the same “in the sack” joke every single time.

2 Diss The Diva (2004)

The most infamous Diva Search segment came late in the 2004 competition, as the remaining four contestants took part in a contest called “Diss The Diva”, hosted by Stacy Keibler. Basically, each of the would-be Divas was given 30 seconds to insult each of their fellow contestants, and the result made it instantly clear that these women were not working with a script. Insults got extremely personal and sexually crude, with an ample number of bleeps and a whole lot of colorful phrases that can’t be repeated here on TheSportster.

1 Pie Eating Contest (2004)

More awkward and discomforting than any other food-based segment in Diva Search history, a 2004 episode of Raw opened with The Rock relieving Jonathan Coachman of his contest hosting duties to subject the poor women to a pie-eating contest. At 20 minutes, the segment felt like it lasted an eternity, with Rocky sexually harassing the Divas as they seductively ate confections. Once again, imagine paying money to be at a Raw and having to sit through this.

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