Candice, Your Time Is Just About Up

I would like to be the first one to say goodbye to Candice Michelle's WWE career. I am fully expecting that she will be released in the not too distant future. Why? It's the Playboy curse. Just like the Sports Illustrated cover curse and the John Madden Football cover curse. Look at the track record with WWE divas in Playboy magazine.

First you have Sable. The first WWE diva to pose in the magazine. Fast forward less than 1 year later. She's released and takes the WWE to court alleging harassment claiming that someone took a crap in her gym bag.

Next you have Chyna/Joanie/Chyna Doll/or whatever the hell she is called these days. She poses for Playboy as well. Look what happens - she's gone from the company too. She wasn't released though - her contract wasn't renewed. The buyout of WCW had just happened and the WWE didn't feel the need to offer her what she thought she deserved. Only this time the allegations are that she wasn't re-signed because Triple H & Stephanie McMahon wanted her out of the company and that Stephanie and Tripel H's romance began while she and Triple H were still dating. Whether that last part is true or not is beyond me - only Triple H & Chyna would know for sure.

Up next is Torrie Wilson. She poses for Playboy too. This may in fact be my favorite diva layout up to that point. She's the only one of the 3 that actually looked somewhat natural. Torrie's job would be safe though...for the time being. Sable then returned to the company and eventually goes on to do an additional Playboy layout with Torrie. Next thing you know - Sable's gone from the company. I think it may have had something to do with her and Brock Lesnar and them dating, but I'm not sure and it's really not that important anyways. Back to Torrie now. For the first time, a WWE diva actually managed to remain with the company to see her second layout be released (Sable and Chyna were both gone from the company shortly before their 2nd layouts were released). Time passes and Torrie's husband, Billy Kidman, is released from the company. As the story goes, the independent wrestling scene isn't as lucrative as he would have hoped it would be and he falls into a depression. After all, he was a decent wrestler and here his wife is, who doesn't have much ability other than looking hot, still under contract. As part of an international tour, Torrie goes on a tour of the far east. According to reports, Torrie ends up having to leave the tour early and go home due to a family emergency allegedly involving her husband. The WWE, in hopes of nipping a potential problem in the bud, decides to release her and even goes as far as posting on their website that they have parted ways with her. This however wouldn't last long. Within hours, the website notice is removed and within days an interview with her is posted on the site to squash the rumors of her release. Apparently, the WWE had a change of heart and decided not to release her after all. She's still with the company to this day and appearing to feud with Candice and Victoria.

Finally, there is Christy Hemme. She poses for the magazine and next thing you know she's being released as well. This time as part of 'budget cuts' although there were some reports that something she did was mistakenly seen as flirting with Triple H and that word got back to Stephanie and she fired her. The ironic thing about it is that she actually had a fair amount of athletic ability and was more than willing to move to Northern Kentucky and train full-time at Ohio Valley Wrestling. She actually had the potential of being a half-way decent female wrestler. I'm not saying that she would go on to be the next Lita or Trish, but she certainly would have been better than some of the crap were seeing on TV now.

I just have one question - How much longer until she's released? A few months? A year? Only time will tell. It may be a coincidence that all these women are getting released around the same time as their Playboy issues some out, but it just seems a little odd.

One last thing - Just so everybody knows, she's posed for Playboy before. This isn't her first layout for them.

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