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WWE WrestleMania 28: 10 Things You Need to Know about the Divas Tag-Team Match

Posted: Mar 25th 2012 By: mikeiles

As was officially announced last week, at this year's WrestleMania event, the duo of Eve Torres and current Divas Champion Beth Phoenix will take on the team Kelly Kelly and non-wrestler Maria Menounos, host of NBC's showbiz recap show Extra.

The bout came about after Torres and Phoenix, both disgruntled over what they perceived as Menounos' snubbing of them, stormed the stage of Extra at The Grove in Los Angeles while the host was in the middle of interviewing Kelly.

In a deeply heated and well-performed confrontation, the pair challenged the host and Kelly to a match at WM, which the gusty Menounos, never one to back down from a fight, readily accepted. And so these four feisty and passionate women are set to clash in one of the most high-profile and important women's bouts in WWE in quite some time

With this in mind, here are 10 things every fan should know as we head into this match.

Menounos Has Wrestled for WWE Twice Before

Far from being an ingenue to the industry, Menounos actually has a fair bit of experience in wrestling. In October 2009, when she was guest-hosting Raw with Nancy O'Dell, the star wrestled in a six-women tag match, teaming with Gail Kim and Kelly Kelly to take on Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendes and Alicia Fox. In one of the bout's most notable moments, Menounos slapped the fearsome Phoenix across the face.

In December of last year, she again wrestled for WWE at their annual Tribute to the Troops show in a match that saw the Greek beauty team with Kelly Kelly, Eve Torres and Alicia Fox to take on The Bella Twins and Pin Up Strong (Beth Phoenix and Natalya). Once again, the paths of Menounos and Phoenix crossed, with the Extra host sensationally managing to pin the Divas Champion with a shock sunset flip.

Ouch. No wonder Phoenix is so mad at Menounos...

Eve Is on a Roll with Her New Heel Character

Ever since she shockingly informed the Bella Twins in a backstage segment on Raw several weeks ago that was she merely using Zack Ryder and John Cena's feelings towards her to garner herself heaps of fame and publicity, Eve Torres has become one of the most hated and despised heels in WWE. Indeed, the Diva Search winner is getting hugely negative reactions from the crowd wherever she goes; she's almost like the new Vickie Guerrero.

Certainly, at the Sun Life Stadium in Miami, she is guaranteed to the strongest match on the card. The overlooked Phoenix has been neglected by WWE's booking team for so long, fans have grown apathetic towards her, Kelly is in a similar situation and Menounos is probably too much of an unknown factor to wrestling fans to rouse any sort of real reaction, good or bad, from the crowd.

The Other Divas May Get Involved in the Match

So, with the tag match set and the four spots tied up, you may ask, what about Alicia Fox? Or Natalya? Or Tamina Snuka? Or Rosa Mendez?

Well, per reports, the extra women may possibly be added to the match as Lumberjills, giving them a WM payday and the shot at participating in the biggest event of the year.

Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres Are Currently in the Middle of an Intense Rivalry

Phoenix/Menounos isn't the only underlying feud going on here. Former best friends Eve and Kelly are out to get each other, too. It seems Kelly isn't exactly pleased at Eve's new direction in life, and she has no problem letting her know it. For her part, Eve believes that Kelly is extremely jealous of her looks, skyrocketing career and power over men.

While this storyline has only been hinted at a few times on Raw and remains an afterthought on television, their intense rivalry has spilled over to social media, with the two girls engaging in a vicious war of words on their Twitter and YouTube accounts.

Menounos Is Well Liked Backstage

Rather than coming off as arrogant and above-it-all backstage, as some celebrities have in the past, per reports, Menounos is popular with the girls in WWE. Undoubtedly, the Greek beauty's affable and charming demeanor?as well as her eagerness to learn about the business?has helped her thaw out the notoriously suspicious and tight WWE locker room's reaction towards her.

Phoenix Can't Rely on Natalya's Help for the Show

Yes, it may have been the quietest tag breakup ever, but it seems "Pin Up Strong" are no longer a team after Phoenix and Natalya found themselves on opposite sides of a tag match on Superstars recently.

It seems that Natalya, currently saddled with an awful "flatuence" gimmick, has seen the light and turned face, severing ties with her former best friend.

3 of the 4 Competitors Have Been Divas Champion

Torres has held the WWE Divas Championship twice, winning it for the first time on the April 10, 2010 Raw, which emanated from London, England. She later lost the title to Alicia Fox in June. Later, she regained the title in January in 2011 before losing it to Brie Bella in April.

Kelly Kelly, meanwhile, has one title reign on record. She won the title on the June 20, 2011 Raw from Brie after a fan vote awarded her a title shot. She successfully defended her title against Beth Phoenix several times over the summer and autumn before finally losing it to her frequent foe at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view.

Phoenix has been Divas Champion ever since (while she held the now-defunct WWE Women's Championship several times, this is her first run with the Divas Title).

All the Women Have Very Different Backgrounds

These four girls could not have more eclectic backgrounds. The photogenic Kelly Kelly was a bikini model with no wrestling experience and little knowledge before getting signed to a WWE contract in 2006.

Phoenix, in stark contrast, was a life-long fan who worked for women's wrestling promotion SHIMMER and several other indy groups for several years before being signed to a developmental deal in 2005.

Eve Torres was a professional dancer for the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers before trying out for the 2007 Diva Search contest (which she ultimately won).

As for Menounos, she started off in the teen pageant circuit (she won Miss Massachusetts Teen USA in 1996) before transitioning into an acting career, appearing on such hits shows as One Tree Hill, Without A Trace, Scrubs and, finally, settling into her role as host of NBC's Extra

Zack Ryder May Get Involved

If you've been watching Raw or Smackdown recently, you'll know that YouTube sensation Zack Ryder is completely infatuated with Eve Torres, and he'll do anything to win her heart. It doesn't matter how badly she treats him, or how often she stands him up on dates, he remains smitten.

Now, we surely wouldn't put it past the conniving Eve to exploit Ryder's strong feelings for her and demand that the star do a run-in during the women's match at WM, likely to help swing things in her favour.

This Should Be a Good Match

At WrestleMania, while it won't rival HHH/Undertaker in terms of in-ring work, we can expect the women's tag match to be pretty decent, thanks to who's involved.

Phoenix, a veteran women's wrestler and one of the best female workers WWE has (second only to the skilled Natalya), will surely play ring general for the match. While less experienced, Eve and Kelly have shown themselves to be hard workers and have delivered good matches in the past.

For her part, Menounos has acquitted herself very well when she has wrestled for WWE in the past, showing a smoothness and poise in the ring that puts several current divas (Aksana, we're looking at you) to shame.

Certainly, the match will not be a disaster or train wreck like many other women's bouts in WWE have been.