5 Things you didn't know about former WWE Superstar Kelly Kelly (Barbie Blank)

Barbie Blank calls herself "the All American girl," and the Jacksonville, Florida native has certainly lived up to that moniker by living out the American Dream. The former gymnast and bikini model received little in the way of professional wrestling training, but through sheer grit and determination worked her way to the very top of WWE.

Kelly Kelly is a former ECW Superstar, a former Divas Champion, and most recently the first-ever woman to win the 24/7 Championship. She has also achieved stardom outside the wrestling ring in the reality television world, as the star of the show WAGS.

Blank recently opened up on the Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia podcast where she revealed several fascinating details that may take professional wrestling fans by surprise.

Without any further adieu, here are five things you didn't know about Kelly Kelly.

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#5 She couldn't use her name in WWE

Kelly Kelly was born Barbara Jean Blank, but went by the name "Barbie," for short. She shares the nickname with the iconic Mattel toy, which presented a unique challenge when she arrived in WWE.

Understanding that the nickname was instantly recognizable, she suggested that Barbie should be her ring name. WWE, however, was quick to nix the idea.

Blank told Lilian Garcia, "I tried to use it. They were like, 'Trademark!' Everybody asks that and I'm like, 'Trademarks.'"

Blank explained the process behind choosing Kelly Kelly as her ring name, "He had given me a list of names and he was like, 'What name do you like?' I liked Kelly. I was like, 'I like Kelly. That's cute.'"

Then the famous Mattel toy came back into focus,

"I think there was a Barbie named Kelly, so I was like, 'OK, it's kind of in the Barbie [realm]' It started off as Kelly and then it was Kelly Kelly and I was like, 'I'm not asking questions. It's cool. Nobody has two first names. Let's just go with it. It works. People are gonna catch on.'"

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#4 Her 24/7 Championship victory was all Paul Heyman's idea

Kelly Kelly recently appeared on WWE Television and instantaneously made history by becoming the first-ever female 24/7 Champion. The returning WWE Superstar took advantage of an unsuspecting Gerald Brisco, kicking him in the midsection before pinning him for the championship.

While Kelly Kelly inevitably ended up losing the 24/7 Championship only moments later to the returning Candice Michelle, she still indeed made history.

Blank told Lilian Garcia that the entire thing was the brainchild of fellow ECW alumni Paul Heyman,

"It was so crazy because Paul Heyman called me and he was like, 'Hey, we have this idea.' It was literally the day before and I'm flying out. He was like, 'I hope you brought some gear.' I'm like, 'Yeah, I did.' He was like, 'Well, we have this idea and you're gonna be the first-ever Women's 24/7 Champion to win the 24/7 Title. Do you know what that is?' I'm like, 'Kind of.' He said, 'It was the Hardcore Title.' I was like, 'OK, I got it. That's amazing.'"

Blank knows Paul Heyman well enough to ask what the catch was and he did reveal that she would lose the title only moments later to Candice Michelle. Once Blank knew that her longtime friend would be involved in the angle, she committed fully and she's glad she did, "I loved it. I loved how we did it. It was just great. It was just so fun."

#3 WAGS drastically changed her life

Barbie Blank debuted in WWE at the age of 19 and was only 25 when she retired from full-time in-ring competition. She married long-time partner Sheldon Souray in 2016 but separated from the former NHL star in 2017. Both her marriage and her breakup were heavily featured on the reality television show WAGS.

The former WWE Superstar admits that she didn't have a whole lot of time to grow up while in the public limelight,

"When I started, I was so young and I was thrown into it, so I never really got to grow up. When I retired, I was 25 and I was in a relationship, and he was on the road because he was playing hockey, and I was like, 'What do I do with my life? What do I want to do?' I became a housewife. I was cooking, and he had two daughters, so I was taking care of them. It was fulfilling, but I still needed something for me."

That's when WAGS came calling. The reality show documents the lives of professional athletes and their significant others. Blank credits the show with helping her transition out of boredom and into self-discovery, "It helped me let out that bug - that I loved wrestling and was able to entertain, so I was able to channel that into WAGS and I really enjoyed it."

Still, Blank admits to having some regrets,

"When I was going through my separation, I wish that had not been on the cameras, but it was my real life and it was going on. We're filming stuff and we're in the midst of arguing and I can't shut that off. We're just going to have to let that roll."

When asked, if she would return to reality television, Blank answers in the affirmative,

"I would probably do another show. It would just have to be a competition show. I don't know, if I could do one with my life again, maybe. I don't know [laughter]. Never say never."

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#2 She made her way to WWE through modeling

While many wrestlers struggle for years in the indies just to get WWE to look at them, that wasn't Kelly Kelly's path. Her first contact with WWE came through the world of modeling,

"It was a bikini catalog called Venus Swimwear. John Laurinaitis was friends with the guy who was running it. He was like, 'I need some beautiful athletic models.' My modeling agent was like, 'I'll send you a few of the girls who I manage, who are doing modeling.' He sent over pictures and me and Alicia Fox got hired together actually. He was managing her too and they liked both of us."

Then came the tryout,

"We went and tried it out because we went to Atlanta when we had the tryout and they liked both of us, so we moved to Louisville together. We lived together and we trained together."

It took the two talented performers only several weeks to make their way up to the main roster, "I felt like a baby. Everyone was looking at us like, 'Who are these two?' I felt like a deer in headlights."

The uncomfortable feeling would soon diminish for Kelly Kelly, as she became a regular on ECW and eventually Monday Night RAW where she won the WWE Divas Championship.

#1 A traumatic injury altered her career path

An injury changed Kelly Kelly's career path

Barbie Blank was not supposed to be a professional wrestler. Having entered the world of competitive gymnastics at the young age of 6, Blank once dreamed of being an Olympian, but fate had other plans.

Blank suffered a traumatic injury which brought her gymnastics career to a crashing halt.

She told Lilian Garcia,

"I was competing in gymnastics, but I had broken my tailbone at home. I was standing on a bedpost, balancing on one leg and [the post went through me]. I was in the hospital for three months. I had four hematomas. I was bleeding internally. My mom had to donate my blood - I was losing so much blood."

She was 9 years old when she suffered the injury and had a complete change of heart about gymnastics,

"After that I was like, 'I can't.' I couldn't move how I did before. It wasn't gonna happen to me. It was like, 'Where are you going to go? Are you going to go to college for it? Are you going to go to the Olympics? No.' At this point, it was like, 'Do you want to have a childhood? Do you want to have friends, or do you want to just be in the gym 24/7?' I was like, 'No, I'd rather be with my friends.'"

Blank transitioned into competitive cheerleading, tennis, and swimming. As a teenager, she became a model, which was how she was eventually discovered by WWE.

(Transcription Credit: Michael McClead, Sportskeeda)

Readers may watch Kelly Kelly on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia below:

Edited by Anirban Banerjee