Torrie Wilson was a vital part of the ‘Divas era’ of the WWE Women’s division when physical appearance was considered more important that in ring skills. Never a serious competitor, Wilson still enjoyed great success in the WWE from 2001 to 2008 alongside the likes of Stacy Keibler and Candice Michelle.
Torrie would never capture the Women’s title, but she was the premier female attraction on SmackDown from 2002 – 05, competing in various speciality non-wrestling matches like the evening gown match, pillow fights and bikini contests.
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Despite her lack of in-ring action, Torrie was hugely over with the fans which saw her relegate one of the greatest WWE Divas of all time – Sable – to a distant second place on the SmackDown roster.
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Once married to former WCW and WWE wrestler Billy Kidman and one-time girlfriend of NY Yankees star player Alex Rodriguez, Torrie retired from wrestling on this day 8 years ago.
#1 Torrie Wilson announces her retirement – 10th April 2009
A former Miss Galaxy winner, Torrie Wilson entered the world of professional wrestling by chance.
While attending a WCW Nitro episode in 1999 with her boyfriend, Torrie was asked by WCW producers to accompany Scott Steiner to the ring. Impressed with her looks, Kevin Nash expressed interest in doing a storyline with her.
Torrie was given the name ‘Samantha’ and was inserted into the nWo storyline, given the task of seducing Ric Flair’s son David. Torrie would later have angles with her future husband Billy Kidman and Shane Douglas till 2001 when WCW went out of business.
Torrie jumped ship to the WWE soon after, forming an alliance with Tajiri.
She would soon be placed into a controversial angle with Dawn Marie, leading to Dawn kayfabe marrying Torrie’s father Al. The feud lasted four months and even involved a now infamous hotel room scene where Dawn undressed Torrie.
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Torrie would soon get past the feud and became the most popular Diva on the SmackDown roster. She would have feuds with the likes of Sable, Jacky and Melina. She would also pose for Playboy twice during this period.
She would move on to Raw in 2005 and would gradually be moved away from mainstream angles, eventually getting released from the company in 2008. Her final appearance with the company would be a one-off appearance at the Miss Wrestlemania battle royal in 2009.
Torrie would move on to other interests, launching her clothing line ‘Officially jaded’ and competing in NBC reality shows. She would announce her retirement on MySpace with the following statement on 10th April 2009:
"My health is doing ok as far as back problems. I must say there are days that I wake up and ask myself why the heck I put my body through what I did the last few years but it's all worth it.
I can never trade all of the awesome experiences that I have had in the WWE and of course all of the great lifelong friends that I have made along the way.
I have been told by 2 back surgeons that I should never set foot in a wrestling ring again if I want to be moving around in a few years on my own.
Pretty depressing if you ask me....I don't even have some awesome memory of what my last match even was or who it was with. Hopefully, it was with Victoria and I beat her! (-: I guess everything happens for a reason for sure."
The only title she would win in wrestling was the ‘Golden thong award’ that she won in the WWE in 2002.
#2 Jeff Hardy beats Triple H for the Intercontinental title – 10th April 2001
The year was 2001 and the Two men power trip were running wild.
Comprising of the WWF Champion Stone Cold Steve Austin and the Intercontinental Champion Triple H, the new alliance had come to dominate the WWF since Austin turned heel at Wrestlemania 17 and former rival Triple H joined him soon after.
The Powertrip would go on to have a feud with the Brothers of Destruction – but before that, the all powerful duo faced some backlash from one charismatic enigma. The Hardy Boyz had done everything possible in the tag team division and Jeff Hardy was itching to make an impact on a grander scale.
So on a SmackDown taping which started with Austin and Triple H dissing the roster, Jeff Hardy ran down to the ring with a steel chair knocking out both Triple H and Stone Cold before delivering a Twist of fate to Stephanie.
This resulted in an IC title match between HHH and Hardy for the main event of the SmackDown tapings. Despite being dominated by Triple H, Hardy stayed in the match.
After HHH suffered another steel chair shot – this time courtesy of Jeff’s brother, Matt, the younger Hardy delivered a Swanton Bomb on him to pick up the unexpected victory and to win his first Intercontinental title.
#3 Eric Young wins the TNA Heavyweight title – 10th April 2014
For a brief period of time, TNA wrestling had the talent and the product to provide an alternative to the WWE, but ridiculous booking soon put an end to all of that. Talented performers were held back rather than being elevated into the main event picture, holding out for ex-WWE and WCW performers.
One such young talent was Eric Young.
Joining TNA during its asylum days as part of the Team Canada stable, Young went through a lot of horrible gimmicks in TNA, never getting the opportunity to fully realise his potential.
By 2014, TNA was a sinking ship and desperately tried to elevate fresh talent. ‘EY’ would win a No. 1 contender’s battle royal on the 10th April TNA tapings, earning the right to face TNA World Champion Magnus later that night.
Young would pick up the victory and win his first TNA World Heavyweight title, completing the TNA Triple Crown in the process. However, his elevation as Champion appeared rushed and seemed like another attempt by TNA to shake things up with just shock value.
Young was never booked as a proper champion and after successful title defences against Magnus and Bobby Roode, lost the title to Lashley.
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