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Born on May 26, 1979, in New York City, New York, Ashley Marie Massaro was a girl who was always passionate about modeling and staying in the public eye.
She was a beauty as well as a geek and attended New York State University, where she received her Bachelor of Science degree in Communication with a minor in Business.
She grew up in Babylon, New York, where her brother and father competed in amateur wrestling.
Even though Ashley did not have an illustrious wrestling career, she still had some of the most memorable moments from the Diva’s division in the 2000s. Massaro got in the ring after her 2005 Raw Diva Search wins, and she became the valet for the WWE Tag Team Champions Paul London and Brian Kendrick. Her most high-profile match was a WWE Women's Championship match against Melina at WrestleMania 23.
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On May 16, 2019, Ashley Massaro tragically passed away at the age of 39 in Long Island, New York, after being transported from her home to a hospital 10 days shy of her 40th birthday.
In this article, we look back at five fast facts about one of the most influential WWE Divas of the 2000s.
#5 She started off as a Model
Ashley Massaro was trying to make it big in the world of modeling and was taking part in a number of contests and beauty pageants. In 2002 alone, she was featured in Stuff and Long Island Summer Magazine and she was crowned Miss Hawaiian Tropic USA.
She remained in high demand as a swimsuit model, and in 2005, she met a WWE casting director during a swimsuit pageant. It was there that she found out about the 2005 Raw Diva Search, and the rest was history.
“I was in a pageant in Vegas and there was a casting director there. When I found out she was from WWE, I just flipped,” Ashley recalls. “She took a 30-second clip and told me to do whatever I wanted, so I just went wild trying to impress her. I wanted to do anything I could so she would take me with her, and she did. She took me to L.A. and that was it, I was chosen to be one of the eight girls to compete on the show.”
Massaro beat the other seven chosen finalists and was declared the winner of the 2005 Raw Diva Search. Her winnings included $250,000 and a one-year contract with WWE.
#4 She’s starred outside the ring
While Massaro made quite a name for herself in the WWE and had the backing of the WWE Universe due to her looks and in-ring skills, she never went on to win any major championships with the company.
Outside the ring, Massaro was a contestant on CBS's Survivor: China, which was the fifteenth season of the show, in 2007. She was the one who approached WWE with the idea of doing the show and only found out about her inclusion ten days before traveling to China.
She was assigned to the Zhan Hu tribe in the first episode and quickly began quarreling with fellow contestant Dave Cruser. In the second episode, Massaro was voted off after six days with a 6–1 vote.
Apart from that, like many WWE Divas from the 1990s and 2000s, Massaro has also posed for Playboy magazine, along with both Femme Fatales and Flex magazines.
Massaro also hosted several E! channel Wild On! episodes and appeared on Breaking Bonaduce as Danny Bonaduce's personal trainer.
She later appeared on an episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition alongside WWE wrestlers John Cena and Batista.
In February 2007, Massaro and Kane filmed an episode of the CW's Smallville that aired on March 22, 2007. She has also appeared as a guest star on Fuse TV’s show The Sauce, and filmed Timbaland's video, "Throw It on Me" featuring The Hives.
#3 She accidentally splashed coffee on The Chairman
Even though Massaro was usually seen as a good figure backstage, she preferred to stay a badass on screen and that’s what helped her build her fan base. Many even compared her to legendary superstar Lita in different aspects, which helped her stay prominent.
During a fight against Jillian Hall in April 2007, Massaro suffered an injury as she loosened a screw in her already surgically repaired ankle, and was forced to undergo a surgery to have it repaired.
When she made her return in June 2007, she was suspended indefinitely after accidentally spilling coffee on Vince McMahon during an airing of SmackDown! on June 8, 2007. This incident is said to be one of the reasons why the superstar never reached the heights which she should have during her time in WWE.
Massaro made her return sometime later but soon asked for her release from the company in mid-2008 due to personal reasons.
#2 She leaves behind one daughter
At a time when Ashley was still trying to give a boost to her modeling career prior to her wrestling career, she was already raising a daughter as a single mother.
At the age of 21, she gave birth to Alexa on July 23, 2000. Ashley had claimed on many occasions that there was no one dearer and more important to her than her daughter.
While she has always put her daughter first, Ashley had revealed that her own mother was extremely worried about her wrestling in the ring.
She had revealed the following during an interview with Ask Men in February 2009:
“My mom wants to freak out when I do something risky in the ring, but I've always been the type of kid who climbed the highest branch on the tree and jumps down.”
In mid-2008, Ashely’s daughter Alexa fell sick, which led to Ashley finding it difficult to travel with the company and tend to her daughter at the same time. Therefore she asked for an early release from WWE to care for her and ended her working relationship with the company.
#1 Her last Tweet was regarding her fans
Even though Ashley returned to the Independent circuit in 2017 by competing in Zero1 Professional Wrestling USA with former WWE Diva Jillian Hall, she never really got back in the business completely again.
This still did not stop her from staying in touch with her old and new fans, as she remained active on social media throughout the years which created a strong bond between her and her fans.
It’s noteworthy that even her last Tweet, made on May 15th just a day before she passed away, was also about her receiving a ton of fan mail, and replying to it.
This showed that no matter what, Ashley was still dedicated to entertain and be there for her fans just like they had been for her for years even after her departure from mainstream media.
