At a recent book signing, WWE legend Bret Hart was asked by a fan who his current favorite wrestler is. Was it Chris Jericho? Kurt Angle? Santino, perhaps? No! As it turns out he, like us, prefers the Divas:

When it was my turn, I shook his hand, told him it was an honor to meet him, and asked who his favorite wrestler today is. In a shocking upset, he said it was Melina since he liked the way she fights. I asked him her over Natalya? He laughed and said she’s good too.

Well, we know someone who can’t wait for January 2009 to roll around!

Who’d have thunk it? Little Miss Stacy Keibler on the cover of one of the biggest magazines in the world. Granted it’s hardly Vogue or Vanity Fair, but even Stacy’ll admit she’s no Angelina Jolie. But the Keib is sizzling in this amazing spread for Maxim’s November issue! From being made up like a tranny, as is the prerequisite for being a WWE Diva apparently to the preening and pampering of Hollywood - Stacy really has moved up the ranks. In fact, one could argue she’s one of wrestling’s greatest success stories… for getting out of the industry! Somewhat ironic, that.

The mark in me should point out that with all her Hollywood fame, a certain BFF of the Keib’s graced the cover of Maxim’s more popular rival in 2006 and that was on her wrestling fame alone. But still, Stacy looks gorgeous, check out the full shoot below. And thanks once again to Linny, who’s always hooking us up and we love her for it!

This week’s WWE.com Diva Dish mentioned Candice Michelle’s newest tattoo, and this little bit inspired me to investigate which former and current Divas and Knockouts have their own selection of body art. Thus, a blog post was born! Below I’ve listed those I could find:

Angelina Love

• an angel on her hip
• her former ring name “Angel” scripted on her arm in Old English style lettering
• an angel on the back of her left shoulder
• the Chinese symbol for “angel” on her lower back, surrounded by a set of wings.

Why so angel-obsessed, Angelina?

“I have always had a fascination with angels. I love how they look, I love their innocence, and I love what they represent.”

Ashley Massaro

• a butterfly on her hip
• two black-and-pink nautical stars above the elbows on the back of her arms (her brother has a matching pair on his arms)
• Chinese lettering down the small of her back
• more Chinese lettering down each side of her torso, reading “Trust No One”
• an illustration of a dragon wrapped around the lettering on the left side of her torso. More after the cut »

In a rarity, Diva Dirt is feeling generous! We are giving away 3 copies of the brand new TNA Knocked Out DVD that was released last week! The DVD features a complete history of the first year of TNA’s women’s division from the Knockouts themselves as well as full length matches from the past year. Also included is a bonus disc featuring Gail Kim’s final TNA interview. For more information on the DVD, click here to read our review.

Now onto how you can win! More after the cut »

It must be a baby boom for former WWE Divas! Although details are scarce, news has emerged that former WWE Diva Kristal Marshall and former WWE Superstar Bobby Lashley have recently welcomed their first child. It’s been a while since we’ve heard from Kristal, so it’s nice to see what she’s up to. We’ll bring more details if they are released!

If CNN can have one, why can’t we? Welcome to a brand new (hopefully) weekly column, the Special Investigations Unit in which we hope to probe a certain story or situation in further detail. Whether it be a top news story or an observation that we’ve noticed, Diva Dirt is unafraid to ask the tough questions in trying to solve our investigation!

In this week’s column, we’re looking at a Diva in a career of just a few months has impressed many and won over the fans. She is the first ever third generation Diva in WWE, Natalya joined the main WWE roster in April as part of SmackDown in what was one of the first moves to develop the blue brand’s burgeoning women’s division. Now 6 months later, that developing division is fully fledged with it’s own title and an array of competitors. However, when that division was in it’s early stages, it seemed that Natalya’s arrival to SmackDown was to play the top heel for the division - a role that secured her a spot in the first ever Divas Championship match. However in recent months, WWE seems to have dropped it’s stock in Bret Hart’s niece in favour of pushing Maryse as the new top heel, meanwhile Natalya seems to be relegated to jobber status. For someone who had such high prospects just a few months ago, what went wrong? Diva Dirt investigates… More after the cut »

Earlier today, we reported that the likely candidate for WWE’s Playboy crossover, Kelly Kelly had shot down that she’ll be posing nude next year. Who do you think could be the next Playboy covergirl? Vote below!

Just to help you out, we’ve listed a few of the ’suspects’ we think could be in line to take the coveted *cough* pictorial and of course, the WrestleMania push that comes with it.

The Suspects
Brie & Nicole Bella: Twins in Playboy? That’s gotta be every straight man’s fantasy right? It’d definitely be a first and stir up some publicity for both Playboy and WWE. We haven’t seen or heard enough of the Bellas to determine whether they would be up for it though.
Eve, Lena Yada & Tiffany: No, not in a three-way pictorial. The reason we list them together is because we have the same reason for all of them. None of these Divas have really shown much prospect in WWE thus far, if anything it’d gain them some attention and fame.
Layla: Some of you threw around the idea that it could be Layla. Well these rumours actually made the rounds earlier this year and Layla was adament that she would not be posing for the mag. I hope for her sake and the fans’ that she sticks to that decision. If there’s a Diva too beautiful and classy for Playboy, it’s Layla.
Maryse: If I had to pick a Diva to be the 2009 covergirl, it’d be Maryse. She’s been in the pages of the magazine before, so she’s not exactly abject to nudity. Plus she’s smokin’ hot and given her improvements in the ring and her great character, maybe finally we’d have a Diva worthy of the Playboy push?
Mickie James: It’s rare to see the ‘wrestlers’ in Playboy, but Mickie James has done a good job in crossing over as a bit of both - eye candy and wrestler. We can’t deny her porn past, so who knows, maybe Mickie would be up for the task?
Victoria: Okay, we’re just throwing it out there! But Victoria has been very, very vocal in the past that she’d do Playboy in a heartbeat if approached. Unfortunately, it has never come to fruition as Victoria is hardly the ‘conventional’ model. But methinks Victoria is a woman who is incredibly comfortable with her body and would have no reservations in showing it off. And if I could look like her when I’m that age, I wouldn’t have any reservations either!

Those are just a few of the candidates. But now it’s time for you to vote! Who do you think will join the likes of Chyna, Torrie Wilson and Maria?

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What’s that saying? “This one just blew wide open!” Well that’s exactly what has happened. Everybody thought Kelly Kelly was a dead cert for WWE’s Playboy covergirl in 2009 but the youngest Diva on the roster has quashed rumours that she’ll be posing nude for the magazine. For a girl who had pictures of herself peeing in a sink two years ago, seems as though Kelly is taking the moral high ground such as the likes of Trish Stratus and Stacy Keibler before her:

playboy rumors
Current mood: focused

hey everyone! i know its been a while but i wanted to check in now that i am able to get on and post..im sorry that i dont post more but i just dont get on as much as i want to but i do read all the messages so i thank you soo much…all of you…ok so anyways here is the answer to the question people have been asking me..i finally have a chance to set the record straight…im not posing for playboy..nothing against playboy at all but i dont know who is posing for playboy but it wont be me. i just want to concentrate on wrestling right now.

thank you all for your support..it means soo much to me and keep the messages coming. xoxo kelly kelly

Like I said, it seemed like Kelly for ‘09 was a done deal but not anymore! So just who will pose for Playboy next year? The first name that popped into my head was Maryse, if so, methinks just about everyone and their grandpa will be running out to buy that one! Anyway, we’ll likely find out soon, the Playboy pictorials are usually shot in October-November.

I know our main complaint about Maria tends to center around her penchant for posing with “fish lips”, but as of late, it seemed to have tapered off. However, with her new photoshoot, “Plaid About You”, it’s back with a vengeance. It’s like the spirit of a 14-year-old girl on MySpace is trapped inside Maria; the only thing missing her flashing a gang sign. As for her look, I wasn’t fond of it when she wore it on SmackDown, so needless to say it’s not doing anything for me here. The over-abundance of plaid is, in my opinion, tacky. Keep the hat or the top - not both. It’s such a commandeering pattern that having those two pieces is wayyy too much. The comibnation of that, the fish lips, and the giant hoop earrings make me want to go screaming in the other direction.

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Spoilers for the Friday night edition of SmackDown, the show’s second on MyNetworkTV are below:

EDIT - More details have been added.

Brie Bella beat Natalya (w/Victoria). At one point Bella went under the ring and Victoria followed her. When she emerged out came…Hornswoggle! He chased Victoria to the back. Later, Bella went back under the ring for the real switch and got the win.