It’s that time of year once again: the Perfect 10 is back to count down the top 10 Divas and Knockouts of 2010. Based on their year’s successes, we’ve compiled (as best we can) the ten Divas and Knockouts we feel gave us a 2010 to remember in WWE and TNA. Check back over the next five days to see the countdown unfold, with the #1 being revealed on New Year’s Eve (Friday).
#10: EVE TORRES
LAST YEAR: — 2008: —
From Diva Search to Divas Champion, Eve Torres made history by becoming the first ever Diva Search winner to go on to win gold in the WWE. Sure, other finalists like Michelle McCool had won the belts, but never could a winner of the contest claim to be champion — until April of this year.
Voted ‘One to Watch in 2010’ by Diva Dirt’s readers, Eve’s risky move to Raw from SmackDown in last year’s ‘Diva Trade’ had many fans wondering whether her career was over before it begun. The risk was that she’d get lost in the shuffle on a fully-stacked Raw roster compared to SmackDown where she had begun make strides. The beginning of the year was a dreary start: Eve was stuck with Chris Masters and seldom competed in matches. Though she made it to the semi-finals of the Divas Championship tournament, a loss to Maryse meant her chances of making a splash on Raw were dashed.
Little did we know that that semi-final match with Maryse was a foreshadowing of things to come. After competing in more matches on Raw and picking up victories, Eve soon found herself in a title match with Maryse in London, England in April. Considered the underdog going in, Torres pulled out the victory and shocked the WWE Universe by becoming the Divas Champion.
Her continued storyline with Maryse saw the champion knocked out backstage & featured in a ‘photoshoot’ with her rival, one of the year’s Diva highlights on Raw. The Divas Championship victory would see Eve make her singles debut on pay per view in a match with Maryse in which she was victorious. However, two months after claiming the title, she lost it in a fatal four-way match to Alicia Fox.
With her title reign cut short by the Foxy one, Eve then challenged Alicia to her second singles match on pay per view at Money in the Bank in July, a card that also featured a Women’s Championship bout between Layla and Kelly Kelly. Going into the pay per view, it seemed that it would be the SmackDown match that owned the night for the Divas, but it was in fact Alicia and Eve’s battle over the Divas Championship that impressed, despite Eve losing.
Though her time at the top of the Raw Divas division quickly tailed off after that loss, Eve’s historic — and shocking — Divas Championship victory was certainly one of the highlights of the year.
Eve’s rise as one of WWE’s favorite daughters saw her grow more confident in the ring, and a recent in-ring segment with The Miz showed she can cut a promo too. There’s no doubt that Eve’s star will continue to rise in the Divas division in 2011; though she book-ends our chart at #10 this year… I would count on her ranking higher next year.
Check back later today for #9
Catch up on: the 2008 list, the 2009 list
