Maryse Ouellet Biography

Maryse Ouellet (born January 21, 1983) is a French Canadian glamour model, professional wrestler, valet, actress, and business woman, better known simply as Maryse. She is best known for her time with WWE and a former two-times WWE Divas Champion.

After spending years modelling, including winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada in 2003, Maryse was hired by WWE in 2006, after she participated in the WWE Diva Search competition. Despite her elimination, she was sent to WWE's developmental facility, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) in Louisville, Kentucky. She signed a deal with WWE in August 2006 and was assigned to OVW for wrestling training, where she made her ring debut in December 2006. She appeared in vignettes on WWE television. During this time, she continued working at OVW, but was later transferred to Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), another WWE developmental facility, to further her training.

In March 2008, Maryse appeared on SmackDown, competing in a swim suit competition. Three months later she made her television in-ring debut. In December 2008, Maryse captured her first title with the company, the WWE Divas Championship, and held onto it for seven months, the longest reign in the titles history. In April 2009 she was drafted to the Raw brand, during the 2009 WWE Draft. She won the Divas Championship for the second time in February 2010, making her the first wrestler to have held the championship on more than one occasion. In March 2011, she became the co-host of NXT. Maryse was released from WWE in October 2011.

In late 2011, she announced plans for a clothing and jewelery line called House of Maryse.

Modeling Career

Ouellet began her career as a beauty pageant contestant, winning Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada 2003 and finishing second at the International Finals of Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004. She was also on the cover of Playboy's 2007 Girls of Canada calendar.

Professional wrestling career

World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE

Diva Search (2006)

In the summer of 2006, Maryse tried out for World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Diva Search. She made the final cut and was one of the top eight featured on WWE, but on the July 24 episode of WWE Raw she became the second person to be eliminated. Despite her elimination, she was invited to observe workouts and the training facility at WWE's developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). Ouellet later said that she was "very, very excited", as it was her "dream to become a WWE Diva". Ouellet was inspired to become a professional wrestler by Lita.

Developmental territories (2006"2008)

Ouellet was officially signed to a WWE developmental contract on August 24, 2006 and was assigned to Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) for training. She made her in-ring debut at a live event in December 2006. On the January 27, 2007 at a House show, Maryse competed in Tug A War teaming with Katie Lea, Serena Deeb, Sasay and WWE Diva Victoria to defeat Beth Phoenix, Jennifer, Melody, Roni and Charlene. On the February 14, 2007 episode of OVW television Tapings, Maryse competed in Miss OVW Bra and Panties Battle Royal to determine the first ever Miss OVW but was unsuccessfull at capturing the title. On March 7, 2007 episode of OVW television Tapings, Maryse made her singles debut losing to Beth Phoenix.

On the March 21, 2007 episode of OVW Televison Tapings, Maryse lost to Victoria Crawford in a dark match but defeated her in rematch on May 9, 2007 and again on May 12, 2007. At the March 24, 2007 OVW House Show, Maryse teamed up with ODB, Serena Deeb, Victoria and Kelly Kelly in a winning effort defeating Beth Phoenix, Katie, Milena Roucka, Roni and Melody. On the May 19, 2007 episode of OVW Televison Tapings, Maryse teamed up with Serena and Victoria Crawford to defeat Katie Lea, Milena Roucka and Jennifer Mae. On the May 23, 2007 OVW Televison Tapings, Maryse teamed up with Victoria Crawford to defeat Milena Roucka and Melody in a dark match. On the June 13, 2007 episode of OVW Televison Tapings, Maryse lost to Beth Phoenix in a dark match. At the OVW Six Flags on June 15, 2007, Maryse competed in a Musical Chairs Contest which was won by Katie Lea.

On the June 20, 2007 episode of OVW TV Tapings, Maryse teamed up with Beth Phoenix and Serena to defeat Katie Lea, Milena Roucka, Nay Nay and Josie in a dark match. In mid-2007, Ouellet began managing Sylvain Grenier both in OVW and at the Raw/SmackDown/ECW house shows. At the OVW Six Flags, on June 22, 2007, Maryse competed in an OVW Divas Bikini Battle Royal, which was ultimatly won by Milena Roucka.

When Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) opened in the summer of 2007, Maryse was transferred to the developmental facility for training, and on September 25, she made her FCW debut as the valet of Ryan O'Reilly along with Lacey Von Erich. On the November 6, 2007 episode of FCW Televison, Maryse made her in-ring debut for Florida Championship Wrestling losing to Victoria Crawford. On December 1, 2007 episode of FCW Televison, Maryse began to manage Ted DiBiase, Jr. and teamed up with Sheamus O'Shaunessy to defeat Rycklon and Steve Lewington. She accompanied him to the ring when he captured the FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship. On the January 8, 2008 episode of FCW Televison, Maryse made her singles debut for Florida Championship Wrestling losing to Victoria Crawford. She continued making sporadic appearances in FCW until January 2008.

SmackDown (2006"2008)

On the September 22, 2006 episode of SmackDown!, Ouellet, known as simply Maryse, was shown on the TitanTron welcoming the Montreal viewers (in French) to the season premiere of SmackDown! on the CW Network. Maryse made her first actual television appearance with her entrance theme on the May 21, 2007 episode of Raw to present American rapper Timbaland's new music video for the single "Throw It on Me" (2007), in which she had appeared.

By the time she began appearing regularly on SmackDown at the beginning of 2008, she had adopted a snobby attitude, thus becoming a villain in the process. On the March 7, 2008 episode of SmackDown, Maryse competed in a swimsuit contest, against Victoria, Michelle McCool, Cherry, and Eve Torres. In the end, Maryse and Eve got into a fight. On March 14 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse was the first eliminated from the swimsuit competition. On the March 28 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse made her in-ring debut competing in a "Wet and Wild" match where she teamed with Victoria against Cherry and McCool in a losing effort. On the April 15, episode of ECW, Maryse competed in the Diva Dance-off, which was won by Kelly Kelly.

On a "SmackDown after the bell video" on WWE.com, the tag team, Deuce 'n Domino dumped Cherry (who had been their manager) and replaced her with Maryse. Maryse then insulted Cherry, only for Cherry to slap her. On the May 16 episode of SmackDown, she made her television singles debut in a losing effort to Cherry, though defeated her in a rematch with a roundhouse kick weeks later. On the May 23 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse teamed up with Deuce and Domino to defeat Cherry, Jesse Fetus and Fetus. For weeks, Maryse teamed with Victoria and Natalya against Cherry, Michelle McCool and Maria. Maryse then suffered a minor broken nose after receiving a bulldog from Maria. On the June 27 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse teamed up with Natalya and Victoria to defeat Cherry, Michelle McCool and Kelly Kelly after Maryse pinned Cherry with Schoolgirl roll-up to get victory for her team.

On the July 11 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse teamed up with Natalya to defeat Cherry and Michelle McCool. On the August 8 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse teamed up with Natalya and Victoria to defeat Cherry, Michelle McCool and Maria Kanellis in Olympic divas tag-team match. On the August 15 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse teamed up with Natalya to defeat McCool and Maria. The following week on SmackDown!, Maryse attacked Maria during a match between Maria and Natalya but was stopped by McCool. On the August 29 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse teamed up with Natalya to defeat McCool and Maria; after the match, Maryse and Natalya attacked McCool.

Divas Championship reigns (2008"2010)

Maryse lost in her first title match for the WWE Divas Championship against Michelle McCool at Unforgiven in September, resulting in a feud between the two Divas. She then came up short once again in title rematch on SmackDown. On the September 23 episode of ECW, Maryse defeated McCool in a non-title match. After being off television for a month, Maryse returned at November's pay-per-view event Survivor Series to participate in the five-on-five SmackDown vs. Raw Divas Elimination match where she eliminated Kelly Kelly, Mickie James and Candice Michelle. Maryse was the sole survivor of the SmackDown team, but ultimately was eliminated by Beth Phoenix.

On December 19, Maryse pinned Maria to become the number one contender for Michelle McCool's Divas Championship. The next week on SmackDown, Maryse beat McCool to become the new Divas Champion in a match with Maria as the special guest referee. On December 28, 2008 at a house show in Raleigh, North Carolina, Maryse dislocated her knee in a tag team match against The Bella Twins, when one of the twins initiated a dropkick that landed on her kneecap. It was later announced that the injury was not too serious and that she would be able to return in a few weeks. On the January 23, 2009 episode of SmackDown, Maryse returned in a non-wrestling role and sat at ringside commentating, during a Divas' tag team match. Maryse returned to wrestling on February 20 in a tag team match with Michelle McCool and defeating Maria and Eve Torres. On April 5, Maryse competed in a Divas battle royal at WrestleMania XXV, but the match was won by Santino Marella.

On the April 13 episode of Raw, Maryse was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2009 WWE Draft, in the process making the Divas Championship exclusive to the Raw brand. She made her Raw in-ring debut on April 27, teaming with Beth Phoenix, Rosa Mendes, and Jillian Hall in a loss to Mickie James, Santina Marella (Santino Marella dressed in drag), Brie Bella and Kelly Kelly. On the May 4 episode of Raw, Maryse began feuding with Mickie James after James defeated Maryse in a non-title match. On th May 11 episode of Raw, Maryse teamed up with Jillian Hall in a losing effort to James and Kelly Kelly. Maryse cost James a battle royal, won by Kelly Kelly, after she sprayed hair spray at her eyes. The following week, Maryse lost against Kelly by disqualification, meaning the championship did not change hands and won a subsequent rematch by pinfall two weeks later on June 8. On the June 22 episode of Raw, Maryse teamed up with Beth Phoenix and Rosa Mendes in losing effort to James and The Bella Twins. On the July 20 episode of Raw, Maryse interrupted James during an interview and sprayed her with hair spray. At the Night of Champions pay-per-view on July 26, Maryse lost the Divas Championship to Mickie James. Her reign lasted 216 days, the longest in the history of the championship.

During her reign, Maryse was subject to controversy as during a Raw house show Maryse tried out a new move on her opponent Gail Kim, in which after she had knocked her out with the French Kiss she proceeded to pin her by sitting on her face. This move was never tried in any live shows as it didn't abide with WWE's current PG product, however it is rumoured that this is one of the reasons Gail Kim left the WWE.

She then took a hiatus from WWE to recover after having knee surgery. Maryse made her return on the November 23 episode of Raw, disguised as The Gobbledy Gooker, as the guest timekeeper for a divas tag team match. After the match, she revealed herself by attacking Melina. The following week, Maryse made her in-ring return on the November 30 episode, pinning Melina in a tag team match. On the December 7 episode of Raw, Maryse defeated Gail Kim. Following the match, Maryse proceed to attack Kelly Kelly but was stopped by Melina.

In early 2010, a tournament was held for the newly vacated Divas Championship. On the February 22 episode of Raw, Maryse defeated Gail Kim in the final round of a tournament for the vacated Divas Championship, becoming the first Divas to have held the championship twice. The finals were originally to be held on February 21, 2010 at WWE's Elimination Chamber PPV event, but the match was changed to the team of Maryse and Gail Kim against team LayCool (McCool and Layla), which was won by the latter. At WrestleMania XXVI she was on the winning team in a 10-Diva tag team match. Maryse lost the Divas Championship two months later to Eve Torres on the April 12 episode of Raw, and was unsuccessful in an attempt to regain it at the Over the Limit pay-per-view the following month. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view on June 20, Maryse competed in a fatal four-way match for the WWE Divas Championship, which involved Gail Kim, Eve Torres and Alicia Fox, however, Fox won the contest.

Managing Ted DiBiase and NXT (2010"2011)

On the June 21 episode of Raw, after Ted DiBiase fired Virgil, Maryse became DiBiase's new personal assistant and girlfriend. In late September, a mysterious stalker was sending messages to Maryse and Ted DiBiase, but it was unsure who they were aimed at. On the October 4 episode of Raw, Goldust was revealed as the mystery stalker, but the messages were not directed to DiBiase, but at DiBiase's Million Dollar Championship, which he then took. On the October 18 episode of Raw, DiBiase tried to reclaim his Million Dollar Championship after Goldust's match with Zack Ryder by attacking him, but he was unsuccessful in retrieving his belt. At Bragging Rights, DiBiase accompied by Maryse where he defeated Goldust following after Maryse attacked Aksana and took back the Million Dollar belt, but Goldust still left with the title after Aksana took it back and distracted DiBiase long enough for Goldust to hit his finisher on him. On the October 26 episode of NXT, Maryse teamed up with DiBiase in losing effort to Aksana and Goldust, after the match proceed to take the belt again but again was stopped by Aksana. On November 30, DiBiase was announced as a mentor to Brodus Clay for the fourth season of NXT, and Maryse would frequently accompany them throughout that season of NXT, until Clay traded his Pro to Alberto Del Rio instead on the January 25, 2011, episode of NXT.

On the December 13 episode of Raw Maryse was involved in a battle royal to determine the winner of the Diva of the Year Slammy Award but was eliminated by Natalya. On the January 3 episode of Raw, Maryse teamed up with Melina and Alicia Fox in a losing effort to Natalya, Eve Torres and Brie Bella. On February 18, 2011 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse teamed up with Layla to defeat Eve Torres and Beth Phoenix after the interference from Michelle McCool.

In March 2011, Maryse became the co-host of the fifth season of NXT alongside Matt Striker. Maryse was immediately romantically pursued by Yoshi Tatsu and Lucky Cannon. A jealous DiBiase would soon give Maryse an ultimatum to choose between himself and hosting NXT; Maryse reacted by dumping DiBiase and continuing to host NXT. Despite Maryse initially embracing Tatsu, Cannon managed to get Maryse's affections after he bought her a purse, causing Tatsu to abandon her due to her materialism. Maryse dumped Cannon after it was revealed that the purse he bought for her was a fake. Hornswoggle was the next one to chase her affections, but Maryse spurned him.

On the July 25 episode of Raw, Maryse teamed up with Melina in a loss to Kelly Kelly and Eve Torres in a tag team match. On the August 1 episode of Raw, Maryse competed in a No #1 contender's battle royal to Divas Championship, which was won by Beth Phoenix, this would turn out to be her last match. In August, Maryse underwent surgery for an abdominal hernia and took time off WWE programming. After two months of inactivity, Maryse was released from her WWE contract on October 28.

Independent circuit (2012)

On September 5, 2012, Mayse appeared at her first independent wrestling show in Brooklyn, New York at a Family Wrestling Entertainment pay-per-view Back 2 Brooklyn. Appearing as special guest on commentary.

Fashion career

Following her WWE release, Ouellet announced her plans for a clothing and jewelery line called House of Maryse. On Ouellet's offical site, she gives Fitness, Health, Personal, Tips on blogs.

Other media

In April 2007, Ouellet appeared in Timbaland's music video "Throw It On Me" featuring The Hives. In August 2008, Ouellet, along with fellow WWE Divas Maria, Eve Torres, and Candice Michelle, appeared on an episode of Sunset Tan. Ouellet also appeared in the January 2009 issue of Muscle & Fitness along with Eve Torres and Michelle McCool. She also made a special appearance on Redemption Song, which was hosted by WWE wrestler Chris Jericho, along with Candice Michelle, Mickie James, and Eve Torres.

Maryse made her video game debut on THQ's WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2010, and would then make appearances in WWE SmackDown vs Raw 2011, WWE '12

Personal life

Ouellet was born in Montreal, but grew up in Edmundston, New Brunswick. Maryse is of German, and Swedish descent. In high school, Ouellet was the only girl in her class, and ran the school's fashion show. Ouellet also participated in cheerleading. At age 15 she competed and won a mini marathon beating over 2000 adults and taking the honor of being the youngest winner in the history of the competition. During high school, Ouellet worked as a lifeguard at an aquatic park in Quebec. She also began developing a range of makeup products. Ouellet has a tattoo of her late father's name, Guy, on her left wrist.

She attended Collège Montmorency de Laval where she got a degree in Business Administration and holds a black belt in martial arts. Ouellet is a native speaker of French, and also speaks English, becoming fluent in English after two years. She is also able to read Spanish, although she cannot speak it. While training at OVW, Ouellet lived in Kentucky. Following this Ouellet moved to Miami, Florida where she lived until 2010. Ouellet is now currently living in Los Angeles where she is pursuing a fashion career.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • French Kiss (Snap DDT)
  • French TKO (Heel kick)
  • Modified figure-four leglock

• Signature moves
  • Camel clutch, sometimes preceded by a somersault roll to the back
  • Forward Russian legsweep
  • Hair-pull mat slam
  • Schoolgirl roll-up
  • Spinning backbreaker

• Managers
  • Victoria Crawford
  • Ted DiBiase Jr.

• Wrestlers managed
  • Sylvain Grenier
  • René Duprée
  • Ted DiBiase
  • Ryan O'Reilly
  • Deuce 'n Domino

• Nicknames
  • "The French-Canadian Beauty"
  • "The Sexiest of the Sexy"
  • "The Sultry Diva"

• Entrance themes
  • "All Summer Long" by Adam Salkeld (May 21, 2007"March 28, 2008)
  • "Lounge Lizard" by Emanuel Kallins and Stephen Teller (April 15, 2008"May 5, 2008)
  • "Pourquoi?" by Jim Johnston (May 13, 2008"July 25, 2011)

Championships and accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • PWI ranked her #9 of the best 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2009

• World Wrestling Entertainment
  • WWE Divas Championship (2 times)