Partly conjecture on my part but after some deducing, I wonder if WWE hasn’t dropped it’s affiliation with Playboy in light of it’s new family-friendly PG rating. It looks as though WWE may have ended it’s long partnership with the magazine, as there hasn’t been a peep of news on who will be posing in time for WrestleMania 25.
Usually the spread is shot in the October prior to the March release, however the end of 2008 went by without a word of news on which Diva may strip for the magazine. There have been a few rumours on various message boards, but nothing beyond that in terms of legitimate sources.
With WWE now carrying a PG rating on it’s programming, a Playboy angle may be a little too risque for Raw or SmackDown. And the end of the WWE-Playboy affiliation couldn’t come at a better time because in recent years, the WrestleMania storylines plotted around the covergirl of the year have gotten staler and staler, particularly Ashley’s push heading into WrestleMania 23 and Maria’s into 24.
I’m going to speculate that while WWE may not be working with Playboy this year, they have compensated the loss of that partnership by working with two other publications. As you’ve probably seen on Diva Dirt, three Raw Divas will appear in Flex magazine, while three SmackDown Divas appear in Muscle & Fitness. Both of these issues are geared to go on sale in the next month or so. Sure it’s not on the scale of Playboy, but still garners WWE some publicity heading into ‘Mania.
Over the years, Sable, Chyna and Torrie Wilson (pictured) have posted sales successes. Meanwhile in recent years, sales have been down on the annual issue, Ashley is rumoured to be the worst-selling of the bunch.
16 Comments
at
Actually, Maria’s was the worst-selling of the bunch.
at
if wwe does do playboy (which isnt likely) i hope either mickie or melina poses
at
I hope they drop it. If you look at the ones who have said they are serious about wrestling aka Mickie, Michelle, Melinda, Kelly etc, all of them have said “no” to posing in playboy. Plus it completely undermines the effort the WWE has put into making their womans division credible. Torrie Wilson during a shoot interview she did regretted all the the time she spent training and working out a real wrestling match only to have it changed during a PPV or a TV broadcast to something silly like a playboy cover match.
at
Playboy’s sales in general have gone down considerably in the past few years so it’s not fair to judged individual magazine sales without taking the overall year-end numbers (and how they compare to the previous years) into consideration as well.
That said I wouldn’t be sorry to see it go. It was boring back when they started it and it’s still boring now. First the end of the Diva Search and now the end of this…things are starting to look up big time.
at
As for the Flex and Muscle & Fitness those do fit in with the idea of the diva’s being athletes who are also beautiful. Those magazines routinely feature women fitness competitors and fitness models who never appear in playboy.
at
eh if they drop thats fine by me.
if it means we wont be getting a sour Mania match
then by all means drop it =]
but i kinda hate that the WWe is going with a Pg rating “/
at
I Was Actually Thinking About This Last Night… Sounds Dodgy, But It Hit Me To! There Hasnt Been Anything About Any Playboy Shoots At All, Apart From Rumours.. =/
Im Hoping For An Epic Divas Match At Wrestlemania Finally! =D
at
Yes! I am all for dropping Playboy. The Women’s Division could finally get credible. And we won’t have to see anymore BunnyMania matches that no one cares about. Wrestlemania is a time for classic matches to be made. With this BunnyMania crap, the real wrestling Divas have to hold back their skill.
at
Na Na Na Na hey hey hey goodbye Playboy lol!
This years Wrestlemania has already made history: No more Bunnymania!
WWE has rid itself of the things it needed to: Diva Search and Playboy.
Next they should stop hiring models and hire ladies who have been properly trained to wrestle.
WWE Women’s Division will have the credibility that it finally deserves!
I am sooo freakin glad!
Now Wrestlemania will be focused on showcasing women WRESTLING!
As far as the Flex and Muscle & Fitness showing the divas, I like it, they show pretty athletes.
Rob, Melina would never pose in playboy, she’s said plenty of times herself, its not her thing.
at
THank GOD!!!!!!!!! I was never really a fan of playboy.hopefully we’ll have a good wrestlemania match this year.
at
Vickie Guerrero’s gonna be playboy covergirl. :D
at
I doubt anybody would buy Vickie’s spread
at
It’s been dead in the water for years now, so it certainly wouldn’t be missed.
at
i don’t get it
why would a wrestling star go on the cover
it won’t sell
the reason chyna one sold because people wanted to see if she was… all woman
at
The last time the cover was a big deal was when Torrie was on it. After that it really didn’t matter. So no I won’t miss it.
at
Diva Dirt, why would y’all want to see ”Playboy” element to come back for WM for a Divas match
when it was one of the things that brought the Divas roster down over the years though it worked back then during the Hey days of the roster then later on it got pointless when Ashley & Maria posed