Candice Michelle Beckman-Ehrlich[2] (born September 30, 1978), better known as Candice Michelle, is an American model, actress, and retired professional wrestler best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment.
After spending years modeling and acting, Candice Michelle was hired by WWE in 2004, after she participated in the WWE Diva Search.[8] Outside of wrestling, she is known as the Go Daddy Girl,[9] performing in the company's annual Super Bowl commercials.[10][11] She also posed for a cover and nude pictorial in the April 2006 issue of Playboy.[12] At Vengeance in 2007, she defeated Melina to win her first WWE Women's Championship and became the first former Diva Search contestant to win a WWE title.[13] She was released from her WWE contract on June 19, 2009.[14][
Ring name(s) Candice Michelle
Candice
Billed height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Billed weight 120 lb (54 kg)[2]
Born September 30, 1978 (age 34)[3]
Milwaukee, Wisconsin[3]
Resides Los Angeles, California[4]
Billed from Milwaukee, Wisconsin[1][5]
Trained by Dave Finlay[2]
Arn Anderson[1]
Trish Stratus[3][6]
John Cena[7]
CM Punk[1]
Debut November 15, 2004[2]
Website Candice Michelle.com
Early life
Candice Michelle grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin,[5] and she is of German and Costa Rican descent.[4] She played varsity and college basketball and has an avid interest in many sports.[15] Because she is from the state of Wisconsin, Candice is a Green Bay Packers fan.[4]
At sixteen, Candice Beckman, as she was then known, won a modeling competition at her local skating rink.[16] Around 1999, she moved to Los Angeles, California to become a professional model and actress.[17][18] She studied Theater Arts at Santa Monica College and had on camera acting and Meisner technique training at The Piero Dusa Acting Studio.[19] It was during this time that Beckman adopted her middle name Michelle as her working last name.[3][20] She appeared in numerous bodybuilding and car magazines such as FLEX and Lowrider Magazine, as well as being named Cyber Girl of the Week in the June 2002 issue of Playboy.[3][21][22] Candice also worked as a foot fetish model for a website under the name of Mackenzie Montgomery.[23][24] During this time, Candice made appearances on television programs such as Party of Five, 7th Heaven and Hotel Erotica, as well as appearing in such films as Tomcats, Anger Management, DodgeBall and A Man Apart.[25]
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2009)
Debut and Vince's Devils (2004–2006)
Main article: Vince's Devils
Candice in 2007
In July 2004, Candice auditioned to be a contestant for World Wrestling Entertainment's Raw Diva Search.[5][26] Despite not being chosen to be in the final ten,[5] she was hired by the company under the gimmick of a makeup artist.[2][8] She competed on Raw in several Diva contests, including lingerie fashion shows and limbo contests, until the end of the year.[27][28]
On June 30, 2005, Candice was moved to SmackDown! where she became involved in a storyline between Torrie Wilson and Melina.[2][29] On July 24, Candice made her pay-per-view debut at The Great American Bash where she served as the Special Guest Referee for the Bra and Panties match between Wilson and Melina.[30] She was then moved back to Raw in a trade along with Wilson.[31] In her next storyline, Candice and Torrie became villains by taunting 2005 Diva Search winner Ashley Massaro, and they joined forces with fellow Raw Diva Victoria to form an alliance known as Ladies in Pink (later Vince's Devils). On the September 5 episode of Raw, Wilson defeated Massaro after the interference from Victoria and Candice.[2] They continued feuding with Massaro until Trish Stratus returned from a legitimate injury to help Massaro "retaliate" against Vince's Devils.[32] On the October 17 episode of Raw, where she, Torrie and Victoria faced off against the team of Stratus, Massaro, and their new ally Mickie James in a winning effort after Wilson pinned James.[2] On November 28 episode of Raw, Candice teamed up with Victoria and Torrie Wilson in losing effort to Trish, Ashley and James.[33] In November, Candice signed on to pose for the April 2006 issue of Playboy.[12] She had her first shot at the WWE Women's Championship in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday but was eliminated from the match by Massaro.[34]
In January, Candice appeared at New Year's Revolution in the first ever Bra and Panties Gauntlet match, where she was eliminated by Maria.[35] On the February 13 episode of Raw, Michelle accompied Wilson in losing effort to Ashley.[2] After winning a number one contender's Diva battle royal on Raw, Candice got her first singles WWE Women's Championship match, but lost to then-champion Trish Stratus on February 27.[36][37] After the match, Candice slapped Wilson, blaming her, in storyline, for the loss.[37] Vince's Devils later broke up when Wilson became a fan favorite after Candice and Victoria turned on her during Candice's Playboy cover unveiling.[12] This feud led to a match at WrestleMania 22 in which both Playboy cover girls competed in a Playboy Pillow Fight.[38] Wilson won the match. On the June 12, 2006 edition of Raw, Candice was defeated by Wilson in the first ever "Wet and Wild match", a wrestling match involving water balloons and squirt guns, in which the winner of the match would be on the cover of the WWE 2006 Summer Special magazine.[39] but the feud continued sporadically in backstage segments where Candice was depicted as Vince McMahon's "sex slave".[40]
