Beth Phoenix

From Pro Wrestling

Elizabeth Carolan is an American wrestler better known as Beth Phoenix. Phoenix is currently working for the World Wrestling Entertainment on its RAW brand. After working on the independent circuit for a number of years Phoenix was signed to a WWE developmental contract and began working for Ohio Valley Wrestling in July 2004. In 2006, Phoenix was promoted to RAW where she was involved in the Trish Stratus/Mickie James feud. After only a few appearances, she suffered a fractured mandible and was forced out of the ring for just over a year.

In July of 2007, Phoenix returned to the ring and started to target the WWE Women’s champion, Candice Michelle, proclaiming herself to be better than a "Diva", that she was a "Glamazon". At No Mercy in 2007, Phoenix defeated Candice Michelle to win her first WWE Women's championship.

Latest News

• On December 9, Beth Phoenix won the Slammy for Diva of the Year.

Videos

Trivia

• When she was 11, Phoenix -- who grew up watching TV wrestling with her family in Buffalo, NY -- entered a newspaper coloring contest and won tickets to WWF show. "My parents didn't really have any money," Phoenix told the Charleston Gazette. "It was probably the only way we could have gone." ^[1]

• As a little girl, Phoenix wrote in her journal about her goal to become Women's Champion. ^[2]

• Phoenix had a brief career as a liturgical pianist, playing accompaniment for a church choir. In fact, she has a background in piano and could read notes before she could even read words. She even played at masses, funerals and weddings to pay her way through her wrestling education. ^[2]

Quotes

Beth Phoenix Foil Chipz

The shift in women’s wrestling is completely attributed to how hard our girls are working. You know, none of the Divas – a lot of our Divas have come from modeling backgrounds, and don’t have a wrestling background, but they’ve come in – like Kelly Kelly, and Candice Michelle – and really busted their butts, putting in extra hours, going to the training school, and when you see these Divas progress and get better and better and better, it’s completely up to their own moxie and how hard they’ve been working. So I think the sky’s the limit for the Divas. And I’m totally looking forward to being a part of it. And, to staying on top of the whole pile, basically! [2]

On wrestling against men:

It’s difficult and challenging, but most of all, I go into it, and I’m usually underestimated, you know, most guys brush it off, or want to laugh me off, and that becomes my greatest advantage because they underestimate me and what I’m capable of, and that’s when I can usually take an opportunity and show them who’s the boss. [2]

On the issue of inter-gender wrestling:

You know, I’m the Women’s Champion right now, and I’m very proud to represent the Women’s Division, but myself, I will take on all contenders, male or female or whoever, but I understand the WWE’s position in keeping each division into their own, and I’m quite happy where I’m at, sitting at the top of the heap of the ladies, but you know like I said, you never know in the future what guys may need to get schooled a little bit by the Glamazon. [2]

On breaking her jaw within a few weeks of premiering on RAW:

Wrestling for Monday Night RAW was a lifelong dream for me, and it was over, within 5 weeks. I can’t imagine a more heartbreaking story than that, for myself… but you know, what happened was basically, I worked so hard to get there the first time, that I wasn’t about to let that slip away from bad luck. So what I did was just set my mind to coming back badder and bigger and stronger and faster than ever before, and lo and behold, I got a second opportunity, and I made sure that time counted. [2]

Career History

Beth Phoenix Topps WWE Heritage 4 Diva Card

Amateur wrestling

Carolan began wrestling on the Elmira, New York Notre Dame High School scholastic wrestling team. She was the first female varsity wrestler in her high school's history. She became the North-East freestyle women's champion (72 kg weight class) in 1999. She also became the women's champion (72 kg weight class) at the New York State Fair Tournament in 1999 and was named the most outstanding wrestler that same year in the Brockport Freestyle Tournament. At the time she was also a member of USA Wrestling (a freestyle wrestling association). Her life goal was, according to her, to become a professional wrestler and she believed that having a solid amateur background would help her reach it.

Professional wrestling career

After graduating from high school in 1998, she enrolled in both a professional wrestling school and Canisius College in Buffalo, New York. Her first choice for wrestling school was Stu Hart's Dungeon, but because of the location she decided on a more local school. At the school, she was trained by the "All Knighters"--Joey Knight and Robin Knightwing, who themselves had trained in the Hart Dungeon. Her professional wrestling debut match was against Alexis Laree, and she made the rounds competing with various independent promotions against both male and female wrestlers. In one match against Lexis Wine for the now defunct MadMar Entertainment, her back was accidentally cut open by a steel chair.

Ohio Valley Wrestling (2004-2007)

Beth Phoenix autographed Topps WWE Heritage Trading Card

Phoenix debuted on Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) television in July 2004 as the on-screen girlfriend and valet of Chris Masters. The angle was short lived, and the following month Phoenix was repackaged as the manager of Aaron "The Idol" Stevens. The duo was then joined by Shelly Martinez who Beth soon feuded with in early 2006. Phoenix then stopped appearing regularly on OVW after debuting on WWE's Raw television show.

On August 16, 2006, Phoenix returned to action in OVW as the surprise opponent for Serena in a number one contenders match - she was hand picked by OVW Women's Champion ODB herself to be the opponent. After a distraction from Charles Evans, Phoenix picked up the win hitting Serena. The following week, both Serena and Phoenix wanted a title shot, so ODB said if they can beat her in a tag match, the pinfall winner would receive a shot. Serena won the match for her and Phoenix's team by pinning newcomer Katie Lea (but only after Phoenix was forced to leave the ring as she was not the legal woman in the match). So, in the interest of fairness, the following week, it was announced that there would be a women's battle royal with the title on the line - Phoenix, Serena, Lea, and ODB were the final four women in the ring, with ODB eventually coming out on top. The following week, ODB put her women's title on the line in a four-way match that also featured Phoenix, Serena and Lea. Serena won the match, but after the match Phoenix laid out Serena with her newly won belt. At the October 4, 2006 OVW TV tapings, Phoenix defeated Serena to capture the OVW Women's Championship. On the November 4, 2006 show, Beth lost the OVW women's title to Lea in a gauntlet match - defeating Roni Jonah, Melody, Ariel, and Jenny Mae first. Lea, Serena, ODB, and Phoenix were the final four in the match with Lea taking the win.

Phoenix and Lea entered into a feud with each other, with Phoenix claiming that Lea never defeated her for her title so she was still the champion; Phoenix even came out with her own version of the OVW Women's Championship. This brought out Danny Basham OVW's TroubleShooter, who told Phoenix her title was not real, and that after doing some digging Lea's title was not real either. Basham set up a ladder match where the winner would become the undisputed OVW Women's Champion. Lea won the match, and was presented with the title belt on the first show of 2007. Phoenix took the belt from Basham, and after taking a look for herself, handed the Belt to Lea and shook her hand. In early 2007, Phoenix became involved in a "love triangle" along with Dan Rodman and Jacob Duncan. After the "love triangle" angle ended, Phoenix continued to manage Duncan in OVW. Beth made her last appearance in OVW at their August 15, 2007 TV tapings where she lost to Lea in a number one contenders match and then joined the main World Wrestling Entertainment roster full-time.

World Wrestling Entertainment

2008 Beth Phoenix German Lamincard

2006–2007

Beth Phoenix debuted on the May 8, 2006 episode of Raw as a face attacking then-heel Mickie James during James' assault on Trish Stratus. After this incident, James berated Phoenix for "ruining everything" and questioned why she even showed up in the first place. A week later, Phoenix was formally introduced by Stratus and then battered a distracted James on Stratus' behalf. When James finally escaped, Phoenix claimed that James had ruined her life and would not let her get away with it, before calling her a psycho. On the following edition of Raw, Phoenix, now an official Raw diva, again attacked the then Women's Champion after her match with Torrie Wilson. Then, on the May 29, 2006 episode of Raw, Beth teamed up with Wilson (with Stratus in their corner) to take on Candice Michelle and Victoria (with Mickie James in their corner). Phoenix got the pin on Candice. During the June 5, 2006 episode of Raw, Beth suffered a fractured mandible during a match with Victoria, but was victorious despite the injury. She spent a year having surgeries and recovering, including getting a titanium plate and nine screws placed in her jaw, but she was only out of action for two months, as she returned to action in OVW instead of on the main roster.

On the July 9, 2007 edition of Raw, Phoenix returned as a heel when Melina claimed to be injured and needed a replacement as Jillian Hall's tag team partner. At the SummerSlam pay-per-view, Phoenix won the Interpromotional Divas Battle Royal to become the number one contender for Candice Michelle's Women's Championship.[13] Phoenix was then pushed as a dominating Diva, calling herself a "Glamazon" and attacking Mickie James, Jillian Hall and Candice on the September 10 edition of Raw.[14][15] At Unforgiven, however, she failed to capture the Women's Championship from Candice. Their storyline feud continued when Phoenix pinned Candice during a non-title mixed tag team match on Raw on September 24. At No Mercy, Phoenix defeated Candice to win her first Women's title. She retained her belt on the October 22 Raw in a two out of three falls match; Michelle was injured by Phoenix shaking the rope, causing her to fall off the top turnbuckle and legitimately break her clavicle.

Phoenix attacked Kelly Kelly on the October 29 edition of Raw after Kelly won the Halloween Costume Contest Battle Royal. The following week on Raw, Beth defeated Kelly in a non-title match.[23] This cumulated into a 10 Divas Tag Match at Survivor Series, which Phoenix's team lost after Melina was pinned by Mickie James. On the November 26 edition of Raw, James defeated Melina in a number one contenders match for Phoenix's Women's Championship, setting up a title match between the two at Armageddon, a match in which Phoenix successfully defended her Women's title. On New Years Eve 2007, Phoenix successfully defended her title in a Triple Threat match against Melina and James, after pinning Melina.

2008–present

Phoenix along with then-ally Melina took part in the Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match at WrestleMania XXIV where she defeated Ashley and Maria by pinfall after a Fisherman suplex. On April 14, Phoenix faced Mickie James with her Women's Championship on the line and lost, ending her reign as champion.

Phoenix also had a rematch on the May 5 edition of Raw but lost after Melina unintentionally hit her in the face with her boot. On the May 11 edition of Raw, Phoenix and Melina partnered up to go against James and Maria. During the match Melina unintentionally knocked Phoenix off of the ring apron resulting in Phoenix abandoning Melina which allowed James and Maria to pick up the win. During a backstage segment along with Jillian Hall, Melina confronted Phoenix which then resulted in both Melina and Phoenix getting into a brawl with one another. At Judgment Day, Phoenix failed to regain the Women's Championship in a Triple Threat match after James pinned Melina to retain the title. At One Night Stand Phoenix defeated Melina in the first ever Divas "I Quit" match. The next night on Raw, Phoenix teamed with Katie Lea Burchill to defeat Melina and James in a tag team match, but was pinned by James one week later in a non-title match, and was once again attacked by Melina post-match.

After little over a month off television, Phoenix returned on the July 14 edition of Raw, where she defeated Santino Marella after he issued an open challenge to any WWE Superstar backstage, pinning him with a roll-up. The angle continued the following week after Marella lost to the returning D-Lo Brown. Phoenix confronted Marella after the match, and they briefly grappled with each other before unexpectedly sharing a kiss, to which both expressed considerable confusion afterwards. The two then became an onscreen supercouple, and the pairing of The Glamazon and Marella later became known by the portmanteau Glamarella. Within the team she acted as the "straight-woman" of sorts, berating Marella or reacting in disbelief to his over the top, embarrassing antics. At SummerSlam, they defeated Kofi Kingston and James in an intergender tag team match. Phoenix pinned James, winning the Women's Championship, while Marella won Kingston's Intercontinental Championship.[33] On August 25 edition of Raw, Kelly Kelly accidentally gave Beth Phoenix a stiff kick and caused her nose to bleed, but did not break it.[34] She successfully defended the WWE Women's Championship against Candice Michelle at No Mercy.[35] At the Survivor Series event, Phoenix captained her team of fellow Raw Divas (James, Michelle, Jillian Hall, and Kelly Kelly) to a victory over Michelle McCool's Smackdown! diva team (Victoria, Natalya, Maria, and Maryse) in a Ten Diva Elimination Match, being the sole survivor after pinning Maryse following the Glam Slam.

On December 8, 2008, she received the "Slammy Award" for Diva of the Year.

Wrestling facts

• Finishing and signature moves
• Beth Valley Driver (Sitout Death Valley driver) – independent circuit
• Chokebomb – OVW
• Delayed cradle suplex – 2007–early 2008
• Down in Flames (Sitout scoop slam piledriver pin) – 2006
• Elevated double chickenwing – 2007
• Glam Slam (Elevated double chickenwing wheelbarrow facebuster) – 2008–present
• Cloverleaf
• Gutwrench suplex
• Military press lift dropped into either a press slam or a press drop
• Missile dropkick
• Overhead gutwrench backbreaker rack
• Sidewalk slam
• Slingshot suplex
• Managers
• [[Trish Stratus]]
• Santino Marella
• Rosa Mendes
• Wrestlers managed
• Aaron "The Idol" Stevens
• Brent Albright
• Chris Masters**Santino Marella
• Nicknames
• "The Glamazon"
• "The Total Package of Women's Wrestling"
• "The Über Diva"
• Entrance themes
• "Hey Baby" by No Doubt (OVW)
• "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé Knowles (OVW / Shimmer)
• "Brick House" by Rob Zombie (OVW)
• "(Can't You) Trip Like I Do" by Filter (OVW)
• "Flames" by Ded Good production music service (WWE)
• "Glamazon" by Jim Johnston (WWE)

Championships and accomplishments

• Ohio Valley Wrestling

• OVW Women's Champion (1 time)

• World Wrestling Entertainment

• WWE Women's Champion (2 time, current)

See also

• Beth Phoenix’s career history
• Beth Phoenix’s event history
• Beth Phoenix’s gimmicks
• Significant Storylines

External links and references

1. ↑ In the ring with WWE diva Beth Phoenix, Bill Lynch, Charleston Gazette. July 12, 2008
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5} Beth Phoenix Interview, Kirsty Quested, NZPWI. December 15, 2008

• Beth Phoenix Glamazon (Official Website)
• Beth Phoenix (Official Myspace)
• Beth Phoenix profile at CAGEMATCH.net
• Beth Phoenix profile at WWE.com