Christy Hemme Released From TNA
Former WWE diva the latest victim of budget cuts.
TNA star Christy Hemme took to Twitter on Wednesday to announce that she is no longer a part of the company. The Wrestling Observer is reporting that she was released as part of TNA's latest attempt to cut costs.
Hemme made her pro wrestling debut in 2004, when she took part in WWE's inaugural Diva Search. She won the competition, which earned her a one-year contract and $250,000 in pay, then was immediately thrust into the divas' division. She feuded with the likes of Victoria and Melina, but her high point in the company was a singles match with Trish Stratus at WrestleMania 21.
Hemme was released from WWE in late 2005, with the company citing budget cuts and a lack of ideas for her firing - though Hemme later claimed that the release was on her terms. She debuted in TNA in 2006, and quickly formed an alliance with Lance Hoyt and Jimmy Rave. She soon transitioned into an in-ring role, suffering a neck injury before deciding to retire from active competition.
Since late 2009, Hemme had worked as a backstage interviewer and ring announcer, occasionally participating in an angle (such as the much-maligned 2013 storyline where wrestler Samuel Shaw played an obsessed stalker of Hemme's). In 2014, Hemme joined the TNA creative team.