Jillian Hall had the distinction of being one of the few Divas to arrive by way of Ohio Valley Wrestling after the introduction of the division-destroying Diva Search. Not only did Jillian fit the Diva Mold (she had a busty figure and beautiful blonde hair), she was able to talk on the microphone, play a character, and not only was she a legitimate technical wrestler, she was capable of pulling off high-risk, flashy maneuvers such as her 450 Splash (aka the High Note). Sadly, looking back on Jillian's WWE tenure, it's almost as if WWE purposely wanted her to fail. Before becoming a tone-deaf pop Diva, Jillian debuted on SmackDown! the brand that didn't have a title that was exclusive for the women and a brand that seemed more interested in using their women in valet roles or as damsels in distress in storylines rather than utilizing them for their in-ring abilities. Jillian was not only on a brand that was lackluster in regards to Divas' action, she was also thrown into a manager role for MNM (and later, John Bradshaw Layfield). While she excelled in this role, mainly due to her mic skills, she was saddled with a completely stupid gimmick that involved having a prosthetic growth plastered on her face. When Jillian finally shed the growth and turned face, she had a small program with Melina Perez. Any momentum she received from her brief feud with Melina was instantly lost as she wound up playing a supporting character to green workers such as Ashley Massaro, Michelle McCool, and Kristal Marshall. Even after being repackaged as a wannabe songstress and jumping ship to the RAW brand, Jillian was never seen as anything more than supplemental talent for the Women's Division and a one-note (no pun intended) comedy character. While Jillian played her character to perfection, WWE missed many opportunities to expand upon her personality and her role in the division, especially after her iTunes-exclusive Christmas album became an actual hit in the UK. Why didn't Jillian ever film a music video? Or hire a bodyguard? Or employ Extreme Expose to be her back-up dancers? Quite possibly the biggest missed opportunity came when Jillian won the Divas Championship from Mickie James. Instead of simply dropping the belt to old rival Melina, Jillian could have easily brought attention to the belt by having Melina, a popular face, chase after the title, with WWE promoting the fact that Jillian and Melina's WWE careers have been closely tied together since Jillian's debut. Instead, a couple of matches between the two resulted in nothing substantial and Jillian eventually found herself being released from the company.
Tommy Bobby Watanabe is an aspiring American novelist, stage actor, playwright, former LGBT rights activist, and has three years of independent professional wrestling experience and has been a big fan since 1998. An avid horror movie buff and comic book aficionado, TBW is honored to be featured on WhatCulture with some of the Internet's most talented writers and looks to spread his own knowledge and wit to WhatCulture's loyal readers.
