When Dawn Marie arrived in WWE in 2002, everyone eagerly awaited to see what kind of trouble this delicious morsel would cook up. She had a hugely memorable and popular feud with Torrie Wilson and, that's pretty much it. Considering she wasn't well known for her in-ring skills, Dawn's place on the SmackDown! brand was not that surprising. She was more of a character and a looker, and when it came to delivering a cutting promo, Dawn was more than capable. Unfortunately, Dawn wasn't given much room to grow. Her feud with Torrie, while memorable for the most part, seemed never-ending and while she would work with Nidia Guenard and eventually feud with Miss Jackie Gayda over the affections of Charlie Haas, the WWE Universe never truly got to see what Dawn was capable of against more experienced wrestlers such as Molly Holly, Victoria, Jazz, or Trish Stratus. Considering all of the heel Divas had spent a portion of their career trying to destroy Trish, it seems that WWE missed a huge opportunity pitting Dawn and Trish against each other, if only for a brief time. Another opportunity that WWE neglected to embrace was pairing Dawn back up with her old running buddy in ECW, Lance Storm. As stated by Dawn in a shoot interview, Lance had pitched the idea many times, but with no luck. One has to wonder why such a popular and successful duo as Dawn and Lance was not given their chance to shine together in WWE. There's no doubt that Lance, a phenomenal in-ring worker, could have benefited greatly from Dawn's persona standing by his side. This also brings to mind an important question: why wasn't Dawn used in a managerial role for a different wrestler? In 2005, Dawn was released from WWE in the middle of her real-life pregnancy (despite being told that she would retain her job). After giving birth, Dawn could have easily been brought back to help break in a majority of the new girls that were coming into the fold (such as Jillian Hall, Kelly Kelly, Candice Michelle, Layla El, and Kristal Marshall), but, instead, remained away from the company which was sad considering the type of sultry heel character she was adept at playing.
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.
