The sound of Jillian Hall attempting to sing her favorite pop music hits for the WWE fans shattered eardrums and incited choruses of boos in nearly every arena in which she stepped foot. So over was her annoying, shrieking singing gimmick that she actually had an album of Christmas song place on the iTunes most sold list. Behind the gimmick, though, there was a very talented young woman capable of generating a response and backing it up with solid in-ring work. Jillian entered WWE as the publicist of MNM, brought in by Melina to get the tag team champions the most exposure possible. Rather than letting the very attractive blonde get over on her own, she was saddled with an awful gimmick in which she had a very large, very noticeable blemish on the side of her face. She rarely acknowledged it, making her appear even more stupid for not knowing why so many pointed and laughed behind her back. Eventually, she split from MNM and became the so-called "fixer" for JBL. While paired with him, she became the target of the horrifying Boogeyman. He would grab hold of her, stuff a handful of worms down her skirt and generally terrify her anyway possible. Then, on the January 13, 2006 episode of SmackDown, the face-painted freak ate the mole right off of Jillian's face, ridding her of the atrocity and freeing her up to become a more traditional Diva. As just Jillian Hall, however, she had trouble connecting with the audience. She was a pretty young woman but beyond that, fans had no reason to care. In February of 2007, however, she adopted the pop singer gimmick that would help her achieve her greatest success. Never a Diva to win many matches or star in high-profile feuds, she typically made the most out of the material given to her. The singing gimmick more than worked as she got over with the character and stood out among the more one-dimensional women on the roster. With a single shift in pitch in her singing voice, she could elicit the intended response in a way other female performers simply could not. On October 12, 2009, she achieved her greatest accomplishment when she defeated Mickie James and captured the Divas Championship. In typical comedic heel character fashion, however, she lost the title a mere five minutes later to Melina. A year later, she would be released from her WWE contract, ending her career with the biggest promotion in the sport. A company girl who did whatever she was asked for and entertained millions of fans as a result, Jillian was a nice change of pace from the women who played a more expanded role on television during her time with the company. Not only an underrated Diva but a criminally underrated entertainer, regardless of gender.
Erik Beaston is a freelance pro wrestling writer who likes long walks in the park, dandelions and has not quite figured out that this introduction is not for Match.com. He resides in Parts Unknown, where he hosts weekly cookouts with Kane, The Ultimate Warrior, Papa Shango and The Boogeyman. Be jealous.
