2004's Playboy Evening Gown Match was a pile of sh*t, but never promised anything more than adolescent arousal. Christy Hemme, through no fault of her own, was the first of the magazine's models to be forced into an actual wrestling match as the lines blurred between women's wrestling and less-than-tacit titlation.
An injured Lita was cast as Christy's coach for the event, but Stratus had advanced so far beyond virtually all of her peers by this point that anything other than the 4:11 extended squash would have been patronising in the extreme.
Hemme had won the inaugural Diva Search by sitting on pies, doing the splits and referring to a fellow competitor as a "c*m-burping gutter-sl*t". A WrestleMania title clash was neither the stage nor setting for somebody with this particular CV.
Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation over 7 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 30 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz", Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 50,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett
