Modeling career
Ouellet began her career as a
beauty pageant contestant, winning
Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada 2003 and finishing second at the International Finals of Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2004. After that she made several appearances in various newspapers, magazines and television programs in Canada, as well as appearing on the cover and the inside pages of a special edition of
Playboy Magazine in the summer of 2006.
World Wrestling Entertainment
Diva Search
In the summer of 2006, Maryse tried out for
World Wrestling Entertainment's
Diva Search.She made the final cut and was one of the top eight featured on WWE, but on the July 24 episode of
WWE Raw she became the second person to be eliminated from the search. Despite her elimination, she was invited to observe workouts and the training facility between August 13–17, 2006 at WWE's developmental facility,
Ohio Valley Wrestling. Although she understood that there was no guarantee that this will lead to full time employment with WWE, she was grateful to have been given another opportunity to live out her dream. Stating in a WWE.com interview "I can just cry, [is] my feeling right now," Ouellet said. "I’m very excited. It was very, very good news.
Developmental territories
Ouellet at an
FCW event in 2008.
Ouellet was officially signed to a World Wrestling Entertainment developmental contract on August 24, 2006 and was assigned to
Ohio Valley Wrestling for training.
[3] Her first jobs there were to
sit in the front row during television tapings, take part in
bikini contests and appear in backstage segments. After a while she began
managing fellow French Canadian
René Dupree at
house shows. Her in ring debut came at a December 16, 2006 house show in
Greensburg, Kentucky where she
teamed with
Katie Lea,
Kelly Kelly, She Nay Nay, and
Victoria Crawford to defeat
ODB,
Milena Roucka, Josie,
Beth Phoenix, and
Melody. In March 2007, she became a part-time backstage interviewer for OVW TV, as well as a wrestler in dark matches prior to the OVW tapings. In the spring of 2007, Maryse participated in the 2007 "Miss OVW" competition which was won by ODB. Later in the summer, she participated in the 2007 "OVW Divalympics".
Around that time she started managing
Sylvain Grenier both in OVW and at the Raw/Smackdown/ECW house shows. When
Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) opened in the summer of 2007, Maryse was transferred to the developmental facility for training.After only managing Sylvain Grenier for weeks the idea for them to re-debut on SmackDown were scrapped. On September 25, Maryse made her FCW debut as the valet of
Ryan O'Reilly along with Lacey Von Erich. After Ryan left the WWE on October 10, 2007, Maryse then started competing in singles and tag team competitions. On December 18, Maryse was in the corner of
Ted DiBiase, Jr. when he captured the
FCW Southern Heavyweight Championship.
SmackDown! (2006-2009)
On the September 22, 2006 edition of
SmackDown!, Ouellet, known as simply Maryse, was shown on the
TitanTron welcoming the Montreal viewers (in
French) to the season premiere of SmackDown! on the new
CW Network.
[3] In January 2007, Maryse returned to SmackDown! in more pre-taped
vignettes welcoming viewers back to the show in both
English and French. Maryse made her first actual TV appearance with her entrance theme on the May 21, 2007 edition of
Raw to present
Timbaland's new video "
Throw It on Me" in which she had appeared. In October 2007, Maryse participated in the WWE European Tour with the SmackDown! brand, where she teamed with
Michelle McCool in a series of tag team matches defeating
Victoria and
Katie Lea.
Maryse at a house show.
By the time she began appearing regularly on SmackDown!, she adopted a snobby attitude, thus becoming a
villain. On the March 7, 2008 episode of SmackDown, Maryse competed in a swimsuit contest, against Victoria,
Michelle McCool,
Cherry, and
Eve Torres.
[7] In the end, Maryse and Eve got into a fight.
[7] On March 14, Maryse was the first eliminated from the swimsuit competition.
[8] On March 28, Maryse competed in a "Wet and Wild" match where she teamed with Victoria against Cherry and McCool in a losing effort.
[9] On a "SmackDown after the bell video" on WWE.com
Deuce 'n Domino dumped Cherry (who had been their valet) and replaced her with Maryse.
[3] Maryse then insulted Cherry, only for Cherry to slap her.
[10] On the May 16, 2008 edition of SmackDown, she made her television in-ring debut in a losing effort to Cherry, though defeated her in a rematch with a
roundhouse kick weeks later.
[11][12] For weeks, Maryse teamed with Victoria and
Natalya against Cherry, Michelle McCool and
Maria. Maryse then suffered a minor broken nose after receiving a
bulldog from Maria.
Maryse lost in her first title match for the
WWE Divas Championship against Michelle McCool at
Unforgiven, resulting in a feud between the two Divas. She then came up short once again in title rematch on SmackDown!. On the September 23 episode of
ECW, Maryse defeated McCool in a non-title match. After being off television for a month, Maryse returned at
Survivor Series to participate in the five-on-five SmackDown vs. Raw Divas Elimination match.
[17] Maryse was the sole survivor of the SmackDown team, but ultimately was eliminated by
Beth Phoenix. On December 19 Maryse pinned Maria to become the number one contender for Michelle McCool's Diva's Championship. The next week on SmackDown!, Maryse beat Michelle McCool to become the new Divas Champion in a match with Maria as the special guest referee. On December 28, 2008 at a
house show in
Raleigh, North Carolina, Maryse dislocated her knee in a tag team match against
The Bella Twins, when one of the twins initiated a dropkick that landed on her kneecap, it was later announced that the injury was not too serious and that she would be able to return in a few weeks. On the January 23 episode of SmackDown!, Maryse returned in a non-wrestling role and sat at ringside commentating, during a Divas' tag team match. Maryse returned to wrestling on February 20, 2009 in a tag team match with Michelle McCool and defeating Maria and
Eve Torres. On April 5, Maryse competed in a Divas battle royal at
WrestleMania XXV, but the match was won by
Santino Marella.
Raw (2009)
On the April 13 episode of Raw, Maryse was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the
2009 WWE Draft, in the process making the Divas Championship exclusive to the Raw brand. She made her Raw in-ring debut on April 27, teaming with Beth Phoenix,
Rosa Mendes, and
Jillian Hall in a loss to
Mickie James, Santina Marella,
Brie Bella and
Kelly Kelly. She began being involved in a storyline with
Mickie James as everyone claims Maryse was afraid of her. This led to Maryse spraying something on Mickie's eyes during a battle royal for the N°1 contendership for the
Divas Championship.
Kelly Kelly eventually won the contest and Maryse had to defend her Divas belt which she did twice.
Mickie James eventually earned a
Divas Championship match at
Night of Champions which Maryse lost thus also losing her title. A few days after this match, she underwent surgery on her knee which she re-injured against Mickie James and she is scheduled to be out of action for at least 3 months.
Personal life
Ouellet has a degree in Business Administration and holds a black belt in martial arts. English is Ouellet's second language (French being her first); it took a total of two years for her to become fluent. She has also been involved in the Foundation of Children General Hospital of Montreal, Quebec, since 2006.
Nicknames"The French-Canadian Beauty"
"The (self-proclaimed) Sexiest of the Sexy"
"The Sultry Diva"