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A Ring Warrior, Or A Ringer? Stacy Keibler’s Background May Question Credibility Of Dancing With The Stars Josh Stewart-jstewart@longislandpress.com 01/20/2006 5:21 pm Judges and fans alike have marveled at Stacy Keibler’s transition from hardened ring warrior to graceful swan on Dancing With the Stars. But, is the World Wrestling Entertainment Diva really a wrestler-turned-dancer, as the show has promoted? Her background doesn’t exactly match what has been hyped on the telecasts. In reality, Baltimore native Keibler began dance classes at age 3, studied ballet, tap and jazz extensively and was one of the original cheerleaders for the Baltimore Ravens. Also, her first job in the grappling profession was as Nitro Girl dancer Skye in 1999 on the now-defunct World Championship Wrestling’s main TV program, Monday Nitro. Her dance background is disclosed in her biography on abc.com’s Dancing With the Stars site. But unless you’ve perused that bio or watched wrestling in recent years (and common logic would say that many Dancing With the Stars aficionados never tuned in to Nitro or Monday Night RAW), it might not be a stretch to believe the TV show's inferences—that Keibler is some sort of prodigy. This isn’t the first time that Dancing With the Stars brought on a contestant whose amateur status was questionable. Trista Rehn Sutter, of Bachelor/Bachelorette fame, was a Miami Heat dancer for two years before being cast on Season 1. But she was bounced in the first round, never receiving the attention that Keibler and her partner, Tony Dovolani, have been swamped with. As more people find out that Keibler, 26, is far from a dance novice, will it affect her popularity in the contest? A recent post on abc.com’s Dancing With the Stars message board from an ex-Keibler supporter felt it was “cheating” that someone with so much dance training and professional experience would be labeled an amateur. “ [Keibler] had taken ballet as a child, just like several other ladies in the competition,” said an ABC spokesperson when contacted by the Press. “But ballet and what she’s doing now are completely different animals.” Lots of little girls do take ballet when they’re young. But Keibler studied for 15 years at Jean Kettell’s Studio of Dance in Dundalk, Md., according to a story in the Baltimore Sun. Just as her dance career has been arguably underreported by the show, there are questions about the legitimacy of calling her a “wrestler.” While she has competed in matches in recent years, most wrestling fans would not consider her to be in the same class as Trish Stratus, Victoria, Lita and Mickie James, who are considered bona fide ring combatants. “ She is a wrestler in that she works for a wrestling company and has wrestling matches,” says longtime squared-circle journalist Buck Woodward of the Pro Wrestling Insider website (www.pwinsider.com). “So, you could call her a wrestler. However, the term ‘WWE Diva,’ which is how WWE themselves would describe her, is much more fitting. Sometimes her job involves wrestling, but it more often involves looking good and portraying a character for the fans.” She is usually lumped together with stars like Torrie Wilson and Candace Michelle (aka the GoDaddy.com girl), model types who regularly compete in such “filler” events as bra-and-panties matches (where the object is to strip opponents down to their undies) and lingerie battle royales. “ My guess would be that the judges probably have no idea what Stacy actually does on WWE programming,” Woodward contends. “They were told, ‘She’s a wrestler,’ so they probably think she has matches every week and is beating people up. “ Honestly, I could see someone like Lisa Rinna complaining after the competition is over that Stacy was a ‘ringer,’ since she had dance experience as a cheerleader and Nitro Girl.” Gee, a reality show’s legitimacy cast in doubt? Go figure. (credit: Long Island Press) |