Rank the 2006 Divas roster!

[Tiarnán]

Just because. Lol.

Ashley
Beth Phoenix
Candice Michelle
Jillian Hall
Kelly Kelly
Kristal
Layla
Lilian Garcia
Lita
Maria
Melina
Michelle McCool
Mickie James
Sharmell
Torrie Wilson
Trinity
Trish Stratus
Victoria

I've excluded the likes of Francine and Jazz who weren't really there to make life easier, and Vickie cause she wasn't an actual proper character till late October and didn't do much.

Just to set the scene...

Ashley - After an eventful 2005 she entered Raw as the sharp tongued foe of Mickie James, before joining SmackDown after an injury and seeing out 2006 as the valet of London and Kendrick.

Beth Phoenix - Only there for a few weeks, but in those few weeks she aligned herself with Trish and terrorized Mickie on account of some past grievance that will never be explained.

Candice Michelle - From Playboy covergirl to mistress of Vince McMahon to happy go lucky fan favourite, Candice planted the seeds for what would be her year in 2007.

Jillian Hall - She entered 2006 as image consultant of a downtrodden JBL, lost her mole to the Boogeyman, turned face during a brawl at the makeup table, beat Melina in her highest profile victory and then swiftly fell into the background again.

Kelly Kelly - She showed up on the ECW premier as an awkward exhibitionist before cementing her place on the show as the emotionally abused girlfriend of Mike Knox, who didn't take too kindly to her cross on CM Punk.

Layla - The 2006 Diva Search winner, Layla spent most of her run this year bickering with The Miz and catfighting with Kristal.

Lilian Garcia - Most notable in 2006 for getting her leg (or something like that) broken by a clumsy Charlie Haas and positively wailing for the rest of the match, before being fought over by Haas and Viscera (lucky girl).

Lita - This was the peak of slutty evil Lita - her association with Edge led to him finally finding his place at the top, at which point she decided to have sex with him live on air. She also won two Women's titles, battled Trish in her retirement match and went onto retire herself two months later.

Maria - At her most memorable in her role as ditsy interviewer, Maria spent 2006 pulling out one liners, kissing John Cena and getting picked on by the heel divas.

Melina - Melina started 2006 in the midst of a sexual harrassment controversy with Batista. She managed Mark Henry for a bit before going to Raw when MNM imploded, at which point she led Nitro to a couple of titles and fired close personal friend Mick Foley.

Michelle McCool - Made her much anticipated return under the awkward guise of a sexy school teacher, and went on to introduce the Teachers Pet team of KC James and Idol Stevens (RIP Sandow) to the world in Autumn time.

Mickie James - An obsessed Trish Stratus lesbian stalker fan, she fought off Ashley before turning on her idol to capture the Women's Championship at WrestleMania. She held the title for months, at one point turned face, and won it once again when she beat Lita in her retirement match.

Sharmell - Her shadowing of Booker T took a turn for the best in May when she was ordained Queen Sharmell. 'All Hail King Booker' remains iconic, but unfortunately she lost her iconic entrance theme as consequence.

Torrie Wilson - A bitter rivalry with an egotistical Candice Michelle saw Torrie turn face on her former friends just in time for Mania and a Playboy pillow fight. Encounters with Candice and Victoria littered 2006 until she started dating Carlito at the end of the year.

Trinity - Full. Bodied. Italian. She mostly did nothing until she wore a ridiculous costume for Halloween, after which she decided to wear it two more times, just because.

Trish Stratus - Alarm at psycho Mickie's infatuation turned to anger as she lost the title at WrestleMania to her number one fan. She fell to injury for a while before a brief feud with Melina, a short term relationship with Carlito and ultimately retirement when she won the title back from old rival Lita in Toronto.

Victoria - The one in Vince's Devils with the horrible hats and haircuts, Victoria was finally set free when Torrie was dumped and Candice branched out. She served as a foil for the likes of Trish and Torrie for most of the year.

[Tiarnán]

Such vivid characters.

[Tiarnán]

Oops. This was supposed to be in the WWE forum. Lol.

[Burke]

Just based on 2006 and forgetting anything they done before or after that point.

Lita - I loved her alliance with Edge. She was kinda crappy in the ring at this point but I didn't care.

Mickie James - She might be number one if she stayed as a psycho heel for longer that year.

Trish Stratus – I don’t remember much in the middle of the year but her matches at WrestleMania and Unforgiven were great.

Melina - This was the year with the Mick Foley stuff, right? And she brought us the legendary John Cena/Kevin Federline feud.

Kelly Kelly - She and RVD were the only reasons I even gave the new ECW a shot at first.

Candice Michelle – All I remember is the pillow fight with Torrie. That outfit though.

Maria - This was the only era I liked her. She was good as the dumb backstage interviewer.

Torrie Wilson – I remember she was Carlito’s rebound after Trish left.

Sharmell – I liked her as King Bookah’s manager but I didn’t watch SmackDown much.

Ashley – 2005/06 was definitely her peak.

Victoria – She was better in 2005. I don’t think she done much this year.

Trinity – Never cared for her.

Layla – I was disappointed when she won the Diva Search.

Beth Phoenix – I didn’t buy the whole Trish’s old friend thing.

Jillian Hall – Boogeyman biting her mole off is still the most disgusting WWE moment ever imo.

Michelle McCool – Ugh.

Lilian Garcia.

[Tiarnán]

Beth Phoenix
Kelly Kelly
Layla
Lilian Garcia
Michelle McCool
Torrie Wilson
Trinity

1. Melina - This is hard because technically she wasn't my favourite for part of the year, but she was great with MNM, with MNM really being her peak as a character and as face of hate on SmackDown. On Raw something dropped a little towards the latter part of the year but I still loved her obv.

2. Mickie James - Loved loved loved psycho Mickie. So much greatness, from the celebration to commemorate her love for Trish to Ashley in box to the shrine to Trish. Then it kind of dipped and they stopped using her, so Melina took over. She got into it again at the end of the year but it took her a while to find her feet again. This was exciting though, because we had two really strong new female characters and talents for the first time in aaaages.

3. Lita - She really did a lot for Edge. She said screw it and threw herself into the role and it worked. Wrestling wise she was the pits this year but her character work was good.

4. Trish Stratus - She definitely played her part in making the Mickie storyline special, and she went out with a bang. Props also for her mini feud with Melina.

5. Sharmell - I thought she really did well in her role as Booker's wife, much more so than when she was a face. She ran with Queen Sharmell and owned it.

6. Maria - Okay, I did actually like Maria at this point. The ditsy interviewer shtick was good.

7. Kristal - As an interviewer she was bland, but when they turned her it really started to click and she was better than people gave her credit for.

8. Jillian Hall - So I did actually like Jillian. The mole was silly but they ditched that, and she did well during her brief three week push as a face.

9. Victoria - 2005 was a half and half year, in that she had a good heel turn but a terrible look when she was with VD (the all pink with hat thing...). 2006 she fixed the hair and outfits and was a solid hand when there weren't really many solid hands.

10. Candice Michelle - The Vince stuff was a bit cringey but short lived. I liked her in that sort of plucky face role when the title was out of her reach.

11. Ashley - Dreadful wrestler but credit to her for boosting Mickie with some good promos.

[Brandon]

1. Trish Stratus - I went through a period where I was really annoyed with Trish when she kept coming back and tarnishing her legacy and stealing the spotlight from the (at the time) present Divas, but between her keeping her distance over the last couple of years and reliving some of her classic moments on the WWE Network not too long ago, we're back in a good place. Between her feuds with Mickie James and Lita, and going out on top at Unforgiven, this was undoubtedly her year.

2. Candice Michelle - Between her Playboy push (by far the most iconic cover unveiling), her Women's Championship matches against Trish Stratus and Mickie James, and becoming a plucky babyface as T put it and going toe to toe with legends like Lita, 2006 was also a great year for Candice, and a glimpse at her 2007 to come.

3. Ashley - 2006 saw Ashley become the face of the SmackDown Divas division, which was a role that suited her imo. Ashley was so charismatic and likable, and she had some great foils over there, particularly in Kristal, without getting in the way of the real women's division on Raw. And I don't mean that as a slight to her or the other SmackDown Divas, I'm just saying they were able to shine and I think people knew not to expect as much out of them since they were rookies.

4. Torrie Wilson - Maybe it was because there were so many new Divas running around at this time, but this was really when I started to think of Torrie as a veteran. She finally got to compete alongside the likes of Trish Stratus, Lita and Victoria while still remaining the Queen of gimmick matches in her feud with Candice Michelle.

5. Kelly Kelly - The only reason to watch ECW as far as I was concerned. She didn't really start to make many strides until 2007 when she formed Extreme Exposé and finally began to wrestle, but what really benefited Kelly by being on ECW was the fact that she got an actual storyline with the whole Mike Knox/CM Punk thing, and she had that mini-feud with Ariel. ECW was a great place for her to grow, and she did just that.

6. Lita - Where the new Divas made Torrie Wilson look like a veteran, they made Lita look like an absolute badass who couldn't give two shits about any of them. She was fantastic alongside Edge, and I low key loved it anytime she would wrestle and stiff the likes of Maria or Candice Michelle. I'm sure she probably doesn't remember it as fondly as I do, but Lita was a badass in 2006, there's no other way to put it.

7. Kristal - 2006 saw Kristal finally get involved in the Divas division, between beating Melina's ass at Judgement Day and making her debut against Jillian in a bra & panties match, but she really shined when she turned heel and feuded with Ashley. And I will NEVER forget the welcome she gave Layla upon winning the Diva Search.

8. Mickie James - Her storyline with Trish Stratus finally reached it's climax (that segment where she had Ashley bound and gagged in a box will forever live in infamy), she owned her WrestleMania moment, and she was passed the torch when Trish retired. It was a great year for Mickie.

9. Jillian Hall - Jillian's breakout year, where she too entered the Divas division. She got fired by JBL and had that big win against Melina at Judgement Day, and then spent the rest of the year tagging alongside Ashley, who graciously shared the stage with her at The Great American Bash.

10. Victoria - I really don't remember Victoria doing much in 2006 except for wrestling Trish Stratus and Torrie Wilson and tagging with Candice Michelle and Mickie James, but she ranks this high for me solely for that one time Vince's Devils decimated Maria's ass on Raw.

11. Melina - Weird, I thought she did way more this year, but I guess she didn't really burst onto the Raw Divas division scene until 2007. But I guess the Mick Foley thing was a pretty big storyline for her.

12. Michelle McCool - Like Melina, she didn't really breakout until 2007, but 2006 did see her make her (somewhat awkward) return to SmackDown, where like Ashley, Kristal and Jillian, she got to shine on a regular basis. I actually really liked all four of those Divas at this time, and she played her role well.

13. Sharmell - Admittedly I didn't watch SmackDown at this time except for the Divas matches, so I usually only caught up with Queen Sharmell and King Booker at pay-per-views, but they were absolutely hilarious in those roles, and went all out in playing them.

14. Beth Phoenix - Beth's debut was so anticlimactic, lol. Makes her debut, gets pushed to the moon, and injured all in under a month.

15. Maria - Every division needs it's jobber. Thankfully Maria was there, otherwise it might have been Candice Michelle. I cringed every time she did the Bronco Buster.

16. Trinity - I'm so glad you mentioned her wearing that caution tape outfit multiple times, because that always bugged me, but I guess it's what she's best known for; sadly for her.

17. Layla - The only Diva on this list that I actually disliked, and never warmed up to. I thought she was so corny and did the most with her dancing. Too much, in fact! Maybe I just never forgave her for beating Maryse and winning the Diva Search...

18. Lilian Garcia - I mean, nothing against her, she's just a non-factor to me on these lists.

[Brandon]

And even though she wasn't included, Francine probably would have ranked just above Victoria for me, for that one time she showed up and beat Ariel's ass.