Today’s Divas owe Sable a lot of gratitude – she defined what it means to be a Diva in WWE today.
Breathtakingly beautiful and tough inside the ring, Sable was the first Diva to grace the cover of Playboy – and she did it three times. She showed that the ladies of WWE had come a long way since the early days and could be considered among the most beautiful women in the world. In many ways, she opened Playboy’s doors to Divas such as Ashley, Torrie Wilson, Candice Michelle and others.
Sable debuted in 1996 when she accompanied a young Triple H to the ring at WrestleMania XII. Their alliance was short-lived as The Game mistreated his valet and “Wildman” Marc Mero (Sable’s husband at the time) came to her rescue and took her on as his manager. The glamorous pair captured the imagination of our fans as Mero briefly held the Intercontinental Championship. But when the Wildman was sidelined by a knee injury in 1997, Sable remained in the WWE spotlight, and she became far more popular than her Superstar husband.
By the time Mero returned from his injury in 1998, he had become jealous of Sable and resented her success. Eventually, a rift developed between two, punctuated by Sable delivering a kick to the groin and a powerbomb (which she dubbed the “Sable bomb”) to Mero. A long war between her and Mero and Jacqueline (who became Mero’s manager) ensued and that ultimately led to Sable winning the Women’s Championship from her nemesis at the Survivor Series in 1998.
In Sable’s last WWE run in 2003 and 2004, she found new rivals in Torrie Wilson and Stephanie McMahon. She also served as a trusted confidante of Mr. McMahon in a war with Stephanie. But despite her evil tendencies, our fans loved to see Sable, and she and Torrie Wilson formed a fantasy tag team on a Playboy cover and pictorial in 2004.
Whether she is remembered as the Diva of WWE Divas or a Playboy cover girl, one thing is certain: Sable was a pioneer and broke new ground for the Sexiest Women on Television. That may be her greatest legacy.