Former AEW TBS Champion Maya World has seen her stock go up within AEW over the last few months, in no small part thanks to her work against both Athena and current AEW Women’s World Champion Mercedes Mone, two women she’s cited as being instrumental in inspiring her to become a wrestler. As it turns out, however, neither Mone nor Athena was World’s first favorite wrestler. That honor, as World revealed during an interview with “Daily Star,” goes to a WWE star who achieved fame during the Divas Era, and perhaps the most famous WWE performer of all-time.
“My favorite first favorite wrestler was like Kelly Kelly, Undertaker, you know what I mean?” World said. “I watched them. They just didn’t inspire me to wrestle. But I love Kelly Kelly, that was my girl. And all the Divas, honestly. She was my favorite, but I loved the whole Divas division.”
World was a young child when Kelly Kelly began her WWE career on the ECW brand in 2006, but was around 9 years old when WWE began seriously pushing Kelly in early 2011. After unsuccessfully challenging Brie Bella for the Divas Championship at Over the Limit, Kelly would get revenge by defeating Bella on the June 20 episode of “Raw” and claiming the Divas Championship, her only title reign during her WWE run.
Kelly would hold the title till October, losing it to Beth Phoenix at Hell in a Cell. A year later, Kelly would be out of WWE after being released, but has continued to make sporadic appearances for the promotion over the years, and reportedly signed a Legends Deal with WWE back in 2025.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit “Daily Star” and provide a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription
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