Nitro Girls

The Nitro Girls were a dance team in World Championship Wrestling. Similar to the Fly Girls from In Living Color, their initial function was to dance and entertain the live crowds during commercial breaks.

History

The Nitro Girls were formed in 1997 by Kimberly Page at Eric Bischoff's request and made their debut on July 14 in Orlando, Florida. Their main focus was to entertain the live fans during the commercials of Monday Nitro. They also regularly performed in short segments on the show.

During the Nitro Girls’ opening dance routine on the October 6, 1997 edition of Nitro from the Target Center in Minneapolis, one of Chae’s nipples accidentally popped out of her top. Cameras immediately cut to a shot of the live audience. Predating Janet Jackson's 2004 Super Bowl wardrobe malfunction, this incident was frequently known as the "Nitro Nipple."

The Nitro Girls filmed their own pay-per-view, dubbed "The Nitro Girls Swimsuit Calendar Special" which aired on August 3, 1999 and was later released on home video. In late 1999, the group held a competition to find a new member. In November, Stacy Keibler defeated 300 other girls for a spot on the dance troupe and $10,000. Her winning routine was watched by 4.4 million viewers.

The Nitro Girls also made appearances at WCW promotional events and were featured in the WCW produced film Ready to Rumble. As the group became more and more involved in storylines, it slowly dissolved, but never officially broke up until 2001 when WCW was sold to [[Vince McMahon]'s World Wrestling Federation.

Involvement in storylines

When Kimberly Page, the group's founder quit as a result of being stalked by a wrestler, the heel and face Nitro Girls began to feud. Spice feuded with A.C. Jazz over the new leadership position and won. After Jazz left the group, Tygress attempted to gain control.

Diversity 5

Several former Nitro Girls formed a pop music group called Diversity 5: Teri Byrne (Fyre), Melissa Bellin (Spice), Sharmell Sullivan (Storm), Chae An (Chae) and Vanessa Sanchez (Tygress). When Sharmell went to the WWF for the first time, Chiquita Anderson (Chiquita) replaced her. The D5 group released one cd single (I Promise/Shake Me Up) in 2001, but by the following year the group bottomed out when they appeared on the Fox reality show "30 seconds to fame" on October 31, 2002 and were promptly voted off.

Members

• AC Jazz - 1997–1999
• Baby- 2000
• Chae - 1997–2000
• Chameleon - 1999-2000
• Chiquita - 2000–2001
• Fyre - 1997–1999
• Gold and Silver, The Klimaszewski Twins - 2000
• Kimberly 1997–1999, Founder, Married DDP
• Naughty-A - 2000–2001
• Skye - 1999
• Spice - 1997–2000
• Storm - 1998–1999
• Syren - 2000–2001
• Tayo - 1997–1998
• Tygress - 1998–2000
• Whisper - 1997–1999, Married Shawn Michaels

See Also

WWE Divas -- TNA Knockouts