The field of thousands of contestants was trimmed down to eight during a two-day casting event in Los Angeles on June 9-10. The judges who made these extremely difficult decisions were none other than WWE RAW Superstar Jonathan "The Coach" Coachman(TM) and last year's Diva winner Christy Hemme(TM).

Starting Monday, June 27 at 9 PM ET live on Spike TV, the eight RAW Diva finalists will appear exclusively on RAW every week and perform several special assignments. WWE fans will begin voting for their favorite contestant on July 4 at www.wwe.com and one contestant will be eliminated each week until there is a winner. On Monday Night RAW, August 15, there will be three remaining finalists and one will eventually emerge as the newest RAW Diva. The chosen RAW Diva will receive a one-year WWE contract worth $250,000.

The competition between these eight women will be incredibly competitive each week on Monday Night RAW; fans will have an opportunity to learn all of their strengths and weaknesses as the challenges evolve. The list of potential Divas varies from a Miss Hawaiian Tropic 2002 (Ashley Massaro) to a music video vixen who has appeared in videos for 50 Cent and Jennifer Lopez (Leyla) to a Barker's Beauty on "The Price Is Right" (Kristal Marshall). Despite their various ages and backgrounds, they all have one thing in common; it is their dream to be the next RAW Diva. The following eight finalists will compete for the title of 2005 RAW Diva:

Competitors Home Town Misc. ----------- --------- -----

Ashley Massaro New York, NY Hawaiian Tropic, E! Wild On Host

Cameron Haven Tallahassee, Florida Miller Lite Girl, Playboy

Kristal Marshall Los Angeles, CA "Price Is Right" Barker Beauty

Alexis Costa Mesa, CA Music Video Vixen, Actress

Leyla Beverly Hills, CA "Entourage", Music Videos

Elisabeth Rouffaer Santa Barbara, CA Lingerie Bowl QB, Fashion Designer

Simona Fusco Los Angeles, CA Stuff Magazine, Model

Summer Delin Bryan Shreveport, LA Hawaiian Tropic, Model

WWE Diva Christy Hemme, who was last year's winner, has gone on to have an extremely successful career with World Wrestling Entertainment. Hemme most recently graced the cover of Playboy Magazine in April, competed at a main event match at WrestleMania 21 versus Women's Champion Trish Stratus(R), appeared on the cover of the annual WWE Diva Swimsuit Magazine and can be seen on RAW every Monday night at 9PM ET live on Spike TV.

World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. (NYSE: WWE) is an integrated media and entertainment company headquartered in Stamford, Conn., with offices in New York City, Los Angeles, Toronto and London. Additional information on the company can be found at wwe.com and www.corporate.wwe.com.

Trademarks: The names of all World Wrestling Entertainment televised and live programming, talent names, images, likenesses, slogans and wrestling moves and all World Wrestling Entertainment logos are trademarks, which are the exclusive property of World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

WWE Publicity Neil Lawi, 203-352-1010 [email protected]  Michael Smith, 203-352-8657 [email protected]

06/28/2005 10:10 ET