My business partner, Chris, sent me a message saying that Ashley Massaro passed away at the age of 39. 39 years old. That is my age, and she did a lot more than I have in my life. But after hearing about how her life was after WWE, I see that, after some reports, she was living a difficult life. 

       Ashley Massaro came into our wrestling minds....and hearts, when she won the second WWE Diva Search in 2005. She didn't have the training to be an actual wrestler, and from what I read, she really didn't get the chance to do that even though she wanted to train. During her WWE campaign, she was basically was thrown into storylines, especially, the storyline building up to the Trish Stratus/Mickie James title match at WrestleMania 22. The next year, she posed for Playboy and received a title match at WrestleMania 23 against Melina. The match was terrible and Melina won. She stayed in the company until 2008, when she asked for her release to tend to her daughter and her health needs.

       I read that during her time at WWE, she was not considered as a valuable contributor and she was hampered by injuries and apparently, she was sexually assualted during a tour for the company in Kuwait. This was brought out on a suit she was a part of in late 2016, where she stated that she suffered many concussions and had a steel rod inserted in her leg. After her release from the WWE, she really didn't go after any other promotions and news came about that she was probably linked to an escort service.

       I decided to follow her on Instagram, because I wondered what happened to the punk female competitor who won the 2005 WWE Diva Search...and I found out that she was attending wrestling conventions and had convictions of making a comeback to the wrestling ring as she was seeking the proper training to make that happen. 

       Sadly, her dreams of a wrestling comeback came to an end on May 16, 2019 when she was found dead by hanging. It has been ruled a suicide. There are plans to donate her brain for research. Many wrestling personalities such as Mick Foley have donated money and helped Ashley's daughter, Alexa, through this difficult time. She came to the WWE with a cusp of positive energy and promise. It ended with pain and tragedy.

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