Like many other WWE Diva Search contestants before her, Lena Yada has been signed to the WWE. Lena Yada placed third in the 2007 WWE Diva Search and was eliminated in October. She will begin appearing on ECW on Sci-Fi in a month or two as a backstage interviewer (a role held by Rebecca DiPietro until March 2007.

A bunch of other wrestling sites are reporting that Lena Yada announced her WWE contract on her official Web site, but as usual, they’re just copying one another’s sorry excuses for journalism. In truth, Lena chose the Unique Divas forum to make an exclusive announcement about her backstage interviewer gig on ECW. Here’s what she wrote on Thursday under the username “asian persuasion”:

Hi guys! It’s been a while huh? This information is going to be a UD exclusive. I’m not posting the full story on Myspace or anywhere else.

UPDATE! I went to RAW at Staples center in LA this past monday to meet with WWE and…..I was offered a developmental deal!!!!! :-)) They were offereing to send me right away to Tampa to train YAY! …….BUT…..I had to turn it down. I know, it was a tough decision to make, a dream job handed to me on a silver platter and I had to push it away.

Some of you will be asking why? and here is the answer: I moved my father in with me 2 months ago. He is in his last stretch of an incurable fatal lung disease. I am taking care of him until a pair of lungs become available for a double lung transplant. Until then, he is on 24 hour oxygen. While I would be able to leave for short periods of time, I couldn’t possibly spend 6-8 months away nor provide the financial support for a caretaker, rent, medical bills, and such. Sometimes we have to make sacrifices for what’s more important. I could never forgive myself if something were to happen to him if I were away. So, with a heavy heart I declined their offer. My family is more important.

On an upnote! They did call me back the next day to offer a different deal which I did accept. I will be working as a backstage interviewer for ECW. Not what I wanted, but thats ok. They did say that once my father was better that they would allow me to still do ECW, but also send me to the training camp in Tampa In the mean time I am training at a new gym here called XMA where I am learning how to take falls as well as stunts and mixed martial arts.

OK. There we have it UD! The final update in my WWE story. Not the ending we all wanted….but I have faith that when the time comes all will end well.

Hope everybody is having a great week! Remember, sometimes you need to stop and take a look around you. See how precious life is and what it has to offer. Sometimes life deals you crappy cards, but what are you going to do about it? What can you do? …. If you knew that the world was going to end tomorrow, who would you call? and what are you waiting for? Sometimes it doesn’t take much more than a simple phone call to tell someone that you care.

All My Love,
Lena

Straight from Lena Yada, the real scoop about her blossoming career in the WWE. Her attorney is reviewing the WWE contract and then she’ll have to wait around three weeks for her standard drug test results, so we may not see Lena on the Sci-Fi Channel show until some time in December 2007 or even Janary 2008.

If you’re not already familiar with the 28-year-old Honolulu native, check out her MySpace profile and Wikipedia entry. Lena is ranked number eight in the world as a professional tandem surfer - here’s a pic of her doing her thing:

Lena has also done a bit of modeling and acting, and even appeared with Tila Tequila as a Hooter’s Girl in Adam Sandler’s flick I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (see below.)

We welcome Lena Yada to the WWE, and hope that her personal circumstances will allow her to start training in FCW soon.

I’ll be spending the weekend in the demon-infested dungeons of Hellgate: London, so it seems only fitting that today’s Sci-Fi Starlet be related in some way. As it turns out, Playboy actually featured a Hellgate: London Templar topless in a special feature on video game chicks a few years back.

Here she is in all her postapocalyptic glory:

If video game starlets aren’t your thing, check out some of our past Sci-Fi Starlet Saturday posts:

• Sarah Michelle Gellar
• Cerina Vincent
• Lyanna Tumaneng, Hollie Winnard, and Jessica Barton
• Michelle Ryan
• Milla Jovovich
• Kristanna Loken
• Ali Larter
• Christa Campbell
• Megalyn Echikunwoke
• Karen Cliche
• Gina Holden
• Shannen Doherty
• Grace Park
• Gigi Edgley
• Charisma Carpenter

Or spend your weekend like me: run out and grab yourself a copy of Hellgate: London. Check in next Saturday for another Sci-Fi Starlet Saturday post - I promise it’ll be a human woman next time.

Well, to YouTube anyway. Some of the earliest posts at E.O.S. were about wrestlings most legendary valet Kristina Laum who began her career as Kimona Wanalaya in the ECW. Perhaps one of the most under rated performers of all time her career, which included a stint in the WCW, is overshadowed by her infamous arena striptease which has reached near mythic status. The half hearted cheer leading routines of ECW’s Extreme Expose pale in comparison to this performance, which is truly Old School:

Kristina doesn’t keep much of a web presence (though we know a few bloggers willing to set something up for her is she wants) but it’s widely assumed by her rabid fans she returned to dancing in New Jersey. We wish her the best and hope to hear from her soon.

In January 2007, Kelly Kelly posed for a WWE photo shoot in San Antonio, Texas. The photos have made their way to Internet one at a time since January, but the WWE has finally posted all of them in one Kelly Kelly gallery on WWE.com.

Since I’m a Kelly Kelly fan, I’m posting these photos instead of the ones of Layla El body slamming Kelly this past Tuesday on ECW.  Enjoy!

Check out the WWE site for more.

Got an extra thousand bucks in your wallet? Why not drop it on Mick Foley’s ring worn tights?

Or grab yourself some authenic Mick Foley DNA, free with your $500 purchase of his bloody shirt.

Even if these items are out of your budget, check out the full range of Mick Foley memorabilia in the brand new Mick Foley eBay Store. There’s gear from his days as Cactus Jack and Mankind, as well as autographed books and photos that he will personalize to your specs.

With the launch of his eBay store, Foley joins fellow ECW alums Francine Fournier, Shelly Martinez, and Dawn Marie Psaltis who have also sold their ring worn gear on the world’s biggest auction site. Other wrestlers have been known to pull in thousands of dollars in just a few days on eBay - I wonder how Foley will fare.