Barbara Jean Coba (née Blank; January 15, 1987), known professionally as Barbie Blank and by her ring name Kelly Kelly, is an American model and former professional wrestler. She is signed to WWE, as an ambassador.
Blank has a background in gymnastics and cheerleading, and worked as a model for Venus Swimwear and Hawaiian Tropic. In 2006, Blank was signed to a contract by WWE and, after training in Ohio Valley Wrestling, she debuted on the ECW brand in June 2006 as "Kelly Kelly". Primarily appearing in a non-wrestling role, she was a member of Extreme Exposé with Layla and Brooke Adams. Beginning in late 2007, she began participating in more wrestling matches, and unsuccessfully challenged for both the WWE Divas Championship and the WWE Women's Championship on multiple occasions. In June 2011, she won the WWE Divas Championship, commencing a four-month reign. She retired from WWE in 2012, but has since returned for occasional appearances and matches. On the Raw Reunion special on July 22, 2019, she pinned Gerald Brisco to win the WWE 24/7 Championship, becoming the first woman to win the title. She is a two-time champion in WWE and has stayed a babyface during her entire tenure in the company.
Blank has also appeared on a number of television shows and was a main cast member of the reality television program WAGS. She made her film acting debut in Disturbing the Peace, which was released on January 17, 2020.
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Early life
Barbara Jean Blank was born on January 15, 1987, in Jacksonville, Florida, to a Jewish father and Christian mother. She was a fan of professional wrestling as a child, and cites Stone Cold Steve Austin as her favorite wrestler. While growing up, she participated in gymnastics for ten years, before she was forced to quit due to an injury. She later took up cheerleading. She attended University Christian School and graduated from Englewood High School. She then attended Florida Community College at Jacksonville, where she studied broadcast journalism, hoping to become a television anchor. She was also a Hawaiian Tropic and Venus Swimwear bikini model before she entered professional wrestling.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Entertainment / WWE (2006–2012, 2017–2022)
In 2006, while working as a model, Blank was seen by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) official John Laurinaitis, who was interested in signing her to a contract. WWE contacted her modeling agency and invited her to their developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), for a tryout. Despite having no previous wrestling experience she was offered a contract, which she signed in May 2006. Even after being called up to the main roster she continued to fly back and forth to OVW's base city Louisville, Kentucky, once a week to work shows; first as a ring announcer and referee, then as a wrestler. One of her first matches took place at the September 6 television tapings where she participated in a Women's battle royal won by ODB. In late 2007, she also made an appearance in Florida Championship Wrestling, WWE's new developmental territory.
Blank debuted for the ECW brand as Kelly Kelly. Originally, she was to be named just "Kelly", but her ring name was expanded to "Kelly Kelly" by WWE CEO Vince McMahon. She made her debut on the first episode of the weekly television program on June 13, 2006, becoming the youngest Diva on the WWE roster, aged 19. Her character, an exhibitionist, was introduced performing a striptease for the crowd. The next week, while performing another striptease, Kelly was interrupted by her on-screen boyfriend, Mike Knox, who came to the stage and covered her with a towel before dragging her backstage. Her stripping became a weekly segment known as Kelly's Exposé and usually followed the same routine; Kelly would dance and strip until she was stopped by Knox. Knox began forcing Kelly to accompany him to ringside so he could keep an eye on her, making her his de facto valet. As a result, she found herself involved in the feud developing between Knox and his tag team partner Test and the team of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman. This included her being inadvertently hit with a cane by Sandman when Knox used her as a shield. She made her ECW in-ring debut on the August 22, edition of ECW During an extreme bikini contest segment between Torrie Wilson and herself, Test and Mike Knox interrupted the contest stopping Kelly before she had a chance to disrobe. Leading Tommy Dreamer and Sandman to come in through the crowd, Sandman took the mic and challenged Test, Knox and Kelly in a six-person mixed tag team match. Kelly, Knox and Test went on to lose to Dreamer, Sandman, and Wilson.
Kelly and Knox progressed into a storyline with CM Punk in September, in which Kelly developed a liking for Punk, flirting with him and watching his matches, and Knox became increasingly jealous. This led to a match between Knox and Punk, during which Kelly cheered for Punk. At December to Dismember, Kelly and Knox faced Ariel and Kevin Thorn in a mixed tag team match, during which Knox refused to tag in before leaving her. On the following episode of ECW, Kelly defeated Ariel with a roll-up in her first singles match. Afterward, Knox made his way to the ring with flowers, but ended up performing his signature swinging reverse STO on her, ending their relationship and giving her a scripted injury—removing her from television for six weeks.
Independent circuit (2012, 2018)
Blank was set to appear at her first independent wrestling show in Waterbury, Connecticut, at a Northeast Wrestling event on November 4, 2012, followed by a house show event on November 5, but her appearances were canceled due to Hurricane Sandy. Blank eventually made her first appearance for Northeast Wrestling on December 4.
At House of Hardcore 43 in May 2018, Blank made a surprise appearance and helped Chelsea Green defeat Paredyse by tripping his valet, Rebel, off the ring apron.
Return to WWE (2025–present)
On April 8, 2025, it was reported that Blank had signed a legends deal with WWE.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2025)
On May 25, 2025, Blank made her Total Nonstop Action Wrestling debut as a heel, performing under her real name during TNA's Border Brawl event, where she served as the ambassador for the USA team who competed against Canada.
Media appearances and acting roles
Blank has appeared in seven WWE video games. She made her in-game debut in SmackDown vs. Raw 2008. Blank also appears in SmackDown vs. Raw 2009, SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, SmackDown vs. Raw 2011, WWE '12,WWE '13 and returned in the games in WWE 2k26 as part of ringside pass.
In April 2007, Blank, along with Ashley Massaro, Layla El, Brooke Adams, Torrie Wilson, and Maryse, appeared in a music video for the Timbaland song "Throw It on Me", featuring The Hives.
On April 11, 2008, Blank along with Mickie James, Melina Perez, and Layla El appeared in an episode of Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp as trainers. Six days later, she appeared as a "Soccerette" on the British football show Soccer AM. She appeared a second time on Soccer AM in 2009. On June 14, 2011, Kelly and The Bella Twins appeared on an episode of The Price Is Right. Blank was nominated as "Favorite Butt Kicker" for the 2012 Kids' Choice Awards.
In August 2007, all three members of Extreme Exposé took part in a photo-shoot for FHM. In 2011, Blank was ranked number 82 in Maxim's Hot 100, being the first woman from WWE to appear on the cover of Maxim magazine. Blank was later featured on both the front and back covers of Maxim in December 2011. In 2012, Blank ranked number 38 in Maxim's Hot 100.
Blank was one of the cast members of the E! reality television series WAGS, which began airing in August 2015 and features a look into the personal lives of the wives and girlfriends of sportsmen. The show was canceled in 2018.
Blank made her acting debut on the January 30, 2017, episode of Days of Our Lives, appearing in a scene as a waitress who gives information to one of the show's main characters. Her film debut came in 2020's Disturbing the Peace, as Amanda.
On August 16, 2020, Blank unveiled her new YouTube channel which features video blogs on her daily life.
Other works
Blank has her own wine label called B Tasteful in collaboration with Smith Devereux Winery. Blank is also a fashion influencer, serving as an ambassador on Instagram for brands including Fashion Nova and PrettyLittleThing.
Personal life
While training at OVW, Blank lived in Louisville, Kentucky. She then lived in Tampa, Florida, prior to moving to Miami, and returned to Tampa in 2010.
Blank was in a two-year relationship with Canadian professional wrestler Andrew Martin (best known as "Test") that had ended prior to his death in March 2009. In 2011, Blank met Canadian ice hockey player Sheldon Souray at a Maxim party, and the pair began dating. They married in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico on February 27, 2016, and split time between Las Vegas, Nevada and Los Angeles, California. The couple separated and filed for divorce in 2017. She had a brief relationship with singer-songwriter Cole Swindell in 2019, but the two broke up three months after making their first public appearance at that year's Academy of Country Music Awards.
In February 2018, Blank's father Ron died. In 2019, Blank founded a non-profit charity with Drs. Shawn Carbonell and Luzanne Otte named Cure Glioblastoma, the same disease her father died from. The purpose of the charity is building awareness and solutions for brain cancer.
On May 29, 2020, Blank got engaged to bodybuilder Joe Coba in Sedona, Arizona. As of August 16, 2020, they reside in Calabasas, California. Blank and Coba married on April 9, 2021, in Oak Glen, California. Their wedding was featured on the Brides magazine. On March 28, 2023, Blank announced that she was pregnant with her first child. In April, she revealed she was expecting twins, giving birth to them on September 10. She gave birth to son Jaxon Matthew and daughter Brooklyn Marie.
Championships and accomplishments
Action Icon Awards
Dare2BDifferent Award (2012)
The Baltimore Sun
Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2008)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 15 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2011
WWE
WWE Divas Championship (1 time)
WWE 24/7 Championship (1 time)
Slammy Award (1 time)
Divalicious Moment of the Year (2011) – Kelly winning the Divas Championship