Rena Mero (born as Rena Greek) was born in Jacksonville, Florida and she is the second oldest of four children. Rena didn't grow up with much but her mother did as much as she could for her family to get by.
While Rena was a child, she demonstrated a considerable interest in sports and athletics. She participated in softball, horseback riding, cheerleading and weightlifting as a child in Florida. All the exercise kept her in peak physical condition and so thus it naturally lead Rena into the world of modeling. She modeled for six years for clients such as Guess Jeans, Bongo, Pepsi and L'Oreal.
In 1994, Rena married professional wrestler Marc Mero, who was known as Johnny B. Badd in World Championship Wrestling. In early-1996, Marc Mero's contract was up with WCW and he made the trek up north to the World Wrestling Federation in the midst of the heated Monday Night Wars. When Mero went to sign his contract up at Titan Towers in Connecticut, be brought his lovely wife Rena along with him. Upon seeing her, WWE chairman Vince McMahon was so impressed with Rena that he offered her a contract as well. McMahon thought that someone as beautiful as her should be on television. Rena signed on the dotted line and she was a WWF Superstar along with her husband. "Sable" was born.
After Marc Mero came to her rescue at Wrestlemania, Sable officially became his manager the night after Wrestlemania on "WWF Monday Night Raw." In the ongoing months, Sable would manage "The Wildman" as he climbed the ladder in the World Wrestling Federation. All there hardwork would come to fruition as Marc Mero defeated Faarooq Asad (Ron Simmons) in the finals of a tournament to crown a new WWF Intercontinental Champion in September of 1996. Marc would dedicate his title victory in honor of his inspiration, Sable.
Unfortunately, what goes up must come down and Marc subsequently lost his belt to Hunter Hearst Helmsley the very next month in October 1996 when "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig turned on Mero. And the bad news wasn't over as Marc suffered a serious knee injury in early-1997 that put him out of action for several months.
In the midst of Mero's absence, Sable became a model for WWF merchandise as a way to keep her on television while Mero sat on the sidelines. Sable also won two trophies at the 1997 Slammy Awards; "Dressed To Kill" and "Miss Slammy." Sable wore a very revealing bikini to win the latter award. You can pinpoint the 1997 Slammies as to when Sable's popularity really started to sky-rocket.
Marc Mero returned to action in the latter portion of 1997 with a new look and a new attitude. Mero seemed frustrated at the attention Sable received and began using dirty tactics in the ring. It seemed quite obvious that Mero was jealous of Sable's booming popularity and he treated her badly. One night, professional boxer Butterbean waved at Sable and this drove Mero nuts. Mero made a challenge to the boxer, and the two later faced off.
Sable and Marc Mero would co-exist in order join up with "The Artist Formerly Known As Goldust" and Luna. Luna and Sable did not get along at all. For several weeks, Sable and Luna got into brawls that cost Mero and Goldust matches. After one brawl, Mero and Goldust turned against each other. At WrestleMania XIV, Mero and Sable defeated Luna and Goldust in a mixed tag team match. Sable got the pinfall on Luna.
The fight between Sable and Luna did not end. On one occasion, Luna defeated Sable in an evening gown match by stripping her of her clothes. Mero and Sable continued to have problems, and Sable wanted out as Mero's manager. Mero said that the only way Sable could get out of her contract was by defeating him. But if Sable lost, she would have to leave the WWF. Sable lost the match, and left the WWF, storyline-wise of course.
Thankfully, Sable's departure from WWF programming was short as she was reinstated by World Wrestling Federation chairman Vince McMahon a mere three weeks after Sable succumbed to "The Wildman" in the ring. Sable immediately got involved with Marc Mero's new manager, the rugged and talented Jacqueline.
At WWF Fully Loaded 1998, Sable and Jacqueline engaged in a bikini contest of titanic proportions. Jacqueline sported a very revealing outfit in her own right but Sable managed to outdo her in spectacular fashion. Sable peeled off her garments until she stood in the center of the ring with nothing but a pair of hands covering her assets.
The photo of that special moment would forever loom as one of the most enduring and symbolic images of the WWF's "Attitude" era. But neither Mero nor Jacqueline was happy about it. In fact, they demanded a mixed tag team match at WWF Summerslam 1998 against Sable and a partner of her choosing. When she appeared in the ring with Edge, New York's Madison Square Garden erupted. But, for Sable, the most satisfying part of the evening occured when she delivered a perfect backwards somersault on Mero, and actually pinned him to wrap up the match for her team.
On an edition of WWF Raw Is War, Jacqueline met Sable in a evening gown match. Sable won the match, which would prove to be a very big win in her career. Because of her victory, coupled with Jacqueline's impressive victory over Luna, the World Wrestling Federation decided to activate the WWF Women's World Championship.
On WWF Raw Is War, Sable faced Jacqueline, and the winner would be declared the new WWF Women's World Champion. Thanks to the interference of Marvelous Marc Mero, Jacqueline defeated Sable to win the title. Weeks later Sable challenged Jacqueline to a title match for the 1998 Survivor Series. Sable won the match that night, and became the new champion.
In December on WWF Raw Is War, Sable was set to make her first defense of the WWF Women's World Championship. Sable was jumped by her opponent, the Spider Lady, who relentlessly hit her with the belt. Unmasking herself, it was Luna of the Oddities. Luna and Sable met for the title at the 1999 Royal Rumble, but not before Luna attacked Sable on WWF Sunday Night Heat. Still, an injured Sable retained the title in a strap match.
the Royal Rumble after an assist from a planted female Sable fan, WWF newcomer Tori.[ Tori's debut signified a change in Sable's persona. After the Rumble, Rena (under her Sable ring name) was featured as the cover girl for the April 1999 issue of Playboy. The issue was one of the highest selling issues of Playboy ever. Surrounding the release of the issue, the Sable character turned heel by "going Hollywood" and having an inflated ego. Rarely defending her title, Sable continually berated her fan Tori, and she feuded with both Tori and Luna Vachon (who had turned face). She debuted a new catch phrase: "This is for all the women who want to be me and all the men who come to see me" and a dance move called "the grind."The feud with Tori led to a match at WrestleMania XV. During the contest, Nicole Bass debuted as Sable's bodyguard and helped Sable win the match.
Sable went on with Bass making Bass do all of her dirty work. Sable continued to hold the championship for almost 6 months, but on May 10, 1999, Debra "won" the Women's Championship from Sable in an Evening Gown match. Normally in an Evening Gown match, the winner is the woman who forcibly removes her opponent's dress, which Sable did. As part of the storyline, WWF Commissioner Shawn Michaels, however, ruled that the woman who had lost her dress was the winner, making Debra the new Women's Champion. Off-screen, Sable was in a dispute with the WWF, which is why she was stripped of the title on-screen.
In June 1999, Rena Mero quit the WWF and filed a $110 million lawsuit against the company, citing allegations of sexual harassment and unsafe working conditions. She claims to have filed the lawsuit after refusing to go topless.During the course of the lawsuit, Vince McMahon counter-sued Rena over control of the stagename "Sable".Mero reduced the amount she was seeking in damages, and they eventually settled out of court in August 1999.Mero used her real name for her appearance in the September 1999 issue of Playboy.She was the first woman in history to be given two Playboy covers in the same year. After her WWF exit, she made an on-camera appearance as an audience member on World Championship Wrestling's Nitro.
During this time, Mero made appearances on The Howard Stern Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien. She also made appearances on television shows such as Relic Hunter and First Wave and in the films Corky Romano as a female bouncer and Ariana's Quest.She released her autobiography, entitled Undefeated in August 2000. She also released a comic book entitled The 10th Muse starring herself as a superhero. In May 2001, Mero was given an advice column on CompuServe.On November 13 and November 14, 2001, she appeared as the on-camera "CEO" of the newly formed X Wrestling Federation (XWF), but these were her only appearances with the company.
Mero returned to the World Wrestling Federation (now known as World Wrestling Entertainment) on the April 3, 2003 episode of SmackDown!, reprising her role as Sable. Sable continued to be a villian and heel and spent several months in a storyline with new Playboy covergirl Torrie Wilson. Sable followed Wilson down to her matches, talked with her backstage, and on one occasion, she left Wilson in a tag match alone to fend for herself. Sable eventually challenged Wilson to a showdown bikini contest at Judgment Day. After Sable got the bigger applause, Wilson removed another layer of clothing, and Special Guest Referee Tazz declared Wilson the winner. After the match, Wilson went up to Sable and kissed her before exiting the ring. Sable then had an altercation with the guest judge Tazz, dumping water on him on the following edition of SmackDown!, as a means of gaining revenge for declaring Wilson the winner.
Sable then feuded with Stephanie McMahon in a storyline where she was Vince McMahon's mistress.Vince appointed Sable as Stephanie's personal assistant against Stephanie's will, sparking the feud between the duo. During the feud, they competed in several catfights, a food fight, a parking lot brawl where sables bra was ripped off revealing both her breasts on live television, and a match where Sable smacked a clipboard over Stephanie's head. At Vengeance, Sable defeated Stephanie after interference by her new ally, A-Train. At SummerSlam, Sable accompanied A-Train in his match against The Undertaker, which he lost. After the match, The Undertaker held Sable so that Stephanie could use a Spear attack on her. After SummerSlam, Vince and Sable focused on getting rid of Stephanie for good, so Vince made an "I Quit" match at No Mercy. In the match, Sable slapped Stephanie and was involved in a scuffle with Linda McMahon.
Sable briefly became a face again when she appeared on the cover of Playboy magazine for the third time in her career. On the cover, she appeared with fellow diva Torrie Wilson, making them the first WWE Divas to pose in Playboy together. Surrounding the release of the cover, the duo feuded with Raw divas Stacy Keibler and Miss Jackie, even though all four women were faces at the time. The two teams squared off at WrestleMania XX in an Interpromotional Tag Team Evening Gown match, but the divas started the match in their underwear, making it more of a lingerie match.Sable and Wilson were victorious.The change was rumored to have occurred because Sable had suffered damage to her breast.
Following WrestleMania XX, Sable quickly turned heel again and engaged in another short feud with Torrie Wilson. The feud culminated in a match at The Great American Bash, which Sable won. Sable's final appearance in WWE was on SmackDown! when she, Dawn Marie, and Wilson accompanied Eddie Guerrero to the ring in his lowrider. On August 10, 2004, WWE's official website announced that Mero and WWE had parted ways.Mero claimed that she left the company to spend more time with her family.