Michelle McCool is an American professional wrestler. She received her Master's degree in Educational leadership from Florida State University. Before becoming involved in professional wrestling, she was a seventh grade teacher in Palatka, Florida.

Michelle McCool first came to World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) as a competitor in the 2004 WWE Diva Search, from which she was the fourth woman eliminated. Despite not winning the contest, she was still signed to a three-year contract in November 2004. She debuted on SmackDown! as a face with a personal trainer gimmick, a reference to her old career. After participating in a number of "Best body" contests, she wrestled in her first SmackDown! match, teaming with The Big Show to defeat Dawn Marie and René Duprée on March 3, 2005. McCool and Dawn Marie feuded for the next few weeks, with Dawn Marie coming out on top. A few months later, McCool became a part of the feud between MNM and Heidenreich when she defended Heidenreich against MNM's manager Melina's verbal attacks. Melina and McCool then began a feud, which included a victory for Melina in her SmackDown! debut match. After the match, MNM gave McCool their finisher, The Snapshot. This was the last time she appeared on WWE television for almost a year.

McCool was then sent to WWE's developmental facility, Deep South Wrestling (DSW), where she wrestled, performed interviews, hosted segments, and provided color commentary with Nigel Sherrod. Her first feud in DSW was against Angel Williams. Eventually, she started to train in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW). While in OVW, she began managing the duo of Amish Roadkill and K.C. James.

She returned to SmackDown! on June 2, 2006, this time working as a heel with a "hot teacher" gimmick, again pulling on her real life experiences. Upon her arrival, she aligned with then-heel, Kristal to feud with then-face, Jillian Hall and Ashley. This led to a Fatal Four-Way Bra and Panties match at The Great American Bash, which Ashley won. She won her first singles match on the July 28 edition of SmackDown!, defeating Hall by illegally using the ropes as leverage.

Soon after, she began acting as valet for the team of K. C. James and Idol Stevens, who, because of her association with them, were nicknamed The Teacher's Pets. The trio began feuding with Paul London and Brian Kendrick, and their valet Ashley, for the WWE Tag Team Championship, but never won the title. The feud ended when London and Kendrick won the blow off match at No Mercy in October. On November 28, McCool was hospitalized with an enlarged kidney, a broken sternum, and an electrolyte imbalance. She was released from the hospital on December 2.

McCool returned on the March 30, 2007 edition of SmackDown!, where she participated in a 10-Diva Tag Team match. On the April 13 edition of SmackDown!, McCool turned face once again when she came to the aid of Ashley after she was attacked by current heel, Jillian Hall backstage; this led to a short feud between herself and Hall, where McCool came out on top. On the May 28 edition of Raw, McCool won the Memorial Day Bikini Beach Splash Battle Royal by eliminating Melina. After Victoria had her last match with Torrie Wilson she immediately began another feud with McCool. A series of matches took place, including a Mixed Tag Team match with Chuck Palumbo as her partner and Kenny Dykstra as Victoria's partner, with McCool coming out on top.

McCool then went on to compete in a series of contests with Victoria, Eve Torres, Maryse and Cherry to determine SmackDown!'s top diva, subsequently winning the title. On the July 4 edition of SmackDown!, Michelle won the second "Golden Dreams" match to earn the right to challenge the previous Dreams match winner Natalya for the Divas Championship. At The Great American Bash on July 20, 2008, Michelle defeated Natalya to become the first Divas Champion. Later, at Unforgiven, she defeated Maryse to retain the title.