Velvet Sky (left) and Angelina Love (right), the founding members of the Beautiful People.
"Cleansing the world. One ugly person at a time."
The Beautiful People was a stable of professional wrestlers in TNA. The stable formed in late 2007 and originally consisted of Angelina Love and Velvet Sky with Cute Kip (Billy Gunn) as their manager/bodyguard. Madison Rayne would later replace Kip as the group's third member in mid-2009. Love left the stable at the end of 2009 and was replaced by Lacey Von Erich. The group would disband in 2010, but the original two have occassionally reunited. They held the TNA Knockouts Championship belt and the TNA Knockouts Tag Team Titles simultaneously. Their characters were originally portrayed as heel Alpha Bitches whose mission was to cleanse TNA "One ugly person at a time," but have also served as faces at various points, most recently in mid-2015 to combat The Dollhouse.
In 2019, Angelina and Velvet resurfaced once again… not in Impact Wrestling, but rather in Ring of Honor, reforming their alliance with a new protégé in Mandy Leon under the title of The Allüre.
CLEANSING THE WIKI, ONE UGLY TROPE AT A TIME
- Aborted Arc: After Rayne left and the rest turned face, Lacey Von Erich started training Brooke Tessmacher how to wrestle. But then she resigned from TNA, so this had no conclusion. Brooke did eventually get into the ring however.
- Abhorrent Admirer: How they viewed Crazzy Steve of the Menagerie. They knew he was creepy before anyone else did aside from his later-revealed partner-in-crime Rosemary.
- Action Mom: Von Erich, Rayne and Sky. Kip would be an action dad. As of 2015 Angelina announced a pregnancy, making this a stable-wide thing.
- Alpha Bitch: Kinda their stock and trade. Angelina and Madison each spent time as the Alpha of the stable.
- Alternate Company Equivalent /
Follow the Leader: LayCool were very similar to the Beautiful People. Both groups were spotlight stealing alpha bitches making ugly jokes about their competitors. Differences being Michelle McCool also being a Jerk Jock, Layla being brunette and more stupid than intentionally mean and Laycool being on a PG show prevented them from doing some of the more extreme things that TBP did. This trope might be the reason that LayCool eventually morphed into ditzes with extreme Les Yay. - Arch-Enemy: Taylor Wilde, Roxxi, Daffney, Gail Kim, Awesome Kong, The Dollhouse.
- Artifact Title: Not the stable name, but the individual ring names. The girls came into TNA using their indie names — Angel Williams and Talia Madison. But according to Angelina's Diva Diaries interview, the names Angelina Love and Velvet Sky are actual porn star names — and the team was originally called 'Velvet-Love Entertainment' in reference to this. Of course when they underwent a heel turn to become Alpha Bitches, the porn star names remained.
- The Beautiful Elite: Exactly What It Says on the Tin. They're mostly the evil versions but have been faces from time to time as well.
- Beta Bitch: Velvet Sky seemed to eternally be this to whomever was the leader of the stable. First it was Angelina and then Madison as Knockouts Champion. Velvet finally got fed up with the latter's treatment of her and disbanded the group.
- Big Damn Heroes: In 2015 The Dollhouse were in the midst of a 3 on 1 No-Holds-Barred Beatdown on Rayne. Cue the music and Angelina and Velvet running down and clearing house before announcing the reformation of the group, for the second time in as many years too!
- Bullying a Dragon: Their campaign to give Awesome Kong a makeover. Their (sort of) success got everyone but Love on a stretcher.
- The Bus Came Back: Angelina Love brought back Cute Kip, who was put on probation, after they ruined Awesome Kong's hair, in preparation for the inevitable retaliation...he wasn't enough.
- By the Hair: Immobilized Awesome Kong during a steel cage match by tying her braids into the mesh. Scissors were required to get her loose. This was to prevent Kong from breaking up a pin on Taylor Wilde, who was also in the match.
- The Brute: Cute Kip, not during his original run with the group but he was essentially brought back for this role. Lacey Von Erich from the start, being noticeably larger than Rayne or Sky, using lots of crushing squeezes, a choke slam and wielding a baton.
- Camp Straight: Kip participates in much of the stereotypical girly activities of the rest of them and even adopted some of their mannerisms as time went on.
- Cassandra Truth: Velvet Sky caught on to the fact Winter was trying to breakup The Beautiful People early on. Angelina Love kept her around despite this, which eventually lead to Winter drugging her "medicine" and indeed, breaking up the group.
- The Corrupter: After Madison Rayne's fallout with Brittany, who she had no idea how to handle, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky stopped by to mockingly congratulate her, taking great pride in having turned Rayne into a "horrible person".
- Creator Thumbprint: Dutch Mantel and Savio Vega may have been responsible for "the knockouts" but the group and their angles have Vince Russo's fingerprints all over it (then again, replace the first two names and the words in quotes? That sentence accurately describes a good deal of TNA).
- Create Your Own Villain: Madison began as a partner of Taylor Wilde, before being "pledged" into the Beautiful People. And absolutely drug through the mud by Angelina and Velvet. Angelina leaves, the team becomes a Terrible Trio of Velvet, Madison, and new recruit Lacey Von Erich. Much more successful than the originals, title-wise (One Knockouts single, and tag team gold at the same time) Angelina returns, and Madison begins a quick decline into rage, resulting in the entire "brand" being split in two before being reclaimed by Velvet and Angelina (Lacey actually rejoined them against Madison for a cup of coffee before being released). Madison, ironically, was made to be the heel through the latter angle.
- Designated Girl Fight: Or designated guy fight, in the case of "War Machine" Rhino's feud with Kip. Played straight in Velvet and Angelina basically giving the Menagerie's Rebel a regular role on impact besides twirling stuff and stretching.
- Disney Owns This Trope: Madison Rayne tried to trademark "Beautiful People" after leaving the group so she could start her own. This was eventually settled in a match with Angelina and Velvet against Madison and Tara for the rights to the Beautiful People name and entrance music.
- Dumb Blonde
- Madison and Kip were probably the "smartest" of the group. Angelina and Velvet were dumb enough to believe that Sarah Palin was interested in them. She wasn't: she was actually Daffney.
- Velvet Sky also didn't know what horse dung was.Angelina Love: It's horse shit, Velvet! HORSE SHIT!
- Lacey bordered on Brainless Beauty and Dumb Muscle.
- Easily Forgiven: The group's continued existence can be chalked up to Velvet Sky's amazing tolerance for Angelina Love's jerk assery. Not that Sky is much better but Love proved not so forgiving when it was the other way around.
- Enemy Civil War: Adding to the irony, Angelina and Velvet still never turned from their "saving the world, one ugly person at time" motto during/after the whole debacle with Madison Rayne in 2010. Hell, they still went up against faces sometimes.
- Enemy Mine: Sky, Love and Von Erich with JWoww from The Jersey Shore show against Robbie E and Cookie from TNA's The Shore knockoff group. Also the basic the reason for their 2015 reformation against Taryn Terrell, Marti Belle and Jade.
- Evil Versus Evil: Versus the Kongtourage Raisha Saeed had put together, which broke apart into its own "enemy civil war" first as Kong didn't want the added company, leading to a "four corners" tag team match that also included baby faces Laveaux and Wilde.
- Face–Heel Turn: Velvet Sky and Angelina Love originally wanted to give "Voodoo Queen" Roxxi Laveaux a makeover in gratitude for trying to keep them safe after a premonition. When Laveaux declined, Velvet and Love decided she was going to get one whether she liked it or not.
- Fake Boobs: They were all very well-endowed. Endowed with silicone, that is.
- Fan Disservice: When Kip was with the Beautiful People he started doing ring intros similar to them. When Angelina and Velvet do it it's hot, but when Kip does it, it's
Squick — even if you are of that orientation, his Mr. Ass days were already well behind him. - Fangirl: Of Sarah Palin's husband(Todd).
- Faux Action Girl: Other Knockouts were calling them out as this since 2007. Velvet still catches the same flak even today as a face.
- Finishing Move: Makeover (Love delivers a Botox injection to set up a side Russian leg sweep from Sky), Modified Makeover (which ironically, uses a standard leg sweep instead)
- Food Fight: The first episode of "Meanest Girls" involved The Beautiful People instigating one, where they would "defeat" Taylor Wilde and Sarita.
- Fur and Loathing: Furry boots.
- Getting Crap Past the Radar: At one time, they said they were a sorority called "Mi Pi Sexy."note
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: A main reason for the stable. Although they would defy it in their entrance as a trio, where they would tease going in for a kiss and then pull away.
- Girl Posse: The most immediately obvious aspect of their gimmick. In a twist, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky have a tendency to be overly cruel to Madison Rayne even when she is affiliated with them and show no remorse for it.
- Girly Bruiser: Never underestimate The Beautiful People. They may come out dressed in pink and shake their asses in front of the camera, but as soon as that bell rings, you're screwed. In IWA Puerto Rico, Angelina Love and Velvet Sky defeated Stefano and Paparazzi. Beating two reporters might not sound too impressive until you realize those two were also junior heavyweight champions!
- A Handful for an Eye: Typically hairspray.
- Heel–Face Turn: When Angelina returned from injury in 2010, Madison Rayne's ego had ballooned out of control — and Velvet opted to reunite with Angelina now both as faces. After a couple of weeks, Lacey got sick of Madison and turned face too. She left TNA soon after however.
- Hired Guns: They hired Mickie "Moose" Knuckles as a "bigger fish" to ODB. They were all later hired by Booker T, to protect his wife from ODB.
- Human Shield: Used Brittany as one when confronted by Havok
- Informed Attractiveness: Considered themselves to be the most attractive women in TNA, though the validity of that is debatable. Sky admitted to finding Brittany pretty but that did not result in them treating her nicely.
- Let Us Never Speak of This Again: Cute Kip's probation.
- Minidress of Power: They've taken to these at points.
- Misplaced Retribution: When their TV time, that of the Knockouts in general due to their spotlight stealing nature, started to get cut back on, The Beautiful People showed their frustration by jumping interviewer Christy Hemme.
- Ms. Fanservice: Quite frequently, but Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne's prematch warmup stretches take the cake. Compare their routine to say, Michelle McCool's work as a "trainer" for the other "superstars" on Smackdown and revel at the differences. It's just a matter of taking your pick (as long as it isn't Kip).
- Mud Wrestling: When Kevin Nash took over Impact, he made Madison Rayne the referee of a mud match between Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich. They agreed to it for the money.
- Named Weapons: Lacey Von Erich's pink baton, was their "Ugly Stick"
- No Celebrities Were Harmed: Angelina and Velvet said that they based the gimmicks on Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie.
- No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: The "leather and lace" match Velvet chose when awarded any match stipulation she wanted involved nothing of the sort. Just Love in handcuffs against herself, Von Erich and Rayne.
- The One Guy: Kip.
- One-Steve Limit: Angelina Love, Velvet Sky and Winter teamed up against a different Angelina, who was paired with "Cookie" and Sarita during the Jersey Shore "feud".
- Pet the Dog: Kip was the only one who tried to tell Velvet Sky and Angelina Love "The Governor" was not Sarah Palin prior to Taylor Wilde finally telling them after they were thoroughly humiliated and he was also the least interested in revenge, preventing Sky and Love from really messing her up when they found out.
- Power Stable
- They dominated not only in the ring, but outside of it as well. For a while through 2009-2010, no Knockout screen time came without them.
- The Beautiful People themselves were briefly part of a merging of power stables in AAA known as La Sociedad.
- In 2008 in TNA, they acted at times as part of the loose collective of self-professed "Bad Guys" Kurt Angle led while transitioning between the Angle Alliance and the Main Event Mafia.
- Putting the Band Back Together
- After being driven apart by Winter, Love and Sky got back together in Northeast Wrestling for the purpose of beating Rayne. They failed, thanks in part to Rosita, but Love continued to alternate between teaming with Sky and teaming with Winter in Family Wrestling Entertainment.
- Rayne and Sky out of necessity 2014, due to Gail Kim getting Lei'D Tapa as a bodyguard and in turn, Tapa teaming with Alpha Female... then Love returned with intent to rejoin. Sky accepted, which caused Rayne to take her chances on her own, leaving the original two members. And soon enough, they were back to tormenting Rayne.
- Rayne, Sky, and Love, again out of necessity in 2015 to combat the Dollhouse.
- Angelina and Velvet did it again in 2019 in Ring of Honor, this time with a new protégé in Mandy Leon, titled The Allüre.
- Red Baron: Briefly tried to call themselves the Vixens of Violence during their 2014 reunion. It didn't catch on.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Angelina was forced off of TV shortly after reforming the Beautiful People in 2015 due to her pregnancy.
- Retired Badass: Velvet, being semi-retired from in-ring competition, plays this role in The Allüre. She manages Angelina and Mandy Leon as a tag team, but has clearly shown willingness to get her hands dirty.
- The Runt at the End: How they posed for pictures with Moose, who probably knew what she was getting into when hired.
- The Scapegoat: After Angelina Love was deported, Velvet Sky and Madison Rayne claimed every bad thing they did was Angelina's fault and that they would be good for now on. Taylor Wilde and Sarita didn't believe them. This was proven a lie mere seconds later when they tried to jump Sarita and Taylor from behind and Lacey Von Erich debuted to help them.
- Sex for Services: Madison Rayne was sent to referee to Slick Johnson to ensure he helped Angelina Love retain her title. After breaking up with them, Rayne would continue this practice for her own benefit with referee Brian Stiffler. Didn't work with Earl Hebner though.
- Shaking the Rump: They all have but Velvet Sky is the most famous/infamous for it. (At least, as far as stable membership goes, she hasn't flat out mooned the crowd like Kip did as Mr. Ass)
- Shameful Strip
- Defied when Daffney was forced to do a striptease after the results of a "Lockbox Challenge". After a disturbing sequence where an irate Daffney undressed as slowly as possible, Lacey Von Erich attacked her and took Daffney's place.
- Velvet Sky and Angelina Love once promised to strip for the Impact Zone but instead forcibly stripped Brittany and Madison Rayne.
- Show With In A Show: Or so they called The Meanest Girls, Velvet Sky, Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich's "reality show".
- Signature Move: "Holla" double elbow drop.
- Strip Poker: When TNA switched Impact to Monday Nights, Sky and Rayne decided they and Von Erich were going to play strip poker for the good of the company because there was a TV poker fad going on. Midway through their game fellow porn star Val Venis challenged them to another.
- Stripperiffic: In lots of different ways. They're nothing if not experimental.
- Take That!: Once referred to "other people trying to be The Beautiful People but you're not" Hmm I wonder who they could possibly mean?
- Tap on the Head: Averted, even though it was an accident, Sky knocking out Von Erich was treated seriously and it broke her cheek bone.
- A Taste of Their Own Medicine: The Governor angle was part of a plot by Taylor Wilde to pay back the Beautiful People for their repeated attacks on her (and putting paper bags over her head) and yes, a makeover was part of the resulting Humiliation Conga.
- The Tease
- Love and Von Erich had a lot of fun flirting with Steve Harvey during the TNA editions of Family Feud.
- Angelina Love and Velvet Sky proclaimed they were going to celebrate Angelina Love's record breaking sixth knockout title win by stripping. When the time came, they instead taunted the audience. Love and Sky have also moved as if they were going to kiss during their entrance, only to pull away and laugh.
- Traumatic Hair Cut
- The screwy rules of a hair stipulation that pended on the results of three separate matches allowed them to ensure one was given to Roxxi Laveaux despite not even winning any of said matches, though they celebrated like they were on top of the wrestling world.
- They were unsuccessful in their efforts to shave ODB.
- They did manage to give one to The Governor though, and were directly responsible for one of Kong's.
- Unsportsmanlike Gloating: The Mi Pi Sexy celebration of Angelina Love's victory over Taylor Wilde and Awesome Kong, complete with male dancers.
- Villain Team-Up: Despite being among the first enemies of TNA's "Jersey Shore" trio, Velvet and Angelina ended up alongside two of the Bro Mans in 2014 after a double date, the third Bro Man teaming with Brooke Tessmacher at events away from TNA. When Brooke returned to the promotion in 2015, she wasn't welcomed into the new pseudo faction by Sky or Love. This came to an end though when Robbie E got Velvet Sky fired, refusing to risk his career on a "feast or fired" briefcase.
- Wedding Episode: On the season finale of Ring Ka King Angelina was given the choice between marrying Romeo and Zoravor. She picked the latter and the wedding went off without a hitch.
- Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Spiders in their case, or a least a big hairy tarantula called Poison. When Tara ended up contracted by Madison Rayne, Poison suspiciously disappeared and when Tara was granted her freedom, Poison came back...
- The Worf Effect: Madison Rayne took the most abuse from other members of the group but when it came time for one of The Beautiful People to lose a match, it was usually Velvet Sky who was defeated.
- Wrestling Doesn't Pay: Jacqueline accused them of being whores, Velvet Sky and Angelina Love did whore out Madison Rayne too. Their dialog suggests they are more like porn stars though. Ironically the porn star element was more obvious when they were still the baby face team "Velvet Love Entertainment".
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
- Once the Awesome Kong issue was finally settled, Angelina Love fired Cute Kip.
- Madison Rayne proclaimed this to Velvet Sky and Lacey Von Erich after she acquired the services of Tara. When that proved not to be enough to keep away Angelina Love, she tried to apologize but she botched it baldy enough to end with Sky and Von Erich taking Love's side.
