Michelle gained national attention in 2005 when she appeared in a commercial for Internet domain registrar Go Daddy, which aired during Super Bowl XXXIX. She played a character named "Nikki Cappelli," who had trouble with a snapped spaghetti strap on her tank top as she testified before a panel holding broadcast censorship hearings. The commercial was a parody of the 2004 "wardrobe malfunction" in which Janet Jackson's right breast was exposed. She then became widely known as "Miss GoDaddy.com" and the "Go Daddy Girl."

Prior to her breakout moment, she had just been a piece of eye candy used in the background that many wrestling fans didn't even know the name of. The commercial quickly led WWE to giving her a push as a result of her newfound fame, and then just as quickly, it was dropped within a few weeks.

Since then, Michelle has done several commercials with Go Daddy, including with auto racing driver Danica Patrick, none of which garnering the amount of publicity as the first.

Rather than lay content at being a mere piece of eye candy, Michelle started training to become a professional wrestler in 2005. She was a legitimate athlete, having played college basketball, and quickly improved within a relatively short period of time.

In November 2005, Michelle signed on to pose for the April 2006 issue of Playboy, resulting in a big push leading through WrestleMania 22. In the meantime, Michelle became a heel, joining forces with fellow WWE Divas Torrie Wilson and Victoria. They became known as the "Ladies in Pink," and later "Vince's Devils." The alliance broke up after Michelle and Victoria turned on Wilson during the Playboy cover unveiling. This feud led to a match at WrestleMania in which both Playboy cover girls competed in a "Playboy Pillow Fight." Wilson won the match, but the feud continued sporadically in backstage segments where Michelle was depicted as Vince McMahon's "sex slave."

In the spring of 2007, Michelle was beginning to receive more air-time and higher profile matches, winning tag matches that pitted her with Mickie James against Victoria and Melina. She also picked up several wins against the latter two in singles matches, leading to a match at the One Night Stand pay-per-view where Michelle defeated Melina in a swimming pool full of pudding. The feud culminated two years ago today at Vengeance: Night of Champions when she defeated Melina to capture the WWE Women's Championship, becoming the first ever Diva Search contestant to win the Women's title. Michelle retained her title against Melina in a rematch at the following month's pay-per-view and debuted a new finisher called "The Candywrapper."