Barbie Blank declines Evolution II due to family, signs Legends deal

Former WWE Divas Champion Barbie Blank, known in the ring as Kelly Kelly, said she turned down a last minute invitation to appear at WWE Evolution II this year because of family obligations, not because she insisted on being booked in a match. Speaking on the Insight podcast with Chris Van Vliet, Blank also reflected on her 2012 WWE release and confirmed she signed a WWE Legends deal earlier this year, saying she remains grateful for the company that launched her career.

Blank said the Evolution II invitation came too late to work with her schedule. The show was in Atlanta and arrived on a weekend she had set aside for her children, she said, adding that her husband was working a demanding shift that complicated childcare. "It was a last minute call," she told Van Vliet. "If it was on the West Coast, I could have made it work. I could have figured something out. But my husband was having to work. It was just a lot." Blank said WWE understood her reasons and that she would have attended without hesitation if the event had been in Los Angeles.

Her explanation was aimed at countering online reports that she had rejected the invitation because she demanded an in ring return....