Maria Kanellis

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Maria Kanellis
An image of Maria Kanellis.
Statistics
Ring name(s) Maria
Billed height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[1]
Billed weight 120 lb (54 kg/8.6 st)
Born February 25, 1982 (1982-02-25) (age 26)
Ottawa, Illinois[2]
Billed from Chicago, Illinois
Trained by Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut November 4, 2004

Maria Kanellis (born February 25, 1982)[1][3] better known simply as Maria, is an American professional wrestler and model, currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment performing on its Raw brand. She also made regular appearances in WWE's training territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Contents

Before wrestling

Kanellis graduated from Ottawa Township High School in 2000, before spending some time as a student at Northern Illinois University.[4] In 2004, Maria was a contestant on the reality show, Outback Jack.[4][5] She was shown looking for love and made it to the final three before being sent home.[6]

World Wrestling Entertainment

2004–2005

She competed in the RAW Diva Search in 2004, and even though she did not win the contest, she was hired, along with several other contestants. Maria made appearances at the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) training facility, but was not officially a part of the roster. During her time in OVW, she had a feud with Sosay which led to an Evening Gown match on an edition of OVW TV.

Maria was brought on to Raw as a backstage interviewer.[7]. She quickly earned a reputation as the oblivious Raw backstage reporter - Maria seemed to ask the wrong questions, irritating and amusing WWE Superstars and Divas. For example, she asked Chris Masters about his nickname, "The Masterpiece" and erroneously called him "The Masturbate." Despite being in WWE for such a short time, Maria had numerous memorable moments, including interviewing Eugene and William Regal after they had won the World Tag Team Championships from La Résistance, where an overwhelmed Eugene doused Maria in chocolate milk as part of a post-match celebration.

Maria in the ring.
Maria in the ring.

In 2005, Maria began to get very physical - in, and out, of the ring. She competed in her first official match on the January 10, 2005 edition of Raw. She faced off against Christy Hemme in a Lingerie Pillow Fight, but lost after being hit with a pillow by Lilian Garcia and then tripped by Hemme, who followed by pinning Maria with a bridge.[8] She also competed in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Diva Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday for the WWE Women's Championship but was the first to be eliminated by Trish Stratus and Mickie James.[9]

On November 14, Maria competed in a non-title Diva Battle Royal at the Eddie Guerrero tribute Raw show. Maria stood by herself for most of the match, only getting involved when she saw the opportunity to eliminate a competitor, a strategy that proved effective as she eliminated both Jillian Hall and Victoria. She was in the bottom three but was eliminated by both Melina and Trish Stratus.[10] On the November 28 edition of Raw, Maria interviewed then-RAW General Manager Eric Bischoff and asked him whether or not he thought he was going to be fired. He then booked her a match with Kurt Angle out of spite. Maria was laid out with the Angle Slam, but John Cena came down for the save.[11] On the December 5 edition of Raw, Maria testified in the trial against Bischoff as General Manager. She first asked Mick Foley to question her with Mr. Socko, before answering, unusually intelligently, "Last week Bischoff abused his power in a way that was both malicious and capricious, and it’s this rash discourse that has led to a locker room of disdain and mutiny, and it should be grounds for his immediate dismissal."[12][13]

2006–2007

On the January 2, 2006 edition of Raw, Maria was placed in a match with Victoria. After Victoria missed a splash in the corner, Maria rolled her up for the upset victory. Afterwards, she was attacked by Vince's Devils, but she was saved by Ashley Massaro, who fought them off until they got the upperhand. During the commercial break that night, Vince McMahon announced a Bra & Panties Gauntlet match for New Year's Revolution between all five girls that had previously been in the ring.[14] At New Year's Revolution, Maria was the first to enter the Gauntlet match and eliminated Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson before being eliminated by Victoria. The match was ultimately won by Massaro.[9]

On the February 6 edition of Raw, Maria teamed with John Cena (who earlier that evening kissed her to calm her nerves) to take on Edge and Lita in the main event. Maria ended up getting beat down by Lita, but scored the victory after a Spear meant for Cena hit Lita.[15] On the February 20 edition of Raw, Maria competed in a #1 Contenders Battle Royal match for the WWE Women's Championship. Maria, along with Ashley, eliminated Victoria, but she was eventually eliminated by the more experienced Mickie James.[16] On March 6, Maria lost a singles match to Lita after missing a clothesline and falling prey to Lita's DDT. After the match, Edge was preparing to spear Maria, but Mick Foley ran in to make the save.[17]

Maria got her first chance at the Women's Championship in singles action on the April 10, 2006 edition of Raw, being the first person to challenge the newly crowned Mickie James, but Maria was defeated with little effort.[18] On October 16, Maria competed in and won a Fatal Four Way Bra and Panties match against Victoria, Candice Michelle, and Torrie Wilson to advance to the semi-finals in the Women's Championship Tournament.[19] On the October 30 edition of Raw, however, Maria lost in the semi-finals of the Tournament against Lita.[20]

Santino Marella and Maria.
Santino Marella and Maria.

On the January 1, 2007 edition of Raw, Maria attempted to interview Kevin Federline, but was instead slapped by Melina and called a "bitch." This led to a match between the two later that night, with Melina winning with a roll up following a failed attempt at a dropkick. On Raw, Maria was forced to wrestle Umaga from orders of Jonathan Coachman. At New Year's Revolution, Maria and Candice Michelle ran to the ring during the Women's Championship match between Victoria and Mickie James to stop Melina from interfering, helping their friend Mickie to retain the championship.[21] For two consecutive weeks afterwards, Maria had two tag team partners - Mickie James and Jeff Hardy, respectively - to take on Melina and a partner. She lost one tag match,[22] but won the other with Jeff.[23]

In June 2007 Maria began an on-and-off romance with Santino Marella, together as a couple. She also resumed competing in the ring occasionally, often jobbing in short matches. On the November 5 edition of Raw Marella was confronted by the returning Stone Cold Steve Austin for criticizing his movie, The Condemned. The argument ended as Marella received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin, who then went backstage, only to return with a Budweiser beer truck to hose down Santino and Maria with beer.[24]

2008

After Ashley Massaro's return in early 2008, Kanellis engaged in backstage segments where Ashley suggested Maria should be on the cover of Playboy, to the disdain of Marella. On the February 18 edition of Raw, Maria defeated Beth Phoenix to earn the right to be on the cover of Playboy.[25] Maria and Ashley were defeated by Phoenix and Melina at WrestleMania XXIV in a Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves and Signature moves
  • Wrestlers managed
  • Theme music
  • Maria originally used a generic, techno-like theme called "Party".
  • In May 2006, she was given the theme "With Legs Like That" by Zebrahead.

Championships and accomplishments

She came in 84th place on FHM list of The Sexiest Women of 2008.

Personal life

Diva Maria in Iraq
Diva Maria in Iraq

She has a sister named Janny and one brother.[1][28]

Kanellis enjoyed watching The Hardy Boyz and Lita when she was growing up and has high respect for them.[29]

She dated fellow wrestler CM Punk, which she confirmed after pictures of the two kissing surfaced on the Internet.[30][31] The two broke up in June 2007.[32][33]

Maria had been asked to follow in the footsteps of other WWE Divas and pose for Playboy, but she initially refused because she did not wish to embarrass her sister, who was still in high school at the time.[34] She eventually posed for the cover of the April 2008 issue, with an accompanying nude pictorial.[4][35] For the pictorial, Maria chose her own wardrobe and made the black hooded jacket she wore in one of the photos.[26]

On November 5, 2007, she appeared on an episode of Family Feud with several other WWE superstars.[36] She also appeared on the February 6, 2008 episode of Project Runway with some of the other WWE Divas.[37]

Maria designs most of her ring attire and several of her own clothes.[38]

References

  1. ^ a b c Maria Kanellis (April 10, 2007). Love Notes from Maria, No. 6. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
  2. ^ Scott Fishman (April 17, 2008). Good times for diva Maria. Retrieved on 2008-04-17.
  3. ^ Maria Kanellis (January 25, 2007). Love Notes from Maria, No. 2. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
  4. ^ a b c Mike Murphy (February 13, 2008). Ottawa native makes cover of Playboy, Kanellis also pictorial subject in April issue. The Times. Retrieved on 2008-02-14.
  5. ^ Outback Jack Contestant - Maria. TBS. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
  6. ^ Outback Jack - Episode 7. TBS. Retrieved on 2007-06-15.
  7. ^ RAW - 1st November 2004 Results.
  8. ^ RAW - 10 January 2005 Results.
  9. ^ a b PWI Staff. "Pro Wrestling Illustrated presents: 2007 Wrestling almanac & book of facts", "Wrestling’s historical cards", Kappa Publishing, 2007, pp. 119. 
  10. ^ RAW - 14 November 2005 Results.
  11. ^ RAW - 28 November 2005 Results.
  12. ^ Trial of Eric Bischoff Video. WWE.com. Retrieved on 2007-03-19.
  13. ^ RAW - 5 December 2005 Results.
  14. ^ RAW - 2nd January 2006 Results.
  15. ^ RAW - 6 February 2006 Results.
  16. ^ RAW - 20 February 2006 Results.
  17. ^ RAW - 6 March 2006 Results.
  18. ^ RAW - 10 April 2006 Results.
  19. ^ RAW - 16 October 2006 Results.
  20. ^ RAW - 30 October 2006 Results.
  21. ^ New Year's Revolution 2007 Results.
  22. ^ RAW - 8 January 2007 Results.
  23. ^ RAW - 15 January 2007 Results.
  24. ^ http://www.wwe.com/shows/raw/articles/5052166/stonecoldsantino
  25. ^ WWE Raw 18 February, 2008 Results. Pro-Wrestling Edge. Retrieved on 2008-04-06.
  26. ^ a b c Sarah Preston (March 2008). The Dirty Dozen: WWE Diva Maria. Playboy.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-19.
  27. ^ WWE Magazine, April 2008, page 18, 2008
  28. ^ Lawson, Amy (November 3, 2006). Maria aspires for a lot more. Retrieved on 2007-01-15.
  29. ^ Maria Kanellis (January 18, 2007). Love Notes from Maria, No. 1. Retrieved on 2007-01-25.
  30. ^ The Lilsboys (June 26, 2006). Maria: I'm just one big fan. The Sun. Retrieved on 2007-04-12.
  31. ^ wrestlescoop.com. CM Punk making out with Maria Kannelis. Retrieved on 2007-06-05.
  32. ^ Rob McNichol (October 16, 2007). Maria: I’ve split from CM Punk. The Sun. Retrieved on 2007-10-16.
  33. ^ Between the Ropes radio and Wrestling Observer Newsletter (October 31, 2007). Maria Kanellis Interview on Between the Ropes. Retrieved on 2007-11-03.
  34. ^ Tim Baines (November 6, 2006). Maria's a red-hot Diva with dreams. Ottawa Sun. Retrieved on 2007-05-23.
  35. ^ Coming next month. Playboy.com (2008-02-08). Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  36. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (October 30, 2007). Tune in to WWE week on 'Family Feud'. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-11-04.
  37. ^ WWE: Superstars > Divas > Diva Dish > Diva Dish: 'Runway' Divas
  38. ^ Medalis, Kara A. (November 9, 2007). Diva Dish: Diva talents and Dreams. WWE. Retrieved on 2007-11-09.

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