Maria Louise Kanellis (born February 25, 1982)[3] is an American singer-songwriter, actress, model, and professional wrestler, also known simply as Maria. She is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment, and is working for Ring of Honor as the valet of Mike Bennett.
Kanellis's career began as a contestant on the reality show Outback Jack in 2004. In the same year, she placed fifth in the Raw Diva Search, but was later hired by WWE as a backstage interviewer. Kanellis began competing in the ring as a wrestler in 2005. She also posed for the April 2008 cover of Playboy magazine, which was incorporated into a storyline on Raw. She released her debut album Sevin Sins on April 13, 2010 on iTunes.
Early lifeKanellis was born in Ottawa, Illinois.[5] She has two younger siblings; a brother named Bill and a sister Janny.[2][6][7] Kanellis grew up with an interest in playing sports, particularly volleyball, basketball, and softball and graduated from Ottawa Township High School in 2000, before spending some time as a student at Northern Illinois University.[8] Before her career in wrestling began, Kanellis regularly competed in beauty pageants.[6]
Diva Search and debut (2004–2005)
Maria in the ring in 2006 She competed in the Raw Diva Search in 2004,[6] deciding to enter the contest after seeing an advertisement while watching Raw.[9] Even though she only placed fifth in the contest, she was hired by the company.[5] She stood out in the contest by giving fellow contestant Carmella DeCesare the finger after being eliminated from the contest.[5] Maria began making appearances at the Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) training facility under head trainer Paul Heyman.[5] She contributed booking ideas, and her work at OVW earned her a spot on the Raw brand roster.[5] Maria was brought on to Raw as a ditzy backstage interviewer and the host of WWE KissCam in November 2004.[10] Maria was given the dumb blonde gimmick despite having brown hair. She quickly earned a reputation as the oblivious backstage reporter—Maria seemed to ask the wrong questions, irritating and amusing WWE Superstars and Divas.[5][6]
In 2005, Maria began to get very physical—in and out of the ring. She was defeated in her first official match on the January 10, 2005 episode of Raw by Christy Hemme in a Lingerie Pillow Fight.[5][6] 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.[11] In another physical moment, Stratus slapped Maria so hard that one of her fillings legitimately fell out.[5] 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 one of the last three women left in the match but was eliminated by both Melina and Trish Stratus.[12]
On the November 28 episode 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 in a match with Kurt Angle out of spite, and Maria was laid out with the Angle Slam.[13] As a result, one week later, Maria testified in the trial against Bischoff, who was being fired because of his controversial actions as General Manager.[14] As Mick Foley questioned her, she answered, "Last week Bischoff abused his power in a way that was both malicious and capricious, and it's this rash of discourse that ultimately led to a locker room of disdain and mutiny, and it should be grounds for his immediate dismissal."[15]
Maria KanellisBilled height
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Billed weight
130 lb (59 kg)[3]
Born
February 25, 1982 (age 30)[3]
Ottawa, Illinois[4][5]
Resides
Los Angeles, California
Billed from
Chicago, Illinois[1
Trained by
Ohio Valley Wrestling[5]
Dave Finlay
Florida Championship Wrestling
Debut
November 1, 2004[3]
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