Maria Kanellis
Born	(1982-02-25) February 25, 1982 (age 42) Ottawa, Illinois
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Maria
Billed height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Billed weight	120 lb (54 kg)
Trained by	Ohio Valley Wrestling
Debut	November 4, 2004

Maria Kanellis (Born February 25 1982)^[1] better known simply as Maria, is an American professional wrestler, working for World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW brand. She also makes regular appearances in WWE's training territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling.

Before wrestling

Maria was a contestant on the 2004 reality show, Outback Jack. She was shown looking for love and made it to the final three before being sent home. Maria had also won several beauty pageants before joining WWE.

World Wrestling Entertainment

RAW 2004

She competed in the RAW Diva Search 2004. Despite not winning the Diva Search, she was hired anyway.

Maria was brought on to RAW as a backstage interviewer. She was given a "dumb blonde" / innocent teenager style gimmick (despite being a brunette), playing on mistakes she made in previous weeks. Her first scripted "ditziness" was during an interview of Shawn Michaels when she referred to wrestler Edge as "The Edge". This "dumb" gimmick saw her in many comic skits, most notably during interviews involving WWE Champion John Cena, The Big Show, and Mick Foley. 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 alike. 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 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.

2005

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 Christy Hemme, who followed by pinning Maria with a bridge.

On the October 31, 2005 edition of RAW, Maria competed in a Halloween Costume Contest, dressing as an angel. She received a good pop for her contributions to the contest, but it ended as a no-contest when Victoria and Mickie James got into a fight, and Maria helped the other divas get Vince's Devils out of the ring. She also competed in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Diva Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday 2005 for the WWE Women's Championship but was the first to be eliminated.

On November 14, 2005 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. On the November 28, 2005 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 WWE Superstar Kurt Angle out of spite. Maria was laid out with the Angle Slam, but John Cena came down for the save. On the December 5, 2005 edition of RAW, Maria testified in the trial against Eric 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".^[2]

On the December 2005 Tribute to the Troops, the RAW Superstars visited Afghanistan to perform for American soldiers. Maria and Candice Michelle defeated Ashley Massaro and Trish Stratus in a Santa's Helper Diva Tag Team Match.

2006

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, 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 2006 between all five girls that had previously been in the ring. 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 Ashley Massaro.

On the February 6, 2006 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. On the February 20, 2006 edition of RAW, Maria competed in a Number One Contender Battle Royal Match for the Women's title. Maria along with Ashley eliminated Victoria, but she was eventually eliminated by the more experienced Mickie James. On the March 6, 2006 episode of RAW, 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.

During this time, Maria also began hosting the Kiss Cam segment on WWE.com Unlimited.

Maria would get her first chance at the WWE 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. In October 2006, Maria competed in the first ever Extreme Strip Poker segment on ECW on Sci-fi on October 10, 2006 representing RAW. during the competition, she had a fight with Candice Michelle, who claimed she was cheating that night, and then they both stripped each other. On the October 16, 2006 edition of RAW, 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 WWE Women's Championship Tournament. However, on the October 30, 2006 edition of RAW, Maria lost in the semi-finals of the Tournament against Lita.

2007

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, Maria hit Melina with the bulldog to win. After the match Melina attacked Maria. Mickie James saves Maria, by hitting Melina with a DDT. At New Year's Revolution 2007 Maria and Candice Michelle went down to the ring during the Women's Championship match between Victoria and Mickie James to stop Melina from interfering. For two consecutive weeks afterwards, Maria would have two tag team partners - Mickie James and Jeff Hardy, respectively - to take on Melina and a partner. She lost one tag match, but won the other. Her feud with Melina would culminate in a No. 1 Contender's Match for the Women's Championship, which she again lost via submission.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves

• Bronco Buster
• Bulldog

Trivia

• She has a 17-year old sister, Janny^[3] and a 22-year old brother, Bill, who served in the National Guard ^{[citation needed]}.
• She enjoyed watching The Hardy Boyz and Lita when she was growing up and has high respect for them.^[4]

References

External links

• WWE Profile
• Maria Kanellis at IMDb
• Unofficial Maria Myspace ^[1]