Maria Kanellis

Biography

Mary Louis Kanellis-Bennett (born February 25, 1982) is an American professional wrestler, manager, promoter, singer and model. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, TNA, All Elite Wrestling, and Ring of Honor. Outside of wrestling, she is known for her 2008 Playboy magazine pictorial and 2010 appearances on the Celebrity Apprentice television series. Kanellis' career began as a contestant on the reality show Outback Jack in 2004. In the same year, she placed fifth in the Diva Search, and was later hired by WWE as a backstage interviewer. Kanellis began competing in the ring as a professional wrestler in 2005 and received the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year in 2009. She released her debut album Sevin Sins in 2010 and departed WWE later that year. After departing WWE, she worked for Ring of Honor (ROH) and Impact Wrestling then Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) often appearing with her husband Mike Bennett. In TNA, she is a former TNA Knockouts Champion. Along with Bennett, she returned to WWE from 2017 to 2020 and held the WWE 24/7 Championship once.

== Early life == Kanellis was born in Ottawa, Illinois. She has Greek origins. She has two younger siblings; a brother and sister named Bill and Janny, respectively. Kanellis grew up with an interest in playing sports, particularly volleyball, basketball, and softball. She graduated from Ottawa Township High School in 2000, and then went on to study at Northern Illinois University. Before her career in wrestling began, Kanellis regularly competed in beauty pageants.

== Professional wrestling career ==

=== World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2010) ===

==== Diva Search and beginnings (2004–2005) ==== Maria competed in the Diva Search in 2004, deciding to enter the contest after seeing an advertisement while watching Raw. Even though she only placed fifth in the contest, she was hired by the company. She stood out in the contest by giving fellow contestant Carmella DeCesare the finger after being eliminated from the contest. Maria began making appearances in Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW), WWE's then-developmental territory. She contributed booking ideas, and her work at OVW earned her a spot on the Raw brand roster. Maria was brought on to Raw as a ditzy backstage interviewer and the host of WWE KissCam in November 2004. Her gimmick involved her asking wrong questions, irritating and amusing the roster. In 2005, Maria began wrestling and was defeated in her first official match on the January 10, 2005, episode of Raw by Christy Hemme in a Lingerie Pillow Fight. On the March 14 episode of Raw, one of Maria's fillings legitimately fell out after she was slapped by Trish Stratus. 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. On November 14, Maria competed in a non-title Diva Battle Royal at the Eddie Guerrero tribute Raw show, where she was one of the last three women left but was eliminated by Melina and Trish Stratus. 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, where Maria was laid out with the Angle Slam and nearly put in an Ankle Lock while unconscious before being saved by John Cena. 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.

==== Various relationships (2006–2008) ====

On the January 2, 2006, episode of Raw, Maria was attacked and stripped of her clothes by Vince's Devils (Victoria, Torrie Wilson, and Candice Michelle), but she was saved by Ashley Massaro. During a commercial break that night, Vince McMahon announced a Gauntlet Bra & Panties Match for New Year's Revolution between all five girls. At the event, Maria was the first to enter the Gauntlet match and eliminated Michelle and Wilson before being eliminated by Victoria. The match was ultimately won by Massaro. On the February 6, episode of Raw, Jonathan Coachman announced that Edge and Lita would have fought the mixed team of John Cena and Maria in the main event, and before the match John Cena kissed Maria, who came into his locker room to express her nervousness for the competition (despite the kiss, no on-screen romance between the pair was born). Maria scored the victory after a spear meant for Cena hit Lita. The following month, Lita defeated Maria in a one-sided singles match. On the April 10 episode of Raw, Maria received a title match for Mickie James' WWE Women's Championship, but lost. On October 16, Maria won a Fatal Four-Way Bra and Panties match against Victoria, Candice, and Wilson to advance to the semi-finals in a Women's Championship Tournament. Maria, however, lost in the semi-finals to Lita. On the November 6 episode of Raw, Maria was forced to compete in a match against Umaga by Eric Bischoff or be fired. Maria was completely destroyed and rag-dolled by Umaga before the match could begin, suffering a Samoan drop and running hip attack before John Cena ran out to stop the assault.

On the January 1, 2007, episode of Raw, Maria attempted to interview Kevin Federline, but was instead slapped by Melina. This led to a match between the two later that night, which Melina won. At New Year's Revolution, Maria and Candice ran to the ring during the Women's Championship match between Victoria and Mickie James to stop Melina from interfering, helping James retain the title. In the following weeks she faced Melina in two tag team matches, where she won one. Maria began an on-screen romance with Santino Marella in June. On the November 5 episode of Raw, Marella was confronted by the returning Stone Cold Steve Austin for criticizing his movie, The Condemned. As a part of the storyline, the argument ended as Marella received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin.