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Maria Kanellis (born February 25, 1982 in Ottawa, Illinois) better known simply as Maria, is an American professional wrestler, currently signed to World Wrestling Entertainment performing on its RAW brand. She also made 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.

World Wrestling Entertainment

2004-2005

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

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. 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.

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.


On the October 31 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 by Trish Stratus and Mickie James.

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 amazed fans by being in the bottom three but was eliminated by both Melina and Trish Stratus. 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. On the December 5 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."

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.

2006-2007

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 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 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 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. 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.

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

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. Maria competed in the first ever Extreme Strip Poker segment on ECW on Sci-Fi on October 10 representing RAW. During the competition, she had a fight with Candice Michelle, who claimed she was cheating, and they both stripped each other. 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. However, on the October 30 edition of RAW, Maria lost in the semi-finals of the Tournament against Lita.


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 WWE Monday Night RAW Maria was forced to wrestle Umaga from orders of Jonathan Coachman.

At New Year's Revolution 2007, 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. 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 with Jeff.

In June 2007 Maria began an on-and-off romance with Santino Marella, appearing in segments together as an on-screen couple. She also resumed competing in the ring occasionally, often jobbing in short matches. On the November 5, 2007 edition of RAW Marella was confronted by the returning Stone Cold Steve Austin for criticising 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." After Ashley's return in 2008, Kanellis has been engaging in backstage segments where Ashley attempts to suggest Maria should be on the cover of Playboy, but Santino Marella interrupts.

In wrestling

* Finishing moves

* Multiple bulldog variations

* Running
* Jumping
* Wheelbarrow

* Signature moves

* Diving crossbody
* Headscissors takedown
* Bronco buster
* Handstand into a neckscissors followed by a heel kick
* Split-legged fist drop followed by a pin
* Corner foot choke

* 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. The theme was originally written and produced for Stacy Keibler, however, Keibler departed WWE before she could use it.

Personal life

She has a sister named Janny, and one brother.

She enjoyed watching The Hardy Boyz and Lita when she was growing up and has high respect for them.

She dated fellow wrestler CM Punk. She confirmed it in an interview with The Sun after pictures of the two kissing surfaced on the Internet.However, the two have since broken up in June 2007.

Maria has been asked to follow in the footsteps of other WWE Divas and pose for Playboy, but she refused because she did not wish to embarrass her sister, who was still in high school at the time. However, it has now been reported that Maria will appear nude for an upcoming issue of Playboy.

Her favorite television shows include Lost, Entourage, Heroes and The Girls Next Door.

On November 5, 2007, she appeared on an episode of Family Feud with King Booker, Queen Sharmell, Batista, Mr. Kennedy, John Cena, Ric Flair, Candice Michelle, Layla, Michelle McCool, and Jonathan Coachman.

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

Will be appearing on the February 6, 2008 episode of Project Runway with Layla, Candice Michelle, Torrie Wilson, and Michelle McCool