World Wrestling Entertainment (2004–2010) Diva Search and beginnings (2004–2005) Maria competed in the
Diva Search in 2004, 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. 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. 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. and Master of Ceremonies
Snoop Dogg at
WrestleMania XXIV in March 2008 After former
Playboy cover-girl
Ashley Massaro's return in early 2008, Kanellis engaged in backstage segments where Massaro suggested Maria should be on the cover of
Playboy. As a part of the storyline, Maria defeated
Beth Phoenix on February 18, to "earn the right" to be on the cover of the magazine. she then broke up with him. After the match, Maria passionately kissed the
Master of Ceremonies,
Snoop Dogg. On the October 17 episode of
SmackDown!, Maria won a "
Las Vegas Dice on a Pole" match to become the number one contender for the
WWE Divas Championship, but lost for the title against then-champion
Michelle McCool. Maria participated in the
Raw vs. Smackdown Divas match at
Survivor Series, where she eliminated
Jillian Hall before her team lost the match. On the December 5 episode of
SmackDown!, Maria pinned Divas Champion Michelle McCool, but she was defeated by
Maryse in a number one contender's match for the title two weeks later. At the
Armageddon on December 14, Maria was part of the winning team of a
Santa's Little Helper tag team match. On the December 26 episode of
SmackDown!, she served as a
special guest referee in the Divas Championship match between Maryse and McCool, where Maryse became the new champion. After the match, McCool turned
heel and attacked Maria. On the January 23, 2009, episode of
SmackDown, Maria returned and attacked McCool during a match. On the February 13 episode of
SmackDown, she defeated McCool following interference from
Eve Torres. Over the next several weeks, Maria competed in various tag-team matches against McCool, with Maria winning three out of four matches. She also competed at
WrestleMania XXV for the "Miss WrestleMania" crown, but was eliminated by Victoria. Throughout June, Maria served as the special guest referee in Diva matches. Maria made her in-ring return on the July 3 episode of
SmackDown, teaming with Melina to defeat
LayCool (Michelle McCool and
Layla). Soon after, she entered into an on-screen relationship with
Dolph Ziggler, despite her being a
fan favorite and him being a
villainous character. At
Night of Champions, Maria accompanied Ziggler to his match with
Rey Mysterio for
Intercontinental Championship. In the following weeks, Melina implied that Ziggler was cheating on Maria, which Maria did not believe. Maria and Ziggler later broke up on the October 6 episode of
SmackDown in a backstage segment, after she cost him his match with
John Morrison. Maria then took a brief hiatus from the ring to film the
Celebrity Apprentice, but returned on the December 4 episode of
SmackDown by helping
Mickie James fend off an attack by LayCool. She made her in-ring return the following week, teaming up with James to defeat LayCool. On December 14, Maria won the
Slammy Award for
Diva of the Year, which was voted for by WWE fans.
Ring of Honor (2011–2015) Maria confirmed on her
Twitter account that she would be appearing at
Ring of Honor (ROH)'s
Final Battle pay-per-view on December 23, 2011. She accompanied her real-life boyfriend,
Mike Bennett, as a
villainess, in a
three-way elimination match for the
ROH World Television Championship, where he won. On January 7, 2012, tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling, she was dubbed the "First Lady of ROH". At the June 21 tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling, Kanellis accompanied Bennett and
Brutal Bob Evans to the ring, where they lost to
Eddie Edwards and
Adam Cole. After the match, Kanellis, Bennett and Bob attacked Cole and Edwards, but were stopped by
Sara Del Rey, who Edwards had brought in to neutralize Kanellis. At the
Boiling Point on August 11, Maria and Bennett lost to Del Rey and Edwards in a mixed tag team match. In September 2012, Kanellis and Bennett became involved in a storyline with
Mike Mondo after he kissed Kanellis during one of Bennett's matches. On Glory by Honor in October, Bennett defeated Mondo to end the feud. On December 16 at
Final Battle 2012: Doomsday, Kanellis along with Bob accompanied Bennett to the ring where he defeated
Jerry Lynn in his final ROH match before retirement. On September 19, 2013, Maria and Bennett defeated The Brutal Burgers (Brutal
Bob Evans and
Cheeseburger) in an
Intergender tag team match. On October 26, during Bennett's match with Kevin Steen at the
Glory by Honor XII, Kanellis tried to interfere but was attacked by
Lisa Marie Varon. Kanellis and Bennett returned to ROH at the January 4, 2014, tapings of
Ring of Honor Wrestling which aired on February 1, with Kanellis helping Bennett defeat
Cedric Alexander. Throughout the summer, Maria and Bennett would get involved in
Matt Hardy's feud with
The Briscoes. During the feud, The Kingdom stole Jay Briscoe's title; Matt Hardy customized it as the Iconic Championship. At All Stars Extravaganza 6, Bennett and Maria customized the title as the Championship of Love. They were interrupted by Jay Briscoe's brother, Mark. Bennett and Kanellis left ROH after the December 19, 2015,
Ring of Honor Wrestling taping, after failing to come to terms on a new contract with the promotion.
Other promotions (2012–2015) On February 25, 2012, Maria won a tournament to determine the inaugural
Family Wrestling Entertainment (FWE)
Women's Champion. The victory also marked Kanellis' first championship in professional wrestling. She held the championship until March 24, when she lost it to
Winter in a three-way match also involving
Rosita. In July, Kanellis regained the championship from Winter. Kanellis successfully defended her title against
Angelina Love at
FWE: No Limits. In September 2012, Kanellis made her debut for
Chikara, managing Mike Bennett and
The Young Bucks to the finals of the
2012 King of Trios tournament. Alongside Gavin Loudspeaker, Kanellis hosted the 2014 National Pro Wrestling Day. On October 4, 2014, Maria lost the FWE Women's Championship against
Ivelisse Vélez New Japan Pro-Wrestling (2015) in 2015 On April 6, 2015, Kanellis managed Bennett and
Matt Taven to capture
New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW)'s
IWGP Tag Team Championship at
Invasion Attack 2015. The following day, NJPW announced that, due to Mike Bennet's politics backstage, the promotion had booked its first match involving female wrestlers since October 2002, which would see Kanellis team up with Bennett and Taven to take on
Amber Gallows,
Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson at
Wrestling Dontaku 2015 on May 3. Kanellis pinned Amber to win the match. On July 5 at
Dominion 7.5 in Osaka-jo Hall, Kanellis accompanied Bennett and Taven to their first IWGP Tag Team Championship defense against Doc Gallows and Karl Anderson. The Kingdom lost the match and the championship, after Doc Gallows
superkicked Kanellis, which distracted Bennett, leaving Taven alone to lose the match.
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2016–2017) On January 5, 2016, during
Impact Wrestling's premiere on
Pop TV, Maria made her debut as a heel introducing her husband as
"The Miracle" Mike Bennett. In February, Maria began a
feud with
Gail Kim after Kim refused Maria's help to make her go "mainstream". On the April 19 episode of
Impact Wrestling, Maria won a
ladder match to become the new
Impact Knockouts Division Commissioner. During the feud between Maria and Gail Kim, where a singles match was set up for
Slammiversary. On June 10, Maria then revealed on her
Instagram account that she suffered a broken hand, and therefore she was not medically cleared to compete at Slammiversary and her match with Kim was called off. Kim was therefore added to the Knockouts Championship match, making it a triple threat match. On the September 1, episode of
Impact Wrestling, Maria berated and forcibly pinned her apprentice
Allie to win the
TNA Women's Knockout Championship for the first time in her career. On October 2 at the
Bound for Glory pay-per-view, Kim defeated Maria for the title, ending her reign at 50 days and Gail Kim also defeated Maria to step down as the new TNA Knockouts Commissioner. After being convinced by
Kevin Owens, the couple didn't re-sign with TNA and, on March 1, they left the promotion.
Return to WWE (2017–2020) Return and managing Mike Kanellis (2017–2019) On June 18, 2017, Kanellis returned to WWE alongside her husband Mike Kanellis in his WWE debut at
Money in the Bank, establishing the Kanellis couple as
heels for the first time in Maria's WWE career. On the July 18 episode of
SmackDown, Maria helped Mike defeat
Sami Zayn in his WWE debut match. In September, Kanellis went on a leave of absence from WWE, following her pregnancy announcement. On January 22, 2018, at the
25th Anniversary of Raw, a visibly pregnant Maria was honored as part of a segment involving women considered legends that contributed to the company's success, including
The Bella Twins (
Brie and
Nikki),
Maryse,
Kelly Kelly,
Lilian Garcia,
Torrie Wilson,
Michelle McCool,
Terri Runnels, and
WWE Hall of Famers
Jacqueline and
Trish Stratus. Nine months later, on the October 10 episode of
205 Live, Maria officially made her television return as she interrupted a match between
Lince Dorado and
Lio Rush, allowing her husband, who attack Dorado. Three weeks later, on October 28, in her first match back in WWE since December 2009, Kanellis took part of the first ever all women's pay–per–view,
Evolution, where she competed in a battle royal for a future women's championship match but she was eliminated by the eventual winner
Nia Jax. Throughout the rest of the year, Kanellis would continue her
managerial role as she would accompany her husband Mike to his matches on
205 Live where both would appear regularly. On January 16,
Pro Wrestling Sheet's
Ryan Satin reported that Maria and Mike recently asked WWE to release them from their contracts. Maria would go on to deny that she asked for her release. Mike Johnson of
Pro Wrestling Illustrated reported that they were not backstage at the following episode of
205 Live. On January 27, 2019, at the
Royal Rumble, Kanellis returned for the first time since Evolution in the previous year and competed in her first women's
Royal Rumble match, entering at number 15 and lasting 08:12 minutes before she was eliminated by
Alicia Fox. She would not appear on television until the January 29, 2019
205 Live, where she accompanied Mike in a match against Kalisto, in which the latter won.
24/7 Champion and departure (2019–2020) On the July 1, 2019, episode of
Raw, Mike and Maria lost a mixed tag team match against
Seth Rollins and
Becky Lynch. During the match, Maria revealed she was pregnant with her and Bennett's second child. On the July 29 episode of
Raw, after Mike had won the
WWE 24/7 Championship from
R-Truth, he hid from a crowd of male wrestlers in his and Maria's locker room where Maria instructed Mike to lay down so she could pin him and win the title to become the 24/7 Champion, her first title in WWE. The following week, she lost the title back to Mike when he hugged her on the examination table during Maria's
OB-GYN appointment. She then became the focal point of a story on TV, where she would say that Mike was not the father of her child, resulting in her husband losing matches in a humiliating manner. However, the storyline was dropped. According to her, the storyline would end with Mike being the father. Kanellis hasn't appeared in WWE since 2019 and on April 15, 2020, Kanellis, her husband and many other employees were released from their WWE contracts due to budget cuts amidst the
COVID-19 pandemic.
Return to ROH (2020–2021) On December 20, 2020, ROH announced the return of Maria through their social media platforms, as Maria introduced "The Experience", where fans can discuss and influence about ROH online. On October 27, 2021, she was released by ROH among other wrestlers due to the company closing down.
Return to Impact Wrestling (2022) At
Hard To Kill, on January 8, 2022, Maria made her return to TNA, now known as
Impact Wrestling, along with Mike Bennett,
Matt Taven,
PCO, and
Vincent, where they attacked
Eddie Edwards,
Rich Swann,
Willie Mack,
Heath and Rhino. On October 8, 2022, it was announced that Bennett, Kanellis, Taven and Vincent had left
Impact Wrestling.
Women's Wrestling Army (2022–2023) On April 14, 2022, Maria founded
Women's Wrestling Army (WWA) in Chicago. Kanellis is the owner of the company alongside
Bobby Cruise, a Ring of Honor (ROH) ring announcer. As of 2023, WWA has been inactive though no official statement of the company folding has been announced.
All Elite Wrestling / Ring of Honor (2022–2025) Maria made her
All Elite Wrestling (AEW) debut on the October 14, 2022, episode of
Rampage, alongside Mike Bennett and Matt Taven, interrupting
FTR and
Shawn Spears' victory celebration. In 2023, Maria quietly left The Kingdom and began managing the team of
Cole Karter and
Griff Garrison in ROH, now the sister promotion of AEW. On January 31, 2025, Maria announced her departure from AEW. == Other media ==