Maria Q+A - Maria Kanellis Cena John Cena married

WWE diva Maria Kanellis appeared as a SUNshine Girl in the SUN newspapers on Friday, March 29, 2008, to promote her Bunnymania match at Wrestlemania XXIV, and the WWE's return to Canada in May. Photo by Alex Urosevic, Toronto Sun


Maria as a SUNShine Girl Photo Gallery


WWE Diva Maria Kanellis graciously took the time to answer some questions from the SLAM! Wrestling mailbag during her recent visit to Toronto.

But first, a few things you may not have known about Maria:

- She is an avid book reader. "I just finished The Golden Compass, which is a kids book, so that was a great one. I used to read a lot of John Grisham books. I’ve read Your Best Life now. Right now I’m reading Dante’s Inferno. I’m also reading a book about the music industry and The Keys to Thinking Positive, which is another book. There’s so many different things that I read. I don’t really have a particular author that’s my favorite. I’ve read The Da Vinci Code and all of the books by Dan Brown, so I’ve read a lot."

- She’s been a wrestling fan since she was a little girl: "Oh yeah, definitely," she laughed at the question. "I used to marry my Barbie dolls to Rowdy Roddy Piper. I loved wrestling growing up. I always liked the Piper’s Pit. I just thought it was so great and a lot of fun."

- She just started playing the drums a few months ago. Her father played the drums as a child.


- She takes vocal and acting classes when she can.

- She just bought a place in Los Angeles, so she now has residences in L.A. and Chicago, her hometown.

- She is currently not single: "I was single; I was single for a long time and then I had met someone and I had started dating him for about four and a half to five months. I had split up from the guy I was dating nine months ago, and then I found somebody and started dating them." - What she looks for in a guy: "Someone that I can count on. Someone that would be there, no matter if it’s good days, bad days, and not just there for when times are great, but can stick it out when times are tough. It’s kind of the most important thing in the world to know that the person you care about the most is also going to be there when you need them the most. And not only that, but someone who can make you laugh, and someone who has a great butt (laughs). Definitely someone who could understand me traveling, and that I’m not always going to be around, and can get that. So there is a lot, but just a good person."

And now, the questions from the SLAM! Wrestling mailbag:

Q: Hey Maria, if you had to make a choice between becoming Women's Champion or posing for Playboy again then which one would it be? [Chris B., Isle Of Wight, England]

Maria: Women’s Champion because it’s such a prestigious thing. Becoming Women’s Champion is more than just winning a match. It’s representing the women of WWE and even if I were to get it for a minute or a second, it would be an incredible experience.

Q: What do you think about the Diva Search? [Jeff Powell, Winter Haven, Florida]

Maria: I think you kind of make your own. The Diva Search is a great avenue for women to get involved with the WWE for different places in life and different places of the world. Not all of the girls coming into it are wrestlers or even wrestling fans; it just so happened that I had watched wrestling and I loved wrestling when I came into it. Other women that came in weren’t necessarily huge wrestling fans but they also did really well. If you look at the roster, Candice Michelle, Michelle McCool and I all came from the same diva search and it was just a great experience for all three of us.

Q: If you had the opportunity to wrestle any female wrestler, past or present, who would you choose and why? [David Thomas (Maria's No.1 fan), Sheffield, England]

Maria: Gosh, hmm. I’ve wrestled Trish [Stratus], I’ve wrestled Lita. I’ve been in the ring with Victoria and Torrie [Wilson]. Let’s see, let’s find a girl from the past history. Mae [Young] or Moolah, definitely. I’ve been in the ring with them before doing different things, but I’ve never wrestled either one of them, so I’d love to do that.

Q: What is your favorite finisher from anyone in any federation at any time period? [Tom Blouin, Chicago, Illinois]

Maria: Let’s see. I have always liked Undertaker’s finisher. I mean that’s kind of the finisher of all finishers, especially going into Wrestlemania where he’s undefeated.

Q: Do you still keep in touch with any diva search girls who aren't with the company anymore? [Jackie G., Chicago, Illinois]

Maria: No. I haven’t talked with any of them. For a while I had kept in touch with Tracy, but I don’t talk to her. I haven’t talked to her in a very long time. Just kind of fell out of touch. Some of the girls I would love to speak with, other ones I probably wouldn’t want to talk to, but no I don’t.




What to do with a problem like Maria? Check out more photos!

Q: Do you have a MySpace account? [Warren N., Seattle Washington]
Maria: No, I do not. I don’t like MySpace, I don’t like Facebook. Too many people fake me and fake my little sister and so I don’t like any of it.

Q: Who are your influences? [Lisa D., Yonkers, New York]

Maria: Influences. I would say Trish was always a big influence of mine, and Lita was always an influence from a wrestling standpoint. I always liked watching Coach’s (Jonathan Coachman) interviews because he interacted extremely well with The Rock. But when it comes to outside influences other than wrestling, I love Lucille Ball. I think she has a great humour to her. So I love her. A lot of time, I like to take from her a little bit, because she has great timing, great comedic timing. I love Angelina Jolie. Her sex appeal is great, especially in Gone in 60 Seconds . Strong woman, but also extremely sexy, so I love that.

Q: Which did you find more intimidating: walking out in front of a WWE crowd for the first time or posing nude for Playboy? [Joe Bottari, New York, New York]

Maria: Definitely walking in front of the WWE crowd for the first time. Posing for Playboy, it wasn’t intimidating to me at all. I wasn’t nervous, I wasn’t fearful of how it would turn out. When I walked out in front of the WWE crowd for the first time, I was 22 years old. I was pretty much a baby. I hadn’t been really well traveled. I traveled some, but I hadn’t been out there too much. I had done bikini contests, but that’s nothing compared to 20,000 people. So my confidence wasn’t necessarily there. When I posed for Playboy, it was pretty much, 'Well, here’s me, I have nothing to hide, so here you go.' Just a bit different attitude.

Q: If you could wrestle any diva from the past or present, who would it be and why? [Annette M., North Judson, Indiana]

Maria: Like I said, Mae or Moolah, because they are definitely the history of wrestling. They made a huge impact on women’s wrestling.

Q: Maria, during the past few years we have seen a number of divas branch out into other areas of entertainment wherein some remain with the WWE, and others move on. What are your long-term goals in relation to the WWE and the entertainment world in general? [Matthew Lynch, New York, New York]

Maria: Well, I have lots of different goals. I get bored very easy. So I like to do lots of different things. My first and foremost goal is to be women’s champion. I really have a desire to do that. Secondly, I want to become a part of WWE Films. I would love to be in one of the films that is up and coming. If not, many of their films and many other films outside of that. Kind of have a little dream of mine of recording something, but we’ll kind of keep that one a little bit quiet. Let’s just say that I’ve got some plans for that. I definitely want my own clothing line, eventually. But to the WWE, I always want to be a part of the family, even if it’s just coming back every once in a while. I hope that WWE can give me at least another five years. Beyond that, I want a family someday; I want to have kids, I want to be a wife someday. So there are lots of different goals that I have.

Q: Maria, during your time as a diva, which of the ring trainers or road agents have had the most positive influence on your career? [Matthew Lynch, New York, New York]

Maria: Oh gosh, there’s been different ones. I worked with Fit [Finlay] for a little bit and that was the very beginning. I’ve worked with Al Snow down in Louisville, Kentucky; I’ve also worked with Lance Storm, who is Canadian. That was also when I was down in Louisville. I’ve worked with Dean Malenko on the road. There hasn’t really been one person that’s made the most influence. It’s just been a bunch of different people that’s told me all different kind of things. I mean, I’ve borrowed a lot from Mickie James, or from Jillian Hall, or from Melina, just from being in the ring with them, so just a different bunch of people.

Maria also had some parting words for former WWE Diva Trish Stratus: "Trish, good luck with your yoga studio. I hear that it’s doing awesome, so good luck with that and we definitely still miss you."

Maria attacked at airport?

According to Obsessed With Wrestling, Maria was attacked by a guy at the airport on her way home from the European tour.
She told Umaga and he looked for the guy, but couldn't find him.
Poor girl got a dreadful scare.

Where did you read attacked, i thought it was grabbed (like in a sexual assault thing) prolly would of sucked for the guy if umaga found him lol

Probably would've sucked for Umaga if he would've found him, he would manhandle the guy and go to jail for murder...and I would be pissed because Umaga is awesome.

WWE Should Released Maria Kanellis naked

I read a post on this a while ago and i think this would be a good idea. she kinda has a bad girl look about her, not to mention a devious little smile. i think shed make a damn good heel. the only problem would be that she doesnt have the abilities yet to carry a match which is what most heels, especially the divas do. maybe they could do something where she becomes like beth phoenixs corner person kinda like a chyna/kat thing. if melinas gonna be a face then one of the girls has gotta go heel. i just think itd be cool to see maria turn. itd be a bit shocking i think. mickie and candice have been heels, so i think maria or ashley should.heres how it could go. maria and melina vs beth and katie lea.melina dropkicks katie out of the ring as beth is down on the mat. she climbs to the top and just as she s about to splash beth maria pushes her off the top onto the mat then pulls beth on top of her. she gives a coy smirk and hugs beth after the match. mickie james comes out and the three heels beat the both of them down.



She one of only a hand full of women is wrestling without implants. For a person to complain about the size of her chest and not seeing much really goes to show where society is going. The pictorial was well done and Maria is a beautiful women, so for people to say that the were disappointed. They must have been excepting something like a Penthouse pictoial with Maria making out with another women which isn't what Playboy is about.

"The past lives on inside your brain."-Aerosmith

Maria Kanellis really not that nice...

Yep, I've heard this before and my manager actually had a little bit of a "misunderstanding" with her as well. We were all in the same hallway backstage and she said "Who let the skanks in?" and started bitching about how they let fans get in. We actually were hired to model some t-shirts and give out some free stuff at a RAW show, it wasn't like we got to even see the show. Hell, we weren't even allowed to keep the DX t-shirts we were wearing! Although, I did. lol



BUT, I hold no grudge. Maybe Maria Kanellis naked had a bad experience with some fans or something, whatever. It really doesn't matter to me. That was a once in a lifetime thing, it's not like I have to deal with her everyday.
Up until today, Maria was my favorite WWE Diva. I thought the was one of the best looking and I loved her on screen persona. Maria Kanellis always seemed really playboy sweet, charming, and entertaining. I met her earlier tonight because she came into the bar I work at with Edge, Kevin Thorn, CM Punk, and some of their managers. She is so different in person. She was shallow, fake, and very rude. She threw her pool cue around, kept complaining, and she didn't tip my friend who was waiting on her (and she paid her tab with a hundred dollar bill). I was really dissapointed with her real personality. I still think she's pretty, but she's definately way better on TV.

And a fun fact: She's dating CM Punk