Maria Kanellis was one of the most popular names from the WWE Divas era after entering the pro wrestling world as a glam doll. She was one of the participants in the WWE Diva Search in 2004 and was later introduced to TV as an interviewer. Despite coming up short, she was signed to a WWE contract and went on to gain fame and popularity throughout her tenure with the company.
After getting fired by the WWE in 2010, Maria Kanellis was rehired alongside her husband in the late 2010s but that stint turned out to be a failure. Eventually, the two got released by the company amid the COVID-19 budget-cut releases. Thereafter All Elite Wrestling was their next destination but they’ve yet to pick up momentum.
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As noted above, Maria Kanellis got her start in WWE two decades ago, at a time when the women’s division was known as the Divas division. The women’s division matches used to be tagged as bathroom breaks and they came nowhere close to men’s wrestling matches like these days where women are given far more time and opportunity to perform rather than just being eye candy personas.
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Maria Kanellis revisited the WWE Divas era days
During an appearance for Monopoly Events, Maria Kanellis went back to the WWE Divas’ days when opportunities and time were lacking for her and other women. But in recent times, she finds positivity in the term rather than bringing more negative aspects. She then also noted that there are her co-workers in AEW, who are genuinely inspired by the work she and other Divas-era colleagues did,
“My views have changed over the years. They really have. There was a time where I was like ‘Ugh, Divas. I don’t like that word, I don’t want to be a part of it.’ But now, I have this appreciation, because it’s almost like looking through the eyes of your children and seeing things for the first time. And saying ‘Oh my gosh, I really did influence women back then.’”
In early 2024, Maria Kanellis took to her Instagram to go into detail about the negative aspects of having thyroid surgery. She revealed that two cancer cells were discovered but they weren’t that much troublesome. The AEW talent also revealed that after the surgery, she felt like having no control of her own body as her metabolism had changed. This partially caused her absence from AEW TV.
