Known as simply Maria, she began her career as a contester in 2004 on the reality show Outback Jack. Maria applied for the Raw Diva Search contest, taking 5th place. Later, Maria was hired by WWE as a backstage interviewer, only to enter the ring as a wrestler in 2005.
Maria Kanellis was also featured on the cover of Playboy magazine, April 2008 edition (more information and photos from her shoot in our article, http://6toplists.com/maria-kanellis-in-playboy/). Her Playboy photo shooting was well put into her storyline on Raw. Maria also tried her luck in the singing business, releasing her album “Sevin Sins” in 2010, on iTunes.
In 2004, Maria decided to enter the Raw Diva Search contest after seeing an ad about it while watching Raw. During the contest, Maria gave the finger to Carmella DeCesare, which caught the attention of Raw.
While being an interviewer for Raw, Maria made a name for herself as being the one to ask the wrong and irritating questions. Maria interviewed Eric Bischoff, the General Manager of Raw in 2005, and asked him whether or not he thought he’ll be fired soon. Bischoff then booked Maria with Kurt Angle. One week later, Maria testified in a mock-up trial against Bischoff who was being fired because of his problematic actions as General Manager.
In order for Maria to pose for Playboy, according to her storyline, she had to defeat Beth Phoenix on February 18th. Later, Maria Kanellis alongside Ashley Massaro (former Playboy model) fought and lost against Phoenix and Melina in a Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match.