Maria WWE Diva Pictures

Height 5 ft 7 in
Weight 125lbs
Born May 2, 1981
Hometown Ottawa, Illinois
Debut 2004

Maria Kanellis (born May 2, 1981 in Ottawa, Illinois) is working for World Wrestling Entertainment's RAW brand as a "Rookie Diva", after competing in the first ever $250,000 RAW Diva Search. She is currently the youngest Diva on the WWE Roster. Maria is also a veteran of the Hawaiian Tropic.

Maria had been a multiple-time beauty pageant winner before competing in the 2004 $250,000 RAW Diva Search. Despite not winning the Diva Search, she was hired anyway as she had impressed the fans. She was brought on to RAW as a backstage interviewer. She was given a "dumb blonde" gimmick, playing on a mistake she made during one of her first interviews when she referred to wrestler Edge as "The Edge." This dumb blonde gimmick has seen her in many comic skits, during interviews involving John Cena and more recently Chris Jericho, Big Show and Mick Foley.

She has quickly earned a reputation as the oblivious RAW backstage reporter. Maria seems to ask the wrong questions, irritating and amusing WWE Superstars and Divas alike. Despite being in the WWE for such a short time, Maria has had numerous memorable moments, including interviewing Eugene and William Regal after they won the World Tag Team Championship from La Resistance, for it was in this situation that led to an overwhelmed Eugene dousing Maria in chocolate milk as part of a post-match celebration.

On the October 31 edition of RAW, Kanellis competed in a Halloween Costume Contest, dressing as an angel. She received a good pop for her contributions to the contest, but it ended in a no contest when Victoria and Mickie James got into a fight. Maria helped the other divas get rid of Victoria and Candice Michelle out of the ring.

Kanellis competed in a "Fulfill Your Fantasy" Diva battle royal at Taboo Tuesday 2005 for the Women's Championship but did not last long however, as she was the first to be eliminated.

On November 14, Kanellis would compete in a non-title Diva battle royal against divas from both SmackDown! and RAW during the Eddie Guerrero tribute RAW show. Kanellis stood in the corner for most of the match, only getting involved when she saw the opportunity to eliminate a competitor, a stratagy the proved rewarding as she would eliminate both Jillian and Victoria. After these eliminations Maria got cocky and decided to attack both Melina, and Trish Stratus. This backfired as they together eliminated Maria.

On the November 28th edition of Raw, Maria only wanted Eric Bischoff's thoughts on whether or not he thought he was going to be fired. However, Kanellis was booked into a match with WWE Superstar, Kurt Angle. Maria was laid out with the Angle Slam and almost received the ankle lock, but John Cena came down for the save.

On the December 5th edition of Raw, Maria testified in the court against Eric Bischoff as General Manager. She first asked Mick Foley to question her with Mr. Socko, before answering, and acting all smart, that "last week Bischoff abused his power and it’s this rash discourse that has led to a locker room of disdain and it should be grounds for his immediate dismissal." On a December 2005 WWE holiday special called Tribute to the Troops, the Raw superstars visited Afghanistan to performed for them, in the results Maria and Candice Michelle defeated Ashley Massaro and Trish Stratus in a Divas Tag Team Match.