10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Maria Kanellis
1. Playboy
WWE were working with Playboy Magazine as early as 1999, when Sable became the first women’s wrestler to pose for the publication, and in 2008, it was Maria’s turn. The photoshoot manifested as an on-air angle between Kanellis and former cover girl Ashley Massaro, with Maria winning the right to appear in the mag that February.
The cover was published shortly afterwards, and with WWE transitioning to a PG rating that summer, Kanellis became the last WWE women to appear in Playboy. Unsurprisingly, WWE realised that having employees pose nude probably wasn’t going to help their efforts to rebuild themselves as a family friendly company, and the dubious tradition was killed off.
PG is often cited as the main reason behind WWE’s decline in quality over the years, particularly from those nostalgic for the Attitude Era. Despite this, it has largely been successful in washing away some of the company’s old crudeness, with gratuitous sex and violence very much a thing of the past.
WWE have done all they can to leave these themes behind, but the Playboy pictorial was a huge part of Maria’s career. Given the way their focus has shifted in recent years, the company will avoid mentioning it at all costs.