10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Maria Kanellis
3. She Dated CM Punk
Barring a major paradigm shift, WWE will keep no-selling CM Punk’s existence until the end of time. The Chicagoan’s public criticism of the company following his 2014 departure has made him the ultimate persona non grata around WWE HQ, and while the McMahons have healed bigger wounds in the past, at this point in time, they'd love to make you forget about his run.
That’s not going to happen, of course. “CM Punk” chants will forever plague live events whenever a rowdy crowd reject what they’re being presented, and despite WWE’s best efforts, Punk is too deeply embedded in WWE folklore to just disappear.
Maria met Punk while they were both training at Ohio Valley Wrestling in 2005, and they soon started dating. The relationship lasted until they split in 2007, and while Maria was an unknown at the time, Punk had entered WWE with a lot of hype following his highly successful ROH run. Thus, keeping their relationship away from the internet was an impossibility, and the couple were often spotted together in public.
Such personal relationships are none of the company’s business, but given the mutual disdain between WWE and CM Punk, the McMahons would be pleased if you conveniently forgot all about this.