10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Maria Kanellis
2. She Hails From The Bad Old Days
Maria Kanellis rose to prominence during an era that represents women’s wrestling at its lowest ebb. While she often rubbed shoulders with talented performers like Trish Stratus and Victoria, Maria was, in a number of ways, the archetypal ‘Diva.’
Signed through the Diva Search, she entered WWE with no prior wrestling experience, and was immediately saddled with the flimsy ‘ditzy’ gimmick. When she eventually stepped into the ring, Kanellis was regularly booked in the company’s most demeaning match types, with Bra & Panties, Cheerleader, and Lingerie matches all sitting on her resume.
Many of the era's performers were pushed based on aesthetics, and were given little opportunity to spread their wings as performers. It was tacky, distasteful, and shallow, and it persisted for years, with WWE only really moving away from the old model when Charlotte, Sasha Banks, and Becky Lynch graduated from NXT in 2015.
Unfortunately, for those fans who haven’t followed her career since 2010, Maria will represent an unwanted throwback to the division’s darkest days. She definitely doesn’t deserve this characterisation, as she has become a strong on-air personality in her own right, but if WWE lean heavily on her past during her current run, they’ll only remind fans of the bad old days.