Maria Kanellis Maria Louise Bennett ( née Kanellis ) ( February 25 , 1982 ) is an American professional wrestler , valet , actress and singer known for her time in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( TNA ) under the ring name Maria , where she is a former TNA Knockouts Champion . Kanellis is best known for her time with World Wrestling Entertainment from 2004 - 2010 . Kanellis also worked for Ring of Honor as manager for her real - life husband Mike Bennett . Kanellis was a contestant on the reality show " Outback Jack " in 2004 . In the same year , she placed fifth in the Raw Diva Search , but was later hired by WWE as a backstage interviewer . Kanellis began competing in the ring as a wrestler in 2005 . It was not until 2007 , however , that she received her major push in the company , as the on - screen love interest of Santino Marella . As a result , she received more air time and began winning more matches than she had previously . She also posed for the April 2008 cover of " Playboy " magazine , which was incorporated into a storyline on " Raw " . Kanellis is currently appearing on the independent circuit , primarily appearing with Ring of Honor , where she serves as Mike Bennett ' s valet , and Family Wrestling Entertainment , where she is a 2 - time former Women ' s Champion . She released her debut album evin Sins on April 13 , 2010 on iTunes . Early life . Kanellis was born in Ottawa , Illinois . Kanellis grew up with an interest in playing sports , particularly volleyball , basketball , and softball and graduated from Ottawa Township High School in 2000 , before spending some time as a student at Northern Illinois University . Career history . World Wrestling Entertainment . Diva Search and debut ( 2004 – 2005 ) . Kanellis competed in the Raw Diva Search in 2004 , deciding to enter the contest after seeing an advertisement while watching Raw . Even though she only placed fifth in the contest , she was hired by the company . She stood out in the contest by giving fellow contestant Carmella DeCesare the finger after being eliminated from the contest . Maria began making appearances at the Ohio Valley Wrestling ( OVW ) training facility under head trainer Paul Heyman . She contributed booking ideas , and her work at OVW earned her a spot on the Raw brand roster . Maria was brought on to Raw as a backstage interviewer in November 2004 . She quickly earned a reputation as the oblivious backstage reporter — Maria seemed to ask the wrong questions , irritating and amusing WWE Superstars and Divas . In 2005 , Maria began to get very physical — in and out of the ring . She was defeated in her first official match on the January 10 , 2005 edition of Raw by Christy Hemme in a Lingerie Pillow Fight . She also competed in a Fulfill Your Fantasy Diva Battle Royal at Taboo Tuesday for the WWE Women ' s Championship but was the first to be eliminated by Trish Stratus and Mickie James . In another physical moment , Stratus slapped Maria so hard that one of her fillings legitimately fell out . On November 14 , Maria competed in a non - title Diva Battle Royal at the Eddie Guerrero tribute Raw show . Maria stood by herself for most of the match , only getting involved when she saw the opportunity to eliminate a competitor , a strategy that proved effective as she eliminated both Jillian Hall and Victoria . She was one of the last three women left in the match but was eliminated by both Melina and Trish Stratus . On the November 28 edition of Raw , Maria interviewed then - Raw General Manager Eric Bischoff and asked him whether or not he thought he was going to be fired . He then booked her a match with Kurt Angle out of spite , and Maria was laid out with the Angle Slam . As a result , one week later , Maria testified in the trial against Bischoff , who was being fired because of his controversial actions as General Manager . As Mick Foley questioned her , she answered , unusually intelligently , " Last week Bischoff abused his power in a way that was both malicious and capricious , and it ’ s this rash discourse that has led to a locker room of disdain and mutiny , and it should be grounds for his immediate dismissal . " Various feuds ; Relationship with Santino Marella ( 2006 – 2008 ) . In early 2006 , Maria defeated Victoria in a match . Afterwards , she was attacked by Vince ' s Devils ( Victoria , Torrie Wilson , and Candice Michelle ) , but she was saved by Ashley Massaro . During a commercial break that night , Vince McMahon announced a Bra & Panties Gauntlet match for New Year ' s Revolution between all five girls that had previously been in the ring . At New Year ' s Revolution , Maria was the first to enter the Gauntlet match and eliminated Candice Michelle and Torrie Wilson before being eliminated by Victoria . The match was ultimately won by Massaro . Maria teamed with John Cena ( who , earlier that evening , had kissed her to calm her nerves ) to take on Edge and Lita in the main event on the February 6 edition of Raw . Maria scored the victory after a spear meant for Cena hit Lita . One month later , Maria lost a singles match to Lita after missing a clothesline and falling prey to Lita ' s DDT . After the match , Edge was preparing to spear Maria , but Mick Foley ran in to help her . On October 16 , Maria won a Fatal Four Way Bra and Panties match against Victoria , Candice Michelle , and Torrie Wilson to advance to the semi - finals in a Women ' s Championship Tournament . Maria , however , lost in the semi - finals of the Tournament against Lita . On the January 1 , 2007 edition of Raw , Maria attempted to interview Kevin Federline but was instead slapped by Melina and called a " bitch " . This led to a match between the two later that night , with Melina winning with a Roll - up following a failed attempt at a dropkick . At New Year ' s Revolution , Maria and Candice Michelle ran to the ring during the Women ' s Championship match between Victoria and Mickie James to stop Melina from interfering , helping their friend Mickie to retain the championship . For two consecutive weeks afterwards , Maria had two tag team partners — Mickie James and Jeff Hardy , respectively — to take on Melina and a partner . She lost the match with James , but won the other with Jeff . As a part of her entrance when teaming with Hardy , she mimicked the dance he performs at the top of the entrance ramp , a moment she later claimed as a favorite in her career . Maria began an on - screen romance with Santino Marella in June 2007 . She also resumed competing in the ring occasionally , often jobbing , or losing quickly , in short matches . On the November 5 edition of Raw , Marella was confronted by the returning Stone Cold Steve Austin for criticizing his movie , The Condemned . As a part of the storyline , the argument ended as Marella received a Stone Cold Stunner from Austin , who then went backstage , only to return with a Budweiser beer truck to hose down Marella and Maria with beer . After former Playboy cover - girl Ashley Massaro ' s return in early 2008 , Kanellis engaged in backstage segments where Ashley suggested Maria should be on the cover of Playboy , including at the Royal Rumble , to the disdain of Marella . As a part of the Playboy storyline , Maria defeated Beth Phoenix on February 18 , to " earn the right " to be on the cover of the magazine . During her Playboy cover unveiling , Maria ' s cover was plastered over with images of Marella . After Marella offered an ultimatum of posing for the magazine or staying with him as a couple , she stated , " No man and no one is going to make this decision for me " and broke up with her on - screen boyfriend . Maria , along with Ashley , were defeated by Phoenix and Melina at WrestleMania XXIV in a Playboy BunnyMania Lumberjack match . After the match , Maria kissed the Master of Ceremonies , Snoop Dogg . SmackDown and Championship Pursuit ( 2008 - 2010 ) . As part of the 2008 WWE Supplemental Draft , Maria was drafted to the SmackDown brand . Maria made her debut on the August 1 edition of " SmackDown " by defeating Victoria . Later , Maria won a Las Vegas Dice on a Pole match to become the # 1 Contender for the WWE Divas Championship against Michelle McCool , which Maria failed to win . Maria participated in a five - on - five Raw vs Smackdown Divas Elimination match at Survivor Series and unintentionally got Michelle eliminated . Maria would eventually be eliminated by Candice Michelle . On the December 5 edition of " SmackDown " , Maria defeated Michelle in a non - title match , After the match ended , Michelle began turning villainous by attacking Maria in a backstage segment . Two weeks later , Maria was defeated by Maryse in a # 1 Contender ' s match for the Divas Championship . On the December 26 edition of " SmackDown " , Maria served as the special guest referee for the Divas Championship match between Michelle and Maryse , which saw Maryse emerge victorious and win the title . After the match ended , Michelle turned into a villainess and attacked Maria , blaming her for the loss . On January 21 , 2009 , Maria returned and attacked Michelle on that night ' s edition of SmackDown . On the February 10 edition of SmackDown , Maria defeated the evil Michelle following interference from Eve Torres . Maria made her in ring return on the July 3 edition of SmackDown ! teaming with Melina to defeat Michelle McCool and Layla . Soon after , she entered into an on - screen relationship with Dolph Ziggler , despite her being a fan favorite and him being a villainous character . At Night of Champions , Maria accompanied Ziggler to his match with Rey Mysterio . In the following weeks , Melina implied that Ziggler was cheating on Maria , which Maria did not believe . Maria and Dolph Ziggler later broke up on the October 10 edition of SmackDown ! in a backstage segment , after she cost him his match . Maria then took a brief hiatus from the ring to film the Celebrity Apprentice but returned on the December 4 episode of SmackDown ! by helping Mickie James fend off an attack by Michelle McCool and Layla . She made her in - ring return the following week , teaming up with James to defeat McCool and Layla . On December 14 , Maria won the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year . On the February 12 edition of Smackdown ! , Maria began an onscreen relationship with Matt Hardy . Her last match in WWE was a six - person tag team match on the February 25 edition of WWE Superstars , but her team The Great Khali and Matt Hardy lost to The Hart Dynasty and Natalya Neidhart . She was released from her WWE contract on February 26 . Ring of Honor ( 2011 - 2015 ) . Maria confirmed via her Twitter account that she would be appearing at Ring of Honor ' s Final Battle pay - per - view on December 23 , 2011 . She accompanied her real - life boyfriend Mike Bennett as a heel in a three - way elimination match against Jay Lethal and El Generico for the ROH World Television Championship . At the event , Bennett was unsuccessful in winning the title . Kanellis continued accompanying Bennett at the January 7 , 2012 , tapings of " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , where she was dubbed the " First Lady of ROH " . At the June 21 tapings of " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , Kanellis accompanied Bennett and Brutal Bob Evans to ring , where they lost to Eddie Edwards and Adam Cole . After the match , Kanellis , Bennett and Bob attacked Cole and Edwards , but were stopped by Sara Del Rey , who Edwards had brought in to neutralize Kanellis . At the Boiling Point pay - per - view on August 11 , Maria and Bennett lost to Del Rey and Edwards in an mixed tag team match . Kanellis ' storyline with Del Rey ended abruptly the following month , when Del Rey signed a contract with WWE . In September 2012 , Kanellis and Bennett became involved in a storyline with Mike Mondo after he kissed Kanellis during one of Bennett ' s matches . Mondo contiuned to cost Bennett matches , until Glory by Honor in October , when Bennett defeated Mondo to end the feud . At the November 3 tapings of " Ring of Honor Wrestling " , Maria accompied Bennett to the ring where he unsuccessfully challenged Kevin Steen for the ROH World Championship . On December 16 at Final Battle 2012 : Doomsday pay - per - view , Kanellis along with Bob accompied Bennett to the ring where he defeated Jerry Lynn in his final ROH match before retirement . At the Border Wars 2013 | Border Wars pay - per - view on May 4 , 2013 , Kanellis accompied Bennett to the ring where he was defeated by Roderick Strong , despite Kanellis attempting to interfere on Bennett ' s behalf . On September 19 , Maria and Bennett defeated The Brutal Burgers ( Brutal Bob Evans & Cheeseburger ) in a Intergender tag team match . On October 26 , during Bennett ' s match with Kevin Steen at the Glory by Honor XII pay - per - view , Kanellis tried to interfere but was attacked by Lisa Marie Varon . Kanellis and Bennett returned to ROH at the January 4 , 2014 , tapings of " Ring of Honor Wrestling " which aired on February 1 , with Kanellis helping Bennett defeat Cedric Alexander . Throughout the summer , Maria and Bennett would get involved in Matt Hardy ' s feud with The Briscoes , which would result a tag team match at the " Best in the World " pay - per - view on June 22 , which Hardy and Bennett would lose despite Maria ' s interference . During the feud , The Kingdom stole Jay Briscoe ' s title ; Matt Hardy customized it as the Iconic Championship . At All Stars Extravaganza 6 , Bennett and Maria customized the title as the Championship of Love . They were interrupted by Jay Briscoe ' s brother , Mark . Bennett and Kanellis left ROH after the December 19 , 2015 , " Ring of Honor Wrestling " taping , after failing to come to terms on a new contract with the promotion . Total Nonstop Action Wrestling ( 2015 – 2017 ) . On December 29 , 2015 , it was announced that Kanellis and her real life husband Michael Bennett signed with Total Nonstop Action Wrestling . On January 5 , 2016 on TNA ' s debut on POP , Kanellis made her TNA debut introducing Mike Bennett . September 1st Maria forced her apprentice Allie to lay on her back to win the Knockouts Championship but later at Bound For Glory she lost her title to Gail Kim . Quotes . When asked which wrestler she ' d like to work with the most :