Maria Kanellis, or simply Maria as WWE superstar fans know her, was born in Illinois in 1982.  Her first claim to fame was Outback Jack, a reality TV show that was a cross between the Bachelor and Crocodile Dundee.  Maria was the second runner up in the show.  Following that, she participated in the WWE’s 2004 Diva Search.  Even though she lost to Christy Hemme, Maria’s variable showing won her a WWE contract.

Maria didn’t start out in the ring, though.  Instead, she worked as a backstage announcer.  Her characters were portrayed as being rather dumb - she often made mistakes or got information completely wrong.  Maria also interacted with the audience, especially in goading couples to kiss when they appeared on the Titantron monitor. She began to partcipate in numerous diva matches such as a lingerie pillow fight and a couple of diva battle royals.

Her storyline became more prominent when, in 2007, she started romancing Santino Marella.  Their relationship was very one-sided, however.  Marella would often insult Maria and do everything he could to take advantage of her. One of their biggest fights occurred when Ashley, a former Playboy model, told Maria that Hugh Hefner was interested in having her appear in Playboy.  Marella was furious at the thought of her appearing in a disreputable magazine.  However, she appeared in the magazine despite his objections.

She was drafted to Smackdown in 2008 and as been there since. She a Las Vegas Dice on a Pole match and received a title match against Michell McCool for the Divas championship. She entered into a on-screen relationship with Dolph Ziggler despite her being a fan favorite and Ziggler being a bad guy.