Maria Kanellis

[2.0] "An unfunny, blase valet for a boring, blase worker. Unlike Mike though, her in-ring was never once even close to good & her character work was Stephanie McMahon levels of trying too hard to be funny. I never once saw Maria on a card & found myself happy she was on it, & I've never once watched any of her dumb character work & thought to myself, " Oh yeah she's really innovating out there & coming off as genuinely unlikable. " Kind of similar to TNA's failed The Elegance Brand experiment where she's better than you, but all expressions of her betterness are ham fisted as hell & impossible to take seriously, but on that note, the lack of funniness renders her unable to be enjoyed as a comedy character, & on the whole, the presentation is so confused & patently unfunny that it denies belief. 3's & 4's typically are assigned to workers who I've been happy to see at least once, but I don't think I've been happy to see her once, ever. Wild that she was trained by Fit of all people & still sucked. One of those sorts of things where on ROH Best In The World '14, I was actually excited for Bennett & Hardy vs. Briscoes because Hardy & the Briscoes are good & can carry Bennett, but the fact that Maria is there does nothing for me."

[6.0] ""HERE SHE COMES AGAAAAAIN LIKE GOOD MEDICIIIINE! " Ok but for real outside that beautiful theme song, what else does Maria have? Well lets just focus on her career in the 2000s, the only thing I remember from her return was her storyline of Mike not being MAN enough to be the father of her child she was pregnant with, which I hated. She was fine as the airhead interviewer, and turning her to a wrestler wasn't BAD, but she had a lot of sloppy offence which ruined her matches. The only other thing I didn't like about her was the kiss cam but let's be honest, no DIVA during that time could salvage that, at least she was better than the Great Khali. But I do like her character transition into 2007 after her newbie phase in 2006, the bend over kiss pose during her entrance was cool, she could sell moves really well, has the athleticism and she's extremely attractive. She ticked all the boxes to be a a Diva in her era, but only in her era. So yeah, while you won't get any 5 star classics from her, you'll definitely get a decent enough low-card match to kick off the momentum of a show."

"[9.0] Maria Kanellis earns a 9/10 for her incredible longevity in the industry, her standout charisma, sharp mic skills, fully committed character work, natural confidence, ability to elevate any storyline, strong presence that enhances those around her, memorable versatility across eras, ever-improving in-ring ability."

[4.0] "Insane! Her being ranked a 7 while Torrie, Michelle, Candice, Kelly, Sable, and others were ranked much lower. Maria couldn't wrestle and could barely sell. Her matches were all awkward and hard to believe. She also didn't have a single memorable storyline and never main-evented the women's segments."

[4.0] "Surprised, almost shocked to see her being in the 7s ratings. I enjoyed her evolution from the interviewer to a newbie wrestler to later actually finding her footing. I admit by the end of her career where she feuded with Michelle and also wrestled Natalya and Beth. She was looking solid. Its unfortunate she chose to go be a singer and went away. I feel if she resigned with WWE, she couldve been a champion and increase more in popularity. Now the negative... Horrendous TNA run. Cant believe they gave her the title and she didnt even wrestle once a legit match just to have that one good match in TNA and where she knew she wasnt gonna be watered down and held back by management. I hated almost everything of that TNA era and i almost stopped watching TNA then. The lady squad didnt help a lot. The only storyline i enjoyed was the Allie and Braxton wedding. From there she had another mediocre run with WWE, I guess she might have personal victories winning the 24/7 title, being part of RR and Evolution (but these 2 are multi women events and they often use every woman available on the roster). But was she used in 1 meaningful storyline, did she legit wrestle even one match where she got to show something more than being a mouth piece... I didnt mind her being a valet but i also wanted her to do better than her TNA run. And don't let me begin with her AEW run..."

[5.0] "Maria was a terrible wrestler, her offensive moves were boring af, atleast she was a nice seller and a believable babyface. Her work as a valet / manager is really great"

[5.0] "She's good for a good comedy angle or an ass shake here or there (not in a demeaning way, she does this quite a bur) but is pretty drab as a serious promo and a lot worse than that in the ring. If she hadn't had so many matches, it probably wouldn't affect the rating."

[5.0] "I can't rate her too low because as mid as Maria was overall, she is above her fellow redhead Eva Marie in pretty much every category. She had a pretty solid run as Santino's girlfriend. Santino was also peaking at the time, stealing people's sandwiches and stuff. I actually vividly remember the little game shows they would have where Ron Simmons would end up winning Maria away at the end of the game. Corny Looney Tunes level stuff but I liked it. Everything else, eh."

[7.0] "Never very good in the ring, however she could sell fantastically. She also is great at the mic and playing characters, like the ditzy interviewer role she started as. And shes been a very good valet for her husband."

[5.0] "She is hard to rate, meaning that we don't know exactly as what we are supposed to rate her. As a wrestler, she was really average (at best, by pre-revolution WWE standards). As a manager she was better, but in any case she was basically there for her looks, and she did good for that."

[5.0] "Maria is what you would expect to come out of WWE's Diva era back in the mid 00s or so. A woman selected mostly for looks who was trained to have some average wrestlng matches. By average I don't mean what is average in Japan or modern day women's wrestling but rather a Divas match circa 2005.. Maria never expanded on her skills much more and she will never wrestling wise be compared to any of the greats but my 5 points come more from her manager work and her promo skills I genuinely think she is quite decent at that"

[2.0] "Maria could work a half-decent match here and there, but it seemed like most of her role was just to be sexy by competing in Bra & Panties Matches, and getting naked on Extreme Strip Poker in the WWE form of ECW. She also didn't make much impact while being with her husband in Impact or WWE."

[0.0] "Well, if you did ring announcements, backstage interviews, valet wrestle and you still didn't shine at any that should tell us a thing or two about you. Cringy interviews and being a valet who her only method of distracting wrestlers is her body over and over again. To the awful performances in the ring. Just horrible."

[7.0] "This rating is a result of her work in ROH and Impact, as she became a really good heel manager and authority figure despite being really bad in the ring. In her first WWE run, she wasn't good in the ring or on the mic, and they used her as a ditzy valet and backstage interviewer and her second run was just terrible as her husband was a jobber and they had a terrible storyline around her real life pregnancy and her husband being a "cuck". Awful."

[7.0] "Fine girl for managerial role. She has good heelish look so she can be very effective manager. She was never special in ring so i hope she'll serve her remaining career in mostly managing his husband. Bennett can be benefited from it too."

[7.0] "Proof that WWE's Diva Searches weren't a complete waste of time and money. Took some time for her to graduate from all the pillow fight & lingerie contests and onto more... credible matches. While not the greatest female worker ever, have always found her drive & love for the business a welcome change. Greatly happy for the success she achieved in her career as a wrestler and a manager."

[6.0] "She was decent in the ring. More for her looks. Her moves were average and never won the Women's ttile."

[2.0] "I didn't like Maria at all as a wrestler before, but her last run in WWE was a complete shame and was even worse than those years when she performed in the ring. Well, at least she became part of history by becoming the first pregnant champion."

[6.0] "Came to us via the diva search, but unlike the vast majority of models, Maria was actually a legit fan of the product before getting in it herself. That didn't help her from being very nervous on the mic (with a backstage interviewer role, no less) and causing her to flub some of her lines. But what do you know, that actually became her thing & she made the ditzy interviewer thing work. I thought it was pretty funny. Since then, Maria has gone on to truly cement herself by working multiple different promotions & really doing some nice heel work along the way."

[2.0] "Wow, Maria. I give her 2 because of her beautiful ass and being pretty damn good on mic. Anything else is not much memorable. Extremely limited in the ring, even Gail Kim couldn't have a decent match with her. Her work as a manager of The Kingdom is only something that worth watching. Now in wwe, she and her husband almost disappear from tv. If anything, i'd suggest she become a permanent manager."

[6.0] "Sometimes she can work a decent to pretty good match and sometimes not which means she's so-so or average in the ring. Somewhat better as an announcer or valet but bottom line she is way more about looks like too many of today's women, especially ones that came out of WWE. What Bret Hart said is true, no ever got "excited" (not the word he used) watching Moolah wrestle but we could use at least a little better in-ring performance out of some before promoters put them in front of a TV camera. However, Maria is not as bad as a lot of the women I've seen in the bigger promotions and is a pretty good at being bad or a heel so she has those moments that are worth watching."

"It's a bummer she signed for tna, since she's not doing anything relevant. No matches, no nothing. She's better off on ROH"

[1.0] "please please please get a new character... or at least try to make this one authentic. looking into the sky as you recite the same lines every week reeks of grade 5 drama class. was probably a 3 or 4 in roh so low grade might be partly blamed on booking... but easily the worst act on my weekly tv schedule the past 6 months."

[8.0] "Maria isn't much as a wrestler, but since leaving WWE and ditching the ditsy character she's has come into her own. Maria is a very good promo, especially as a heel, and plays into her role well. It's very easy for Maria Kanellis-Bennett to draw heat and work the crowd. I am not sure if her works suit her as a babyface, but she plays the heel very well."

[2.0] "Maria's a bad wrestler, plain and simple. She's a good looking girl, but her current role as a valet is very easily replaceable because it relies solely on that, good looks. Maria Kanellis had a lengthier time as a full time wrestler in WWE, where she botched her way to matches featuring some of her fellow Divas, overall, she leaves a very sour taste in my mouth, and a bad note in my memory."

[7.0] "A cute, Chicago born and raised girl. Maria started off her career in 2005 with the "dimwit" gimmick where she would stumble on promos and call point-blank questions wrong. She was never all that great in the ring, minus her matches with Lita which I thought were pretty good. Making a heel turn in 2013 at Ring Of Honor was pulled off by Maria in incredible fashion. Maria deep-down cares for the WWE product and is legitimately a wise person in real life. She's had her moments with her speech burying Eric Bischoff at his trial were hilarious. Whether she comes back to the WWE or not or stick with ROH, Maria's had a decent run in the bis."

[9.0] "Although never a real contender during her time in the ring, since moving to ROH Maria has really come into her own and found her true calling, the managerial role. Though she is indeed a visual knockout, Maria is far from just being arm candy for Mike Bennett: she does everything a great heel manager should, from getting heat through strong promos to effectively running interference for her charges during matches. She also isn't afraid to take a bump here or there either if the situation calls for it. While I wouldn't put her quite on the level of Paul Heyman and Truth Martini, I would still rank her way up there as at least one of the top managers active today. She certainly does the great female managers of the past like Sherri Martel proud."

[9.0] "Not the best in the ring, but against a right opponent she can do a decent match. Big chance he has is with her forms, if you know what I mean because it's good to have a view from times to times during the match. And the current posture in ROH with The Kingdom I hope will work well for her."

[8.0] "Maria Kanellis, she's not be the best female wrestler in the world, but she is a SOLID 10 out of 10 as far as her character goes! She has really come a long way in developing her character since her first year in the wrestling business a decade ago when she was the ditzy backstage interviewer character in WWE! I think she is killing it as a heel manager for The Kingdom in ROH right now! When it comes to Maria's promo skills, she now has this unbelievably great gift of gab as they say! Plus as a heel, she definitely has the ability to get under people's skin! I'll even go as far as to say Maria is one of the best heels in wrestling today period! She's awesome!"

[8.0] "Actually improved her wrestling after the WWE. Not much, but still acts as she knows what she's doing."

[3.0] "She was not a good in ring performer, botched too much and looked fake most of the time, but she was beautiful and funny and was loved by everyone so her charisma allowed her to be considered an average diva."

[8.0] "While Maria wasn't exactly a great wrestler, she is very beautiful, very charismatic, and is quite skilled as a valet. She has improved quite a bit as a wrestler though. While I can't say she is amazing, she is at least passable. It is her skills as a valet, and her charisma that lead me to give her a higher score."

[3.0] "I was never much of a fan of her. She played her role somewhat well, but that's about it."