MARIA Kanellis has taken her experience from entertaining people as a former WWE superstar to planning the fun.
The former WWE star went from dazzling fans with high-flying stunts to organizing parties and running a successful event-planning company.
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Kanellis, 41, performed in the WWE on two separate occasions, but she is mainly known for her time from 2004 to 2010 when she competed in the company Diva Search.
She also worked in AEW, Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, and NJPW.
Kanellis was born in Illinois and was a standout athlete growing up.
She excelled in volleyball, basketball, and softball and went on to study at Northern Illinois University.
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Kanellis regularly competed in beauty pageants before transitioning into professional wrestling.
She was a staple of WWE Raw programming and even fought Mickie James' for the WWE Women's Championship belt but lost.
Kanellis was released from the WWE in 2010.
When she stopped wrestling, she found another passion inspired by her getting married.
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She married Mike Kanellis in 2012 and spoke to WWE about how that experience opened her eyes.
"[Planning the wedding] was absolutely fantastic," she said.
"I'm going into event management, so it's something I'm passionate about. "
"I've been learning the ropes of what I'm going to be doing for the rest of my life."
However, she did have another short three-year stint from 2017-2020 with the WWE.
She returned alongside her husband, Mike Kanellis, in his WWE debut.
Outside of the ring, Kanellis has been successful. She posed for Playboy and has appeared in multiple movies.
She also earned a Sports, Entertainment, and Event Management degree and started her Master of Business Administration program.
Kanellis told Wrestlezone she uses her experience from wrestling to help her in her new journey,
"You learn how to deal with people. You're really hands-on with event planning, especially with weddings because it's a very personal event, just like women's wrestling careers."
"When you're bringing in a woman to have a match or to have them stay long-term, you have to remember that they're still human beings."
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"This is their career, this is their livelihood, and this is their passion, and you have to keep that in mind."
"So, in that sense dealing with brides and working with brides and working with women in wrestling, I do use those experiences to help guide me."
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