wrestling / News

Maria Kanellis Recalls Botched Move During WWE Tryout

October 15, 2021 | Posted by Blake Lovell
Maria Kanellis ROH Image Credit: ROH

In a recent interview with Alistair McGeorge of Metro, Maria Kanellis discussed botching a move during her WWE tryout, how a Steve Austin interaction inspired her to get into wrestling, and much more. Here are some highlights:

Maria Kanellis on her WWE tryout experience and botching a move while training with Mickie James: “I was purple after I was done! From my shoulder down my back, down my legs, was purple because of hitting the ropes and taking the bumps, and also doing the squats. Lance [Storm] was training that week. I was there, Mickie was there, Angelina Love was there, I think Melina – and it was a tryout. And Michelle McCool, oh my God. She shined above all of us Diva girls because she’s so athletic! So yeah, I was purple. I landed on my chin. I went to do a sunset flip, went and I caught my chest on Mickie and I landed right on my chin. So, my butt was hanging in the air and I was balanced on my chin and my chest. I thought I was paralysed, it was awful! As a fan, you don’t know until you know. It’s intense.”

On how watching Steve Austin at a house show inspired her to get into wrestling: “So, our seats were terrible! We get to the building and our seats were all the way up at the top, nosebleeds,’ she recalled. ‘But something went wrong with those seats so we got moved to the floor. They added another row to the back. So, as you’re coming out as a performer it would have been back row, off to your left. So, right as people were coming out, we were right there. And Stone Cold, he spilled some beer on me way back when, and I was like, “Yep, this is the feeling I want. I wanna be able to create this feeling”. So I did!”

article topics :

Maria Kanellis, WWE, Blake Lovell