Maria Kanellis Weighs In On Most Misunderstood Thing About Divas Era

Maria Kanellis recently shared her thoughts on what is most misunderstood about the Divas Era in WWE. Kanellis was one of the key members of the women’s division during this time, when the women didn’t get time in the ring and their booking was focused more around sex appeal than wrestling. She has said in the past that her views on the era, which used to be much more critical, have changed to be more appreciative for how it inspired many of today’s stars.

Kanellis talked about the era in her interview with Insight With Chris Van Vliet. She said that the biggest misconception is that the talent didn’t care about the wrestling. She also recalled her work with Santino Marella and Batista interrupting her promo for Diva of the Year in 2009, which was a riff on Kanye West famously interrupting Taylor Swift at the MTV Music Video Awards from that year. You can check out the highlights below:

On the Most Misunderstood Aspect Of the Divas Era:

“That we didn’t care about wrestling, that we didn’t care about putting on the best match as possible. I didn’t get into the business to be a wrestler, but what I did get into the business for was to perform and to make people believe. So we cared deeply. We wanted more time. We wanted better stories. We wanted to be taken seriously. We were fighting backstage. We were fighting to not have to do a bikini competition. We were fighting to not have to do a water fight in the ring that was the most slippery thing ever. I’m bleeding as I’m coming back because we had slipped. Layla had thrown a forearm or something, and I slipped at the same time, and then my nose is just bleeding. Those matches, at times were fun, but at the same time they were a little dangerous. So we were fighting to be taken seriously, but the other thing was is we were having a good time, we were having fun doing those things. I look back and I think of it as some of my fondest moments is being able to perform with Ric Flair and perform with Cena, perform with The Rock and a lot of the a lot of the other guys that were there at that time. So yeah, I think that would be it.”

On Her Work With Santino Marella:

“I used to have to bite my lip so that I wouldn’t laugh. So there’s this backstage promo we do, and he’s doing squats, and he goes ‘The one, the two, the three, the four…’ and then he starts saying ‘125’ because I start walking up, and every time I was like busting the camera. I was like, ‘I’m so sorry. It’s so funny. I can’t help [it].’ So yeah, it was good times. He’s awesome.”

On Batista Interrupting Her Diva Of the Year Promo:

“So I didn’t know this was happening. So there I am at the podium, and here comes Batista, and I’m like what is happening? The sheer panic on my face, did I do something wrong? Yeah, I didn’t know. Then we get backstage, and Dave apologizes to me up and down. He’s like, ‘I’m so sorry.’ Blah blah blah. But he’s always been so good to my family, and he actually bought my mom dinner one time. I can’t remember if it was her birthday or if it was Mother’s Day, but she had came to a show, and I was hanging out with a whole group, and Batista was in that group, and he ended up, you know, buying my mom dinner. I don’t know if it was because he felt bad. Maybe that was it. But no, he was so apologetic.”