Black Widow
04-17-2008, 01:55 PM
BY SCOTT FISHMAN
Miami Herald Writer
From her improvement in the ring to gracing the April cover of Playboy and BunnyMania at WrestleMania 24, it's been a great year for World Wrestling Entertainment diva Maria.
''Every single day I wake up I ask if this is really my life because it's absolutely amazing,'' said Maria, born in Ottawa, Ill. ``Sure it gets exhausting, and I feel like a zombie at times, but it's definitely worth it.''
In 2004, the vivacious cover girl, with a modeling background who was a former Hawaiian Tropic Girl, entered the inaugural WWE Diva Search competition. She finished fifth.
Maria, 26, didn't let that stop her from achieving her goal of working for WWE. Persistence coupled with the impression she left on the company led to a WWE contract a few months later.
''As soon as they asked me to come to WWE, I said I wanted to learn as much as I could,'' Maria said. ``They asked me if I would go to Louisville, Kentucky and go to [WWE's former developmental territory] Ohio Valley Wrestling. I said, `Do you want me to start driving now?'''
After getting called to the main roster, Maria served as the ditzy backstage announcer on Monday night Raw. The character, known for asking unintelligent questions and mispronouncing names, connected with fans, and her interviews became one of the more entertaining segments on the show.
Aside from taking a few wrestling moves or competing in a handful of battle royals, Maria's work was limited to holding a microphone and looking pretty. This didn't deter her from continuing to makes strides in the squared circle off camera.
''I try and get in there as much as possible,'' said Maria, who trained with a mixed martial arts fighter and danced for 17 years before working for WWE. ``When I was getting ready for Playboy, [I trained] two times a day. Lately, after I've done Playboy, it's been maybe three times a week if I'm lucky. I try to learn as much as I can and every single day it's something new.''
Last year Maria evolved as a performer competing in more tag and single matches. She also began an on-screen romance with Santino Marella. The Italian superstar was very protective of his Maria, and Marella's objection to her posing in Playboy led to the end of the television relationship.
The diva has been on a whirlwind media tour leading to the release of the Playboy cover and her participation in WrestleMania 24. Although in a losing effort against Beth Phoenix and Melina, Maria teamed with Ashley in her first match on the grandest stage. She even created a 'Mania moment with her make-out session with Snoop Dogg after the rapper hit a clothesline on Marella.
With all the attention, there brings the question of the cattiness among the other female performers.
''Every single one of the girls is absolutely gorgeous and brings something different to the table,'' Maria said. 'The girls are strong, beautiful, powerful and very comfortable in their own skin. I really don't think anybody competes with anybody else in the sense of, `I worked so hard. I should be able to do this.' When the timing is right, I think everybody gets that chance.''
Maria is making the most of her opportunity. Despite the success, the driven diva shows no signs of slowing down.
''I love wrestling. I really do. It takes so much hard work,'' Maria said. ``The most important thing is making it out to the signings and the media. If I got to skip out on the gym, I got to do it, but hopefully it's not showing too much.''
• WWE's Backlash pay-per-view is 8 p.m. EST Sunday, April 27 at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore.
World champ The Undertaker versus Edge. WWE's ECW champ Kane versus Chavo Guerrero. WWE champ Randy Orton versus John Bradshaw Layfield versus Triple H versus John Cena.
Shawn Michaels versus Batista with Chris Jericho as special guest referee. The Big Show versus The Great Khali. WWE United States champ Montel Vontavious Porter versus Matt Hardy and more.
miamiherald.com
Miami Herald Writer
From her improvement in the ring to gracing the April cover of Playboy and BunnyMania at WrestleMania 24, it's been a great year for World Wrestling Entertainment diva Maria.
''Every single day I wake up I ask if this is really my life because it's absolutely amazing,'' said Maria, born in Ottawa, Ill. ``Sure it gets exhausting, and I feel like a zombie at times, but it's definitely worth it.''
In 2004, the vivacious cover girl, with a modeling background who was a former Hawaiian Tropic Girl, entered the inaugural WWE Diva Search competition. She finished fifth.
Maria, 26, didn't let that stop her from achieving her goal of working for WWE. Persistence coupled with the impression she left on the company led to a WWE contract a few months later.
''As soon as they asked me to come to WWE, I said I wanted to learn as much as I could,'' Maria said. ``They asked me if I would go to Louisville, Kentucky and go to [WWE's former developmental territory] Ohio Valley Wrestling. I said, `Do you want me to start driving now?'''
After getting called to the main roster, Maria served as the ditzy backstage announcer on Monday night Raw. The character, known for asking unintelligent questions and mispronouncing names, connected with fans, and her interviews became one of the more entertaining segments on the show.
Aside from taking a few wrestling moves or competing in a handful of battle royals, Maria's work was limited to holding a microphone and looking pretty. This didn't deter her from continuing to makes strides in the squared circle off camera.
''I try and get in there as much as possible,'' said Maria, who trained with a mixed martial arts fighter and danced for 17 years before working for WWE. ``When I was getting ready for Playboy, [I trained] two times a day. Lately, after I've done Playboy, it's been maybe three times a week if I'm lucky. I try to learn as much as I can and every single day it's something new.''
Last year Maria evolved as a performer competing in more tag and single matches. She also began an on-screen romance with Santino Marella. The Italian superstar was very protective of his Maria, and Marella's objection to her posing in Playboy led to the end of the television relationship.
The diva has been on a whirlwind media tour leading to the release of the Playboy cover and her participation in WrestleMania 24. Although in a losing effort against Beth Phoenix and Melina, Maria teamed with Ashley in her first match on the grandest stage. She even created a 'Mania moment with her make-out session with Snoop Dogg after the rapper hit a clothesline on Marella.
With all the attention, there brings the question of the cattiness among the other female performers.
''Every single one of the girls is absolutely gorgeous and brings something different to the table,'' Maria said. 'The girls are strong, beautiful, powerful and very comfortable in their own skin. I really don't think anybody competes with anybody else in the sense of, `I worked so hard. I should be able to do this.' When the timing is right, I think everybody gets that chance.''
Maria is making the most of her opportunity. Despite the success, the driven diva shows no signs of slowing down.
''I love wrestling. I really do. It takes so much hard work,'' Maria said. ``The most important thing is making it out to the signings and the media. If I got to skip out on the gym, I got to do it, but hopefully it's not showing too much.''
• WWE's Backlash pay-per-view is 8 p.m. EST Sunday, April 27 at the 1st Mariner Arena in Baltimore.
World champ The Undertaker versus Edge. WWE's ECW champ Kane versus Chavo Guerrero. WWE champ Randy Orton versus John Bradshaw Layfield versus Triple H versus John Cena.
Shawn Michaels versus Batista with Chris Jericho as special guest referee. The Big Show versus The Great Khali. WWE United States champ Montel Vontavious Porter versus Matt Hardy and more.
miamiherald.com