Maria Kanellis first entered into professional wrestling through the WWE Diva Search. This basically meant that she had to be trained from the ground up upon entering WWE, which, in an interview with Metro in the UK, didn't go very well initially.

"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. 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 paralyzed, it was awful! As a fan, you don’t know until you know. It’s intense.”