Maria Kanellis

In 2004, Kanellis decided to compete in the Raw Diva Search after seeing an advertisement while watching professional wrestling on the popular "Raw" (USA Network/Spike TV/USA Network, 1993-). Though she only placed fifth, Kanellis impressed producers by giving a fellow contestant the middle finger, which led to appearances at the Ohio Valley Wrestling training facility. In November that year, she was brought onto "Raw" as a backstage reporter, where she quickly developed a fan base as a seemingly oblivious interviewer who was prone to asking the wrong questions, which often irritated or amused her subjects. Kanellis made the jump to the ring just a few months later and right away established herself as one of the star Divas, though in one match she was smacked hard enough by a rival Diva that she lost a tooth filling. Meanwhile, she was assigned an on-stage romance with WWE star Santino Marella as part of an ongoing storyline that was more reminiscent of a soap opera than the wrestling days of old. Following a defeat at WrestleMania XXIV, where she "broke up" with Marella, Kanellis made the transition to "WWE SmackDown" (UPN/The CW, 1999-) and continued to reign supreme.In April 2008, Kanellis joined her fellow Divas of years past to pose nude for Playboy magazine, which the brains at WWE worked into their ever-evolving storyline. Meanwhile, she entered into another onstage romance; this time with WWE wrestler Dolph Ziggler, only to break up with him after learning he was cheating on her with a fellow Diva. Taking a much-needed break from wrestling, Kanellis entered the more sane and stable world of reality television by taking part in season nine of "Celebrity Apprentice" (NBC, 2004-). She joined a motley crew of contestants that included Darryl Strawberry, Cyndi Lauper, Olympic legend Michael Johnson and disgraced former governor Rod Blagojevich. In December 2009, while awaiting for "Celebrity Apprentice" to air, Kanellis won her first Slammy Award for Diva of the Year, which she followed by a return to the ring with a tag team win against archrivals Michelle McCool and Layla.