Maria Kanellis Wins First Wrestling Championship
Maria and opponent Tara pose before the show.
Former WWE Diva turned ROH star Maria Kanellis returned to the ring last night on her 30th birthday — and scored her first championship in wrestling.
The Story Behind Maria Kanellis’ Wrestling Return: “I Don’t Want to be a Diva”
Maria returned to the ring for the first time in two years and took part in her first match since being released by WWE. She took part in a four woman tournament to crown Family Wrestling Entertainment’s first-ever Women’s Champion at their ‘No Limits’ event at St Paul’s Hall in New York City.
Results below courtesy of PWInsider.
* First round: Winter vs. Brooke Tessmacher: Described as a “short but decent opener” match, Winter scored the win to advance to the finals when she caught Tessmacher off a flying body press and hit her with a gutbuster.
* First round: Maria Kanellis vs. Tara: Maria defeated Tara when Winter interfered. Tara had the victory in her grasp – with Maria set up for the devastating Widow’s Peak – when Winter made her presence known, leading to a face-off with her fellow TNA Knockout. Maria then proceeded to roll Tara up for the win! The match was rated as “fine” but with a “goofy finish”.
* Finals: Winter vs. Maria Kanellis: Said to be an “OK” match, Winter took control early on, with Kanellis later making a big comeback. Kanellis’ comeback got cut short when she was elevated and dropped onto the top turnbuckle by Winter, but Tessmacher made a second appearance and distracted the referee… which allowed for Tara to hit Winter with the Widow’s Peak, paying her back for her interference earlier in the evening. Maria then covered Winter for the victory and to be crowned the first-ever FWE Women’s Champion!
Congratulations to Maria and a happy birthday!
Melina&Mickie4ever!
February 26, 2012 at 4:03 pm
Congratulations to Maria! I never could really get behind her in wwe .. I did think she was fit for the women’s Championship more than the Divas Championship
iLUVwrestlingValets
February 26, 2012 at 6:29 pm
Dont you mean the other way around. Lol
art
February 27, 2012 at 1:23 am
iLUVwrestlingValets Agree…
Mata
February 26, 2012 at 4:11 pm
I wanna watch the matches! :(
Congrats to my fave diva of all time MARIA :D
EveLover
February 26, 2012 at 4:11 pm
Congrats to her. I hope the matches were recorded, I want to see if maria has improved.
oppi89
February 26, 2012 at 5:33 pm
Me too!!
josh101
February 26, 2012 at 4:16 pm
Congrats to her now she can finally say she won a championship.
Jhonmarco
February 26, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Big congrats to Maria, regardless if she’s improved or not she’s earned my respect by returning & training hard. Very few “diva search” girls do this, even though she did have a passion for the business.
HOLLA
February 26, 2012 at 4:36 pm
Yes! Yes! Yes! Ive always loved Maria!!! She’s beautiful, passionate and has so much to offer! xoxo!!
bromero329
February 26, 2012 at 5:20 pm
so this isn’t roh?
oppi89
February 26, 2012 at 5:32 pm
That is so awesome i really hope someone recorded the matches would love to watch all three of them 4 of my favorite former divas with my all time favorite Diva scoring her first championship! Big congrats to Maria!
oppi89
February 26, 2012 at 5:34 pm
Oh & Happy 30th to her aswell! probably the best present she could have asked for
SweeneyTodd
February 26, 2012 at 5:44 pm
LOL. One of the worst female worker of wwe history is champion.
redsandman99
February 26, 2012 at 5:51 pm
While her in ring work never really impressed me, sad thing is, she’s better than some of the women that were actually champions in WWE.
iLUVwrestlingValets
February 26, 2012 at 6:30 pm
Congrats to Maria. She may not be the best wrestler, but she most certaintly isnt the worst,( personally i’ve never seen her botch) but she most certaintly has a passion for it.
Cookie
February 28, 2012 at 12:23 am
she made botched only one time breaking maryse nose with bull dog in 08.
Raekon
February 26, 2012 at 6:50 pm
All the matches sound fun and it was great to see all 4 featured greatly (due to the interferances left and right :p).
Happy Birthday again Maria and congrats on the title! :)
Teri
February 26, 2012 at 8:23 pm
Congrats on the title win :)
Jhonmarco
February 26, 2012 at 9:32 pm
You NEED to check out the thread about Trish with 329 comments! Just for the comments…
Teri
February 27, 2012 at 3:19 am
haha yeah, havent had time to catch up on my diva dirt craziness lately, but i’ll be sure to check that out now loool
Jhonmarco
February 27, 2012 at 3:38 am
Your mentioned in some of the comments :p the raw response thread will be pure madness!
GailKim95
February 26, 2012 at 11:03 pm
YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Maria so much and it is so great that she finally won a championship and to be the first ever too is quite an honor! It sounds like all the girls did great and even though i love all 4 all the controversial finishes were kind of annoying. I wanted Maria to hit her finisher on somebody because i heard she has a new one, its like a sitout Rock Bottom. Hopefully someone taped it so i can watch it!
Blonde Bombshell
February 26, 2012 at 11:12 pm
Congrats to her! :)
Jcott3
February 28, 2012 at 1:14 am
Nice, but I would have liked it better if Maria had won on her own. Having TNT help her kind of taints it.