Top WWE Stars Told Ex-Champion She Was Dumb For Dating CM Punk
A former TNA Knockouts Champion revealed how she was called dumb by top guys in WWE for dating CM Punk. The ex-champion in question is Maria Kanellis.
Maria Kanellis is known for her time in the WWE from 2005 to 2010. She also had a brief run in the promotion from 2018 to 2020 before a non-wrestling tenure in AEW and Ring of Honor. The 44-year-old veteran has now retired from in-ring competition and is not signed to any promotion since her departure from All Elite Wrestling last year.
During her first run in the Stamford-based promotion, Maria Kanellis dated CM Punk, and it’s widely known by the internet wrestling community. Meanwhile, Maria recalled the reaction of the WWE locker room back when she used to date Punk.
Top guys told ex-WWE star that she was dumb for dating CM Punk
CM Punk had joined the WWE in 2005 after making a name for himself on the independent wrestling scene, and he was allegedly dating Maria Kanellis around that time.
Speaking on Wrestling Life Online, Maria Kanellis opened up on how things are very different in the wrestling industry now compared to 20 years ago, as indy guys used to be looked down upon back then. As CM Punk was from the indies, many top stars in WWE called Maria dumb for dating him, as revealed by her:
It used to be that Indy guys were looked down upon. I was around plenty of top guys that would tell me how dumb I was for dating CM Punk when I was dating him and it was just the start of the whole Indy wrestling research not even a research but takeover of WWE and so like there was that time where Indy guys never made it into WWE and then all of a sudden they were allowed to be in WWE,” Maria recalled.
Maria Kanellis further revealed that she didn’t know about indie wrestling back then and weighed in on the current state of indie wrestling, which is good:
I didn’t even know about Indies at the time. I was a WWE fan die hard fan. But now you got AEW. You got Impact with their deal. You’ve got you know all these other companies GCW and NWA and all these wrestling companies that you can go and you can do okay for yourself. And I think that’s really exciting.” [H/T Ringside News]
Maria Kanellis recuerda que hubo superestrellas de #WWE que la llamaron tonta por salir con CM Punk hace 2 décadas: "Antes los luchadores independientes eran menospreciados. Hubo luchadores importantes que me decían lo tonta que era por salir con CM Punk"
(Wrestling Life Online) pic.twitter.com/VgeIOrYLnS
— Steel Cage News (@SteelCageNews_) June 8, 2026
Also read: CM Punk’s Insane Transformation Causes Controversy, Ex-WWE Champion Reacts