By Michael Moore, PWTorch Collectibles specialist

In Brief: Ring of Honor’s First Lady of Wrestling and former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis talks wrestling collectibles exclusively with PWTorch.

One time while traveling through an airport, a fan asked Maria Kanellis to sign a pair of socks – the socks she happened to be wearing at the time.

“I probably would have done it, if I wasn’t in the airport and needing them at the time,” Maria said with a laugh during a recent PWTorch exclusive interview.

Although she wasn’t able grant that fan’s request, Maria has literally given wrestling collectors the shirt off her back. And the shoes off her feet. And the bra off her chest. And, well … just about everything else.

Since parting ways with WWE in late 2010, Maria has appeared on several Bench Warmer trading cards. She’s autographed thousands of different cards, and the company has cut up several items of clothing that she wore during photo shoots and inserted them into cards.

“I’ve known them for a long time, but just never got around to doing a photo shoot,” Maria said of Bench Warmer. “Then probably they year after I was done with WWE, they contacted me and asked me if I wanted to do it, and (owner Brian Wallos) is such a great guy. I committed to doing it and now I’ve done two different photo shoots with them and tons and tons of cards. I think there’s probably going to be around 32 different cards by the end of the year.”

Bench Warmer is a company that has been producing trading card sets of models, athletes, and other female celebrities since 1992. In recent years the company has released several themed products, such as “Hot for Teacher” and “Vegas Baby.” The “Vegas Baby” series, for example, features signed playing cards, memorabilia cards that contain pieces of a bracelet that Maria wore during the photo shoot, and special inscribed autographs, such as, “I feel lucky!” and “Do you want my room key?”

When shooting photos for Bench Warmer cards, Maria helps decide the type of clothing that should be worn and what the shoot should look like.

“I love creating the whole scene of the photo shoot,” Maria said. “I have a lot of input on what I wear. I’ll go there with a bunch of ideas. I go there with a big suitcase with a bunch of my own clothes to wear as well. Some of them are outfits that I made myself.”

Some of the cards feature pieces of clothing that Maria not only wore, but designed and made by hand. The 2013 Bench Warmer Gold Edition, for example, features a memorabilia card that contains a piece of the feathery white bikini that Maria is shown wearing on her card. That bikini top is one of the pieces Maria designed and made herself.




Like many other wrestling stars, Maria has used eBay to sell items that she wore throughout her WWE career.

“When I first left WWE, I sold stuff for about a year-and-a-half,” Maria said. “I haven’t done that for a while; maybe I’ll start doing that again. There are a lot of my clothes that I ended up getting rid of right after WWE. I had so much stuff and I was just ready to part ways with it.”

While she isn’t currently selling on eBay or her website, there are plenty of other sellers offering clothing that Maria wore in the ring or during photo shoots. Like with any collectible, prospective buyers should ask the seller to provide a certificate of authenticity (COA) when buying items that were signed or worn by a celebrity. The items that Maria originally sold through eBay included a COA.

Maria signs autographs at independent shows and conventions around the country. She often sees fans bringing her the same items to sign.

“There’s a couple of photos that I sign all the time,” Maria said. “There’s a photo where I’m laying on my stomach and I have a purple top on and I’m wearing purple boots. That one I sign so many of. People love that picture.”

Other common requests include her last WWE promotional photo, which shows Maria in a black dress, her hair blowing in the wind. “I love that picture,” she said. “People have me sign that all the time.”

Other common requests include Bench Warmer trading cards, her Playboy cover, and WWE figures from Jakks-Pacific. During her time with WWE, Jakks made two different figures of Maria, both sold in two-packs. Maria left WWE shortly after Mattel took over the company’s toy line.

“I loved them,” Maria said of her Jakks figures. “I thought they were so cool. I loved my one with Santino. I just thought that was so fun. And of course Beth (Phoenix) is an awesome woman so to be in a package with her was really cool as well.”




Maria, like many of her fans, is a collector of wrestling memorabilia. She was a central figure in WWE’s SummerSlam marketing campaign in 2008, and still has one of the chairs from the arena that has her picture on it. She also still has several WWE posters, and her mom has saved newspaper and magazine clippings from throughout Maria’s career.

“I still have a lot of stuff from when I was a part of WWE,” Maria said. “But I also collect the WWE Magazine. I have them going back probably six or seven years now. I love magazines; I always have.”

Fans can follow Maria on Twitter @MariaLKannelis or on Facebook at OfficialMariaKanellis. There are several fansites dedicated to Maria, and her official website is MariaKanellis.com.

PWTorch Collectibles Specialist Michael Moore can be reached at michaelmoorewriter@gmail.com .

We suggest these recent related articles...

10/5 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Natalya vs. Paige, Owens vs. Cara, Stephanie McMahon, Sasha Banks, Xavier Woods

COLLECTIBLES COLUMN: The History of Foam Hands in Pro Wrestling

9/28 WWE Raw Hits & Misses: Kane's Split Personality, Divas Revolution, Heyman & Big Show, Reigns vs. Wyatt