ShareThisThis isn't how Maria Kanellis planned to spend "Wrestlemania 26" weekend.
One month ago, Kanellis expected to be a part of the festivities surrounding World Wrestling Entertainment's annual pay-per-view extravaganza. WWE, though, abruptly fired one of its most popular female performers just as she was about to receive her greatest mainstream exposure on "Celebrity Apprentice."
To her credit, Kanellis didn't let the release slow her budding entertainment career. She quickly agreed to serve as a "backstage correspondent" on the "King of the Cage: Legacy" mixed-martial-arts show airing live from Reno, Nev., at 10 p.m. EDT Friday on HD-Net.
"This is definitely a new adventure," Kanellis said Tuesday during a telephone interview. "It's funny because I was on the road a lot of times (with WWE) when there were MMA shows going on. I don't know about it as much as I would like, but I'm going to know a lot about it very soon."
A former reality-show contestant, Kanellis branched into pro wrestling when signing with WWE in 2004. Kanellis became so popular that she was voted WWE 2009 Diva of the Year despite taking an extended leave of absence to tape "Celebrity Apprentice," which is now airing at 9 p.m. Sundays on NBC.
Kanellis laughed when asked the reason she won WWE fan balloting.
"I lost all the time," Kanellis said. "I wasn't blessed with amazing wrestling ability. I worked my tail off to get better. But some people look good fighting and some look like spiders in the ring. I was a spider with only seven legs and one dangling. I watch some of my matches and say, 'Oh dear.' I think people felt sorry for me and thought, 'I know that girl,' or, 'I am that girl.' "
Although not the most graceful athlete, Kanellis is putting her brains and beauty to good use outside of WWE. She led her "Celebrity Apprentice" team to victory on last week's episode, which netted a $20,000 donation to the Make-A-Wish foundation.
Working with that charity -- which grants wishes to children with life-threatening medical conditions -- is one of the things Kanellis enjoyed most during her WWE tenure. Kanellis admits being disappointed that WWE wouldn't allow her to remain with the company through "Wrestlemania 26" so she could participate in scheduled Make-A-Wish fundraisers.
Kanellis also is unhappy with how WWE handled her firing. After being informed by management, Kanellis said WWE posted the news so quickly that she hadn't even had a chance to tell her mother first. Kanellis said the release stemmed from the fact that she wanted to keep the rights to her non-WWE projects while the company "wanted to have more control over those things."
"People are saying it was about money or this and that," Kanellis said. "It wasn't. It had to do with my other passions and things I wanted to do alongside WWE. Unfortunately, it didn't work for them."
Kanellis is now working on a slew of non-wrestling projects. She is pitching a reality show based on her post-WWE transition and auditioning for acting roles.
"I would really, really, really love to be Wonder Woman," said Kanellis, referring to the lead role in a super-hero movie being cast for a 2011 release.
Kanellis is releasing her first musical project, "Sevin Sins," on April 13. She wrote the four songs on it. One single -- "Fantasy" -- was written in 2007 after her real-life romance ended with WWE star C.M. Punk.
"It's rock music with twisted lyrics and sex appeal," said Kanellis, who has a copy of "Fantasy" available on her Web site, www.mariakanellis.net. "I started writing music when I was a little girl. But after my big breakup from Mr. Punk, it put a fire underneath me. I've now got four songs, two music videos and a photo booklet and can hopefully finish my album this summer."
Kanellis is so busy that pro wrestling is on the backburner. But as far as a possible return someday, her response was "never say never."
"I didn't want to leave when I did," said Kanellis, 28. "Who knows where the road is going to lead me? Maybe a good cause will come up for me to go to TNA (Wrestling) or even visit with Ring of Honor. I've always said some of the great talent is on the independent (circuit)."
"King of the Cage: Legacy," which is being presented by "Survivor" executive producer Mark Burnett, is headlined by Mike Kyle vs. Jon Murphy. For more information, visit www.kingofthecage.com.
(Alex Marvez writes a syndicated pro-wrestling column for Scripps Howard News Service. Contact him at alex1marv(at)aol.com or follow him via Twitter at http://twitter.com/alexmarvez.)
Editors: 'Sevin Sins' is CQ
