HOT WOMEN WRESTLER HISTORY

Maria Kanellis was born on February 25, 1982 in Ottawa, Illinois. Prior to entering the world of wrestling she appeared on the reality TV show Outback Jack. That showcan best be described as Crocodile Dundee meets the Bachelor. Maria made it to the final three before having her heart broken. But just like the boomerang used in the outback, Maria would return to television in another elimination contest.

Maria was first introduced to WWE fans as a contestant in the inaugural Diva Search contest. While that contest was won by Christy Hemme, Maria was still offered a contract with the WWE.

In 2007, Maria started an on-air relationship with Santino Marella. He would frequently take advantage of her innocence and would constantly insult her. The couple is currently having an issue because Ashley, a former Playboy cover girl, informed Maria that Hugh Hefner wants her to appear in the magazine. Santino does not wish to see his Maria appear in a "Booby Magazine". Despite his objections, she is scheduled to appear in the magazine that will hit shelves shortly before WrestleMania 24.

WRESTLER HISTORY

Real name:Paul Wight
Date of birth:Feb. 8, 1972
Birthplace:Aiken, S.C.
Billed From:Tampa, Fla.
Billed Height and Weight:7', 485 lbs.
Training:Larry Sharpe's Monster Factory (Bellmawr, N.J.)
Signature move:Chokeslam
Entrance Theme:"Crank It Up" by Brand New Sin
TITLE HISTORY AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS*
ACCOMPLISHMENT NOTES
WWE Championship Two-time champion
World Heavyweight Championship (WCW) Two-time champion
ECW Championship Defeated Rob Van Dam on ECW onSciFi in 2006
Unified WWE Tag Team Championship (current)With Chris Jericho (awarded title when Jericho chose him as partner at Night of Champions 2009)
World Tag Team Championship Four-time champion with Chris Jericho-current-, Kane, and Undertaker (twice)

Standing at over seven feet tall and weighing around the 500 lb mark, professional wrestler Paul Wight can only be described in one way: Big. As a result, it is no surprise that upon his signing with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) in 1999, the wrestler known as The Giant in World Championship Wrestling (WCW) changed his name to The Big Show.
Debuting with the WWF in February of 1999 after signing a ten-year contract, Big Show made an immediate impact at the St. Valentine's Day Massacre pay-per-view by tearing a hole from underneath the ring and attacking Stone Cold Steve Austin. This move aligned Show with Vince McMahon and his stable, The Corporation, who were determined to remove Stone Cold from the WWF forever.

However, this relationship failed to last past the end of 1999, as McMahon's high demands for his personal bodyguard grew increasingly worse. This prompted Show to form an unlikely alliance with The Undertaker, who had been feuding with his brother Kane. While the duo captured the WWF Tag Team Championship on two occasions, Big Show still had only one goal in mind: to win the WWF World Championship.

Following Austin's removal from a triple threat match scheduled for Survivor Series in November 1999, Show was booked in his place. This proved beneficial to Show and his quest for gold, as he defeated Triple H and The Rock to become the new WWF Champion. In less than one year, Show had gone from personal bodyguard to World Heavyweight Champion.

Big Show returned to the WWE in 2001, but spent the majority of the year in unsuccessful mid-card feuds. This caused his trade from the Raw brand to Smackdown, who had fierce competitor Brock Lesnar as their Champion. Realizing this could be his last opportunity for a second title reign, Show called out Lesnar and demanded a shot at the belt. Lesnar accepted, and the two faced off at Survivor Series in November 2002. The grueling match saw Lesnar's manager Paul Heyman align himself with Show, helping him capture his second WWE Championship.

WRESTLING COMETITION

Competition with the WWF
Beginning in 1994, Bischoff declared open war on McMahon's WWF and aggressively recruited high-profile former WWF superstars such as Hulk Hogan and Randy Savage to work for WCW. Using Turner's monetary resources, Bischoff placed his faith in established stars with proven track records. Due to their high profiles, however, Hogan and Savage were able to demand concessions, such as multi-year, multi-million dollar contracts and creative control over their characters. This would later become a problem during subsequent years of competition with the WWF, as other wrestlers were able to make similar demands, and contract values soared out of control. Hogan in particular was able to gain considerable influence through a friendship with Bischoff. Hogan's considerably hefty fee of $700,000 per pay-per-view appearance would cost the company dearly in future years. He was paid this amount whether the pay-per-view was successful or not. Another thing Bischoff may have failed to consider was the fact that many WCW fans (especially those who had followed the company since its NWA days) watched it as an alternative product to the WWF that focused on in-ring action as opposed to cartoonish characters and storylines. As such, these fans viewed Bischoff's signing of former WWF talent as an attempt to copy its success instead of remaining true to the idea of WCW being an alternative to the WWF.
Nevertheless, WCW's first major pay-per-view event since Hogan's hiring, Bash at the Beach, saw the former WWF mainstay cleanly defeat Ric Flair for the WCW World championship. The two had worked for the WWF at the same time from 1991 to 1992, and a feud was teased between them, but the big-money match originally planned for Wrestle Mania VIII was changed to Flair/Savage and Hogan/Sid.When WCW delivered the match, the event drew a high buyrate by WCW standards due to mainstream intrigue and hype. Despite being a critical and financial success, the glory would not last, as the Hogan/Flair feud would only result in one more match (at Halloween Havoc) and the hope for long-term effects on pay-per-view buyrates and ratings did not materialize. Turner management came to this realization when they checked up on the state of the company in mid-1995. Hence, Bischoff called Turner and requested a private meeting, which he was granted.

WCW Monday Nitro and "The Monday Night Wars"
Bischoff would be instrumental in launching the weekly show WCW Monday Nitro, which debuted on September 4, 1995 live from the Mall of America in Bloomington,Minnesota At their mid-1995 meeting, Turner asked Bischoff how WCW could conceivably compete with McMahon's WWF. Bischoff, not expecting Turner to comply, said that the only way would be a primetime slot on a weekday night, possibly up against the WWF's flagship show, Monday Night Raw. Turner granted him a live hour on TNT every Monday night, which specifically overlapped with Raw.This format quickly expanded to two live hours in May 1996 and later three. Bischoff himself was initially the host, alongside Bobby Heenan and ex-NFL star Steve "Mongo" McMichael.