Maria Kanellis just revealed one of the wildest pay gaps from WWE’s Divas era. According to her, posing for Playboy one time earned her more money than she made during an entire year with WWE.
Speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Maria recalled having to call her younger sister before agreeing to the 2008 Playboy shoot because she wanted to make sure she was comfortable with it. Once her sister found out how much Playboy was offering, Maria said the conversation was pretty much over.
“I had to call my sister, though, because she was still in high school and be like, ‘Hey, so they asked me to do Playboy. Are you okay with that?’ And she’s like, ‘How much are they paying you?’ And then she was fine with it.”
Maria then revealed just how massive the paycheck really was, saying that a single Playboy shoot brought in more money than she earned from WWE over the course of an entire year.
“Yes. One shoot. More than the year.”
She said that huge difference in pay reflected what WWE’s women’s division was dealing with at the time. According to Maria, everyone knew there was a major pay disparity, though she’s happy to see things have changed since then.
“But that was a different time. That’s 2008. That was what we were fighting for at the time. There was such a discrepancy, and everybody knew that there was a discrepancy. And luckily that’s changed, and it took time. But it also ends up being a very good story and a very, very big motivator in my life.”
Maria also shared another interesting detail about the shoot, revealing that she wasn’t actually WWE’s first choice for the Playboy cover. She believes she was probably the third or fourth woman approached before eventually accepting the opportunity, but said she had no issue with that and ended up loving the experience.
“I was not the first choice. I think I might have been third or fourth. I think so. And I think, yeah, there might have been two or three before me, which is fine. I enjoyed doing it. It was so much fun.”
Looking back nearly two decades later, Maria’s story is a reminder of just how different the business was during the Divas era. Between the pay gap and the opportunities outside WWE paying significantly more, it’s easy to see why she still remembers that Playboy shoot as one of the biggest financial moments of her career.
Were you surprised to hear one Playboy shoot paid Maria Kanellis more than an entire year in WWE? Let us know in the comments below.
This transcript was produced exclusively for Ringside News from the original recording. Republishing the transcription in full is prohibited. When using excerpts, provide prominent credit and a link to this article.
