"That's the man I'm gonna marry" - When Maria Kanellis confessed her feelings to 2-time WWE Champion 

In the mid-2000s, Maria Kanellis was signed with WWE, during which she was apparently romantically linked to former AEW World Champion CM Punk.

CM Punk and Maria Kanellis were both part of WWE during the 2000s. Both stars apparently started dating a year after Maria joined the company. While they shared the screen sparingly, their most notable moment came at WrestleMania 23 when Kanellis interviewed CM Punk ahead of his Money in the Bank ladder match that night.

Maria and Punk were rumored to be dating in 2007, but later that year, it was reported they had broken up.

In an interview with Highspots Wrestling Network, Maria spoke about a time she saw Punk in a rental car facility.

"I had my eye on him [CM Punk] from like, he came to a show one time, I think we were in Arizona or something, and I seen him. And there he was in the rental car facility, and I look across, and I'm riding with Mickie at the time, and I'm like, 'oh my God!" And she's like, 'what?' And I'm like, 'that's the man I'm gonna marry,'" she said. [From 1:44 to 2:01]

Maria Kanellis is currently married to Mike Bennett, they both have two children together. Whereas CM Punk tied the knot with AJ Lee in 2014.

The former WWE stars are now AEW colleagues

CM Punk has been with AEW since making his shocking return to professional wrestling in 2021. He has since held the world title on two occasions throughout 2022. The former WWE Superstar sustained a foot injury that marred his first reign, returning only to drop his Lineal title to Interim Champion Jon Moxley.

After later recapturing the title, Punk was involved in the infamous 'Brawl Out' incident and was suspended. He also sustained a torn tricep and has not been seen in a wrestling capacity since.

Meanwhile, Maria Kanellis joined AEW in late 2022 alongside Mike Benett and Matt Taven as The Kingdom. They have since feuded with 'WarJoe' and Benett more recently challenged for Darby Allin's TNT title.

CM Punk has appeared fleetingly since September last year. He does make sporadic social media posts and has continued in his commentary role for the Cage Fury Fighting MMA promotion.

Would you like CM Punk to return to AEW? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.