Maria Kanellis once found herself in a terrifying position when Eric Bischoff booked her in a match against Umaga, known as "The Samoan Bulldozer," on "WWE Raw" in November 2006. Then-WWE Champion John Cena eventually came to her rescue, but before he did, fans saw the petite Diva take a Samoan Drop and hip attack.On a recent episode of "Insight With Chris Van Vliet," Kanellis peeled back the curtain on the memorable moment, which began with her being dragged to the ring, visibly horrified. "I remember working myself up backstage so that when I came out, I was shaking so that it would look more real and more believable," she said. "Because Umaga is one of the nicest, sweetest people in the world, and I didn't feel that bump at all. He held me so tight, I didn't feel hitting the mat."While Umaga's Samoan Drop looked devastating to fans watching at home, Kanellis attests the that hip attack that followed was much more painful. "Taking his booty to my face, that hurt," she said. "He had warned me to put my head back, and I thought I had my head back far enough, but he hit and it went all the way down my spine. I was like oh, good, I'm paralyzed after someone hit me with their butt! What a weird [world]."At the time, Kanellis portrayed a ditzy but sweet character on WWE programming. The former Diva feels that the presentation worked greatly to her advantage, though, as it strengthened the contrast between her and the male counterparts that unloaded the physicality on her.Months before her encounter with Umaga, Kanellis was lured into a match with multi-time world champion Kurt Angle as well, with her on the receiving end of an Angle Slam, and nearly, an Ankle Lock until Cena rushed down to save her again.
