Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis were released from their WWE contract over a year ago which was a painful experience for the duo. The two have reportedly signed with the Ring of Honor promotion as per the reports from PWInsider in mid-April. It was revealed that they have signed with ROH and will be with the promotion on a full-time role.
COVID-19 related budget cuts let the couple go from the WWE after which Mike returned to ROH on the November 21 TV show while Maria Kanellis later returned on December 20. They previously worked with ROH which came to an end in late December 2015 after failing to come to terms on a new deal. While Mike will be a performer, her partner is likely to be involved with backstage work to improve the status of female wrestlers of ROH.
Maria Kanellis Claims WWE Would Never Host Evolution PPV, Again
In a recent appearance on the Wrassingh Show, Maria Kanellis decided to revisit her first run in WWE from 2005-2010. This stint saw her as a Diva Search contestant who later transitioned into backstage interviewer for WWE before finally becoming a female wrestler. The experiences appeared to be quite fond to her.
“I loved it!” Maria Kanellis exclaimed. “I had one of the greatest jobs in the world! I worked with everybody. A lot of people, they’re like ‘oh, well did you feel like you were left out because you didn’t always wrestle?’ and no. I got to work with The Rock, John Cena, Ric Flair, DX, numerous times. And then I got to work with Santino and watch paint dry with Jeff Hardy. Like I have had a very interesting career because of my beginnings.”
Maria Kanellis Speaks On WWE Punishing Her For Second Pregnancy
Maria Kanellis was nervous about appearing on WWE TV
Maria Kanellis used to portray a character who was very tensed during her TV appearances which perhaps reflected her actual feels before featuring on TV. According to her, with the nervousness came the excitement and it eventually benefited her on-screen role. Coming out of that role she managed to become perhaps the most popular female star of the locker room back in her heyday.
“I just figured I would figure it out and I did, and I never expected it to get the reaction that it did,” Maria Kanellis said. “I mean, so many people loved it so many people had so much fun with it. They asked me to bring it back and I do cameos and sometimes in cameo videos they’re like ‘can you do the Ditsy Maria character?’ Of course! Like it’s still fun for me to do that you know?”
As we have seen in the past, Maria Kanellis has been vocal about how male and female wrestlers should be treated equally. She also mentioned the fact how WWE always wanted to restrict her activities with third-party platforms. She was involved in a musical EP called Seven Sins. The record came out in public following Maria’s own release from WWE in February of 2010.
Maria Kanellis seemed unhappy with the way WWE attempted to control her project especially given that she wasn’t allowed to enjoy a pay hike in half a decade,
“I hadn’t had a raise in five and a half years, so I asked for a raise and then they didn’t want to give me one! So like, it was just weird that I was working just as much as the top guys were, but I wasn’t even paid one-tenth what they were. For me it just wasn’t reasonable, like you shouldn’t stay in a relationship that is so one-sided and that’s how it felt for me was just them taking from me while I wasn’t getting enough in return. I mean, it just wasn’t a favorable time in my life financially or just like personally.”
