Starting her career in the WWE Ruthless Aggression era, Maria Kanellis established herself as one of the most popular female wrestlers of her time. Despite her lack of in-ring credentials, she turned out to be one of the most successful WWE Divas which further led her to achieve some bigger ventures in the mainstay scene including featuring in the cover of the Playboy magazine.
Maria Kanellis was last called a WWE Superstar in 2020 before getting released by the company amid a mass budget cut. She eventually landed a deal alongside her husband Mike Kanellis in All Elite Wrestling to appear for the Ring of Honor TV content. However, in recent times female talents have barely been utilized on such TV appearances which led to doubts about her wrestling career.
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Speaking in an interview with Gabby AF, Maris Kanellis discussed how difficult this year had been for her from a personal and professional perspective. She had to spend a lot without her husband at home but the will to do something new has always been there which often creates a contemplating situation for her. In addition, the health issues offered more struggles to the renowned female wrestling talent.
“What’s my purpose? Is there a sign here? Is wrestling and this portion of my career coming to a close, or do I need to start looking at it in a different way? Do I need to start thinking about going somewhere else, doing something else?” Maria Kanellis questioned. “Because all these things that are happening in my life.’ When your health comes into question, then all you can think about is, ‘Am I living my best life?’”
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Maria Kanellis doubts perhaps it’s time to move on from wrestling
Maria Kanellis further added that she is having things going okay for her in terms of her children and husband. But she herself is stuck with career goals and perhaps that comes with the bigger reality check. It was further mentioned by her that perhaps the time could be here that she moves on doing something else in career,
“It also gives you a sense of clarity, like, okay, I know that I’m not happy with my career is right now. Whether that means in wrestling or just it’s time to move on and do something on, I’m not sure.” (quotes courtesy Fightful)
Maria Kanellis has worked for WWE, IMPACT/TNA, NJPW, ROH, and AEW to become one of the very few talents to have worked for the top 5 wrestling promotions. She was initially paired up with Mike Bennett, her husband, and Matt Taven in AEW, the trio has since parted ways. Taven and Bennett have been featured on AEW programming while Kanellis has been utilized on ROH for only a handful of appearances.
