Both Paul Heyman and Kevin Owens helped Mike and Maria Kanellis come to WWE.
At WWE Money In The Bank, Mike and Maria Kanellis debuted only long enough to introduce themselves to the audience. Earlier this year, the two had finished their obligations with Impact Wrestling and had been experiencing a free agency period. On a recent episode of E&C's Pod of Awesomeness, Mike Kanellis revealed he had a lot to consider during this time. He was not sure if he should re-sign with Impact Wrestling or go somewhere else. He looked to Paul Heyman for advice and Heyman gave him crucial instructions.
"I actually reached out to Paul Heyman. He was like 'You know, I think you should reach out to Triple H and talk to him and see what he says,'" said Kanellis. "I did, I sent him an email and told him 'I just got off (Impact Wrestling)' and this and that, blah blah blah. He emailed me back, he was really nice about it, and said 'I'll have someone be in touch with you.' I'm kind of jaded in wrestling through everything. Hearing that, I was like 'that was great, he was really nice. But if I don't hear from someone I'm not going to be surprised,'" he continued.
Kanellis was contacted by William Regal, who offered them both a contract at the end of January. He said he was stunned to find out they wanted him and his wife on the main roster. But before they heard from Regal, the two of them almost re-signed with Impact Wrestling when WWE United States Champion Kevin Owens convinced them to wait.
"It was about a week before we re-signed when Kevin Owens reached out to us. He's like 'what are you guys doing? I heard you're re-signing with (Impact Wrestling). I don't think you should do that. That's a stupid idea,'" said Kanellis. "He's like 'I think you should just wait off a week or so,'" he added.
After that week is when Regal called with their offer. Kanellis said when he showed up to WWE, Kevin Owens asked him "aren't you glad you listened to me?"
The rest of the podcast can be found at Art19.com.
