Maria Kanellis opens up.
Throughout her career, Maria Kanellis has worked for WWE, IMPACT/TNA, NJPW, ROH, and AEW. She signed with AEW/ROH in 2022. Kanellis was initially paired up with Mike Bennett, her husband, and Matt Taven. The trio has since parted ways, as Taven and Bennett have been featured on AEW programming while Kanellis has been utilized less frequently on ROH.
Speaking on Gabby AF, Maris Kanellis discussed about how it had been a difficult year. After going into detail about her struggles with her health, she explained why she was feeling unfilled with her career.
“This past year’s been just awful. Yes, also great in some ways, but then awful in others. I’ve been home by myself without Mike a ton, and we were put on two different shows, we were on complete opposite schedules for the longest time. He’s in London right now for a week, and I’m not. I’ve got that going on in my career, where I’m feeling very unfulfilled and wanting to do more, and I’m used to fighting for and doing so much more, especially in the last year several years of my career, before I got to AEW, and then on top of it, I’ve got these health issues, and it starts to make you feel very much like, ‘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? 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?’ If something terrible were to happen, would I be proud of the things that I’m doing right now in my life? As far as my kiddos and my family and my marriage, all of that is wonderful, and I feel like that’s really great, but then what is my purpose in my career? Right now, I think that’s kind of gotten lost. I fight and I try to do more and more, but it’s also when timing meets opportunity, and where do you belong? So mentally, that makes it really tough. But 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," Kanellis said.
Kanellis was then asked about potentially leaving wrestling. She stated that she was fulfilled with her in-ring career, but she felt like she had more to contribute in other ways. Kanellis noted that it sometimes felt like the universe was telling her it was time to try something else.
“As far as wrestling goes, I don’t feel unfulfilled at all in the ring. In the ring, me wrestling, I did it. My very last match was at WrestleMania, and I could feel it. I got about halfway down the ramp, and I go, this isn’t it. This isn’t it at all. I just knew I was done with wrestling myself. Do I think that there’s things in the business of wrestling that I could contribute? Of course. I hate when people feel as if they’re not getting heard in this industry. There’s been so many more opportunities for women, and I think that women, they’re the strongest in any division in any company right now. I think they just have so much to tell, there’s such a brilliant story to tell. The business of wrestling I think could run smoother. I think that there’s ways that we could help our talent, both male and female. I think that there are things that could definitely be put into place that could help wrestlers lead longer, happier, healthy careers. So there’s a part of me that feels like maybe I should fight for that, and maybe I’ve been fighting for that a bit [laughs] in my own way. But if I had to walk away, there are other things that are getting put into place that I feel confident will be beneficial eventually anyway, so sometimes the universe tells you it’s time to move on, and I don’t know if now’s the time. But sometimes, I feel like it’s trying to say, ‘Okay, maybe try something else for a little while,'" Kanellis said.
Kanellis went on to detail how she struggled with getting split up from Mike Bennett, as they were working difficult schedules between AEW and ROH. She highlighted how this shift had been hard on their marriage. Kanellis went on to state that there was an option coming up in November, and while she did not know what was going to happen, she emphasized that she wanted to work for her paycheck,
“When we got split up, it was really difficult on our marriage. This was probably the hardest year of our marriage. We’re good now, but at first, it was really difficult. It’s a blessing now. When we were first going through it, I was pissed. But it’s being competitive and wanting to be successful and wanting to be on the main show and wanting to show what you got and do what you were made to do. So that makes it tough. Plus, on top of that, he’s my best friend, so I wasn’t seeing my best friend. So yeah, we’ll see what happens. I don’t know what’s gonna happen. I know that things are coming up at the beginning of November, there’s an option, but we’ll see what happens. For me, it’s about still being able to have a purpose and feel like you’re contributing. Wherever I can do that, that’s where I want to do it. I want to work for my money. I don’t want to not work for a paycheck. I want to work for paycheck. I’ve always felt that way, even when I was on maternity leave. I was like, I gotta get back to work, I gotta get back to work. I want to contribute. That’s who I’ve always been. That’s how I was raised. So wherever it is that’s going to be an opportunity to really make an impact and to be able to work and help people, that’s where I want to be," Kanellis said.
Kanellis also praised AEW and Tony Khan before she explained that she was liking a lot of the changes that she was seeing in WWE and TNA as well. She then reiterated that everyone in the industry needed to find where they best fit.
"I love what AEW is about, that’s why I loved AEW after I was out of WWE. That was because I think it is the greatest wrestling in the world. I think AEW has the greatest wrestling in the world. I think that Tony Khan is probably the very best at putting pay-per-views that I’ve ever seen in my life. The pay-per-views, every single one of them is a banger. Every one of them, I’m excited to see. I’m excited to watch. I think that the idea of a company that is the underdog that is able to make such a huge impact in the wrestling industry, I can get behind that for sure. But it’s also, do I fit? There have been tons of changes. WWE has done so much change in the last few years, and I’m excited to see where it goes from here. The opportunities that the women are getting, I’m just so happy to be seeing those things. I think what TNA is doing right now, I think that is really cool, and the way that they’re starting to sell out more and more arenas and bigger places…so there’s just so much momentum out there in the wrestling world, and at this point, I don’t feel one way or another way about any companies. I just feel like everybody in this industry needs to find out where they best fit and where is the best for their family," Kanellis said.
Fightful will provide more information as it becomes available.
Kanellis recently announced that she's returning to school for her Master's Degree. More information is available here.
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