Maria Kanellis finished up with AEW on January 31st when her contract expired.
Maria said she would be starting her Masters Degree Program at the University of Illinois in March.
Speaking on her Adult Conversations podcast, Maria commented on her future.
"As my contract was coming up, I was very much like, I went back and forth. I'm like, 'Okay, what do I want to be next? Where do I want to go? Do I want to do this? Do I want to try and fight for this company or go this way?' At the end of the day, I kind of took a step back and was like, 'You know what, I don't think I want that right now.' I want to be a mom. I want that to be enough, but I also want to find fulfillment in other things that I'm super passionate about. If the right opportunity comes around and there is an opportunity, whether it be a couple of months of doing something in wrestling or to help out somewhere or do a camp or that kind of stuff, I'm not going to say no, but at the same time, it's just not where I want to be. The Rumble happened. Would it be cool to go and do the Rumble? Yes, but at the same time, I was kind of like, 'Don't call me. Don't call me. Don't call me.' I was doing this back and forth of, 'Okay, do I want to jump back in there?' I don't know.
"I kind of want to figure that out before I jump back into something. I want to figure out these other things that I'm super passionate about. Do I want to continue being a florist and creating these amazing vases for people. What else would I want to do? I still love doing photoshoots and styling photoshoots. Do I want to move more in a stylist direction? It's this thing of, I'm trying to give myself time and space to think about what I want. So many times I think about, 'Okay, contract is up, I have to sign another contract.' It's this panic. I've done it so many times and I just don't know if that's what I want right now. Anything could change. I feel like I'm making peace with it now. There was a while when I wasn't making peace with it. There was a while when I was angry. Very very angry."
Maria admitted some her anger stemmed from the health issues she was going through.
In July 2024, she revealed she had a mass on her adrenal gland and would be undergoing surgery. She underwent surgery in October and later revealed she was cancer free.
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