WWE News: An update on Maria Kanellis' return to WWE television

Modified Jul 12, 2018 09:16 GMT

Enter — Maria Kanellis is on her way back to the ring

What's the story?

After her return to WWE television was cut short- for the best possible reason - giving birth to her first child - Maria Kanellis has provided an update on her return to WWE television.

In case you didn't know...

Maria Kanellis signed with WWE in 2004 after entering the Diva Search, making appearances at OVW and working in more of a creative capacity with booking ideas, before being brought to Raw as a backstage interviewer and the host of KissCam.

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By 2005, Maria was wrestling on Raw and proved her toughness when one of her fillings was slapped out of her mouth during a match with Trish Stratus - something that would be prominent in her first stint in WWE as she competed against Kurt Angle in singles action, teamed with John Cena against Edge and Lita and was also on the receiving end of a Stone Cold Stunner when she criticised Steve Austin's movie The Condemned.

Kanellis also appeared on the Celebrity Apprentice and, after being released from WWE, went on to wrestle in Ring of Honor. Maria Kanellis was even dubbed the First Lady of ROH shortly after her debut, accompanying Mike Bennett in a match where he won the ROH World Television Championship. Kanellis was part of The Kingdom in ROH with Bennett - who she went on to marry in 2014.

The pair would go on to work together in New Japan Pro Wrestling and Impact Wrestling among others, with Maria competing alongside Mike in NJPW, the first time women had competed on the promotion in 13 years.

While in Impact Wrestling, Maria Kanellis achieved a first as a singles competitor, when she won the Impact Knockouts Championship. She held the title for 50 days before losing it to Gail Kim. Kanellis was also the Impact Knockouts Division Commissioner.

Both Maria and Mike left Impact Wrestling in March 2017 and returned to WWE few months later in June at Money In The Bank, with Mike even taking Maria's name, debuting as Mike Kanellis and the pair using 'The Power of Love' to overcome their opponents as a heel couple. Mike Kanellis defeated Sami Zayn before taking a leave of absence, where it was later noted he battled drug abuse and successfully overcame it.

Mike Kanellis hasn't been on WWE television for a while, but he has been working live events and dark matches while Maria Kanellis has been off TV due to pregnancy. The pair had their first child in April.

The heart of the matter

After being off of television due to pregnancy and with both she and husband Mike detailing the troubled times they've gone through in the past, Maria Kanellis took to social media to announce that she's working towards a return to WWE.

Maria took to Instagram to hype up her return to action, and television, with her husband Mike, hinting that they'll resume their role as a heel couple on television. The former Knockouts Champion details that she'll be at the Performance Center from the start of August working towards her return to WWE television. You can see the full post below.