What’s the story?
Mike Kanellis, formerly known as Mike Bennett, was recently a guest on the E&C Pod of Awesomeness Podcast hosted by former WWE Superstars Edge and Christian.
During his appearance on the podcast, Kanellis spoke about how he and Maria Kanellis left Impact Wrestling, and Kevin Owens stopping them from re-signing with the promotion.
New Champs in WWE! More RIGHT HERE
In case you didn’t know...
Maria Kanellis, known as just “Maria” previously, got her break in the WWE after she competed in the 2004 Diva Search and stayed with the company till 2010. Despite not winning any championships in the WWE, Maria had a number of significant feuds and matches.
Trending
After her run with the WWE, Maria went on to become a part of Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling and Impact Wrestling.
Mike Kanellis, on the other hand, is an experienced professional wrestler and the real life husband of Maria. He has competed for a host of different independent promotions including Impact Wrestling, Ring of Honor, New Japan Pro Wrestling, Chikara, New England Championship Wrestling, and Top Rope Promotions.
Mike made his WWE debut alongside a returning Maria at WWE’s Money In The Bank Pay Per View on 18th June 2017.
The heart of the matter
Speaking on the podcast, Mike Kanellis said that he and Maria wanted to finish their TNA/Impact Wrestling runs “the right way” by bringing a proper end to all the storylines that they were involved in. He added that Impact were offering them a “pretty good amount of money” to re-sign but it was Kevin Owens who had stopped them from doing so.
Kanellis said that he and Maria were on the verge of re-signing with Impact, but their good friend and WWE Superstar Kevin Owens got wind of the news and told them to wait for another week, which was when they ended up getting a call from William Regal.
Also read: WWE News: Mike Kanellis reveals the WWE legend who inspired him to become a pro-wrestler
Mike Kanellis stated that he and Maria had initially contacted Paul Heyman for advice and Heyman had told them to get in touch with Triple H. Mike said that he sent an email to Triple H and had gotten a positive response from him. It was a few weeks after Triple H’s response that William Regal contacted them with a contract offer.
Kanellis then revealed that he and Maria had to wait for three months at home to make their WWE appearances after they had already signed their contracts. He described the waiting period as “difficult” and said that the pressure had caused the couple to have several arguments in the interim.
Kanellis finally said that he wanted to stay in the WWE now that he was there and did not want to “go back” to doing what he was doing earlier. He was quoted as saying:
“I just want to be here now and that's it. I'm going to do what I need to do to be here. And I did everything I needed to do to get here. Now, I'm going to do everything I can do to be here, and stay here, and just finish off here."
What’s next?
Maria and Mike Kanellis made their first appearance as a couple on the 18th June 2017 SmackDown exclusive Money In The Bank pay-per-view. Mike was subsequently seen during the next edition of SmackDown LIVE in a commercial.
Although the couple hasn’t been inserted in a feud as of yet, this week’s episode of SmackDown LIVE will probably have appearance lined up for them which could very well involve the seeds being sown for a future feud.
Author’s take
Mike and Maria Kanellis are a true wrestling couple and I’m personally glad that they ended up in the WWE after languishing in other promotions for such a long time.
Both Mike and Maria are incredibly hard working professionals, and even though I don’t personally see their “Power of Love” gimmick being too exciting for the time being, I’m sure that with their work ethic and dedication, the couple will carve out a place for themselves in the WWE.
Here’s wishing them all the best!
Send us news tips at [email protected]
