Mike Kanellis Says He’s Asked For His WWE Release

– Mike Kanellis has announced that he asked for his release from WWE. The WWE star, who along with his wife Maria re-signed with the company in June, posted to Twitter and said that he asked for his release noting that he “came to WWE to work, and that opportunity does not exist right now.” You can see the full text and his post below.

Kanellis was involved in an angle over the summer where Maria turned on him after revealing she was pregnant (the pregnancy being real and not just storyline). Last month, Maria appeared on Raw after a gender reveal party and told Mike he was not the father, claiming it was Rusev.

The company hasn’t yet followed up on that, though a report said that Rusev would not ultimately be the father in the story. Rusev, of course, is now involved in his own story where his wife has left him for another man, in this case Bobby Lashley.

There is no word yet on whether WWE had granted his request for a release.

“Today I asked for my release from WWE. I want to thank everyone in the company who has helped me out and who I have shared a locker room with. I love you all. I’ve been with the company for almost three years, and I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity. However, it is time for me to move on. I am only 34 years old and feel I have way too much left in the tank. Working one day a week is just not going to cut it for me. I came to WWE to work, and that opportunity does not exist right now. I re-signed with the company back in June because I thought it was what was best for my family, and maybe from a financial standpoint, it was. But I quickly realized that bringing my work frustrations and misery home with me, is not good for my family, and I no longer want my daughter to constantly see me come home defeated, sad and angry. It’s not fair to her or my wife. Being a pro wrestler was and is my lifelong dream, and I’m just not ready to give that up yet. I wasted four years of my life addicted to drugs and not caring when I should have been having the best matches of my life. Now that I am clean, sober, and motivated, I want to have those 30-minute matches. I want to travel the world and wrestle in front of UK crowds, German crowds, Japanese crowds. I want to feel the love and excitement wrestling once gave me. I also want my daughter to be able to see me wrestling. I want her to see her daddy work for his money. I’ve never been ok with just collecting a paycheck, and I can’t in good conscience tell my daughter she has to work her ass off to get ahead in life, then not do it myself. I don’t know what the future holds, but for the first time in a long time, I’m hopeful and excited. Thank you to everyone who has ever supported me and had my back. I love you.”

https://twitter.com/RealMikeBennett/status/1183855911619776512