Mike Bennett & Maria Kanellis On If They Were Surprised By WWE Releases, Reaction To Their Both Being Cut

Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis were guests on the latest ROHStrong podcast and discussed their WWE releases plus more. Mike and Maria were cut as part of the company’s purge in April due to the pandemic. Bennett had been open about his desire to be released because he wasn’t being used, but Maria had not had the same reaction. She said on the podcast that she was thought she would end up finishing out her career in WWE and got emotional when she talked about finding out about her release.

You can see highlights from the discussion, as well as the full podcast, below:

Maria on if she expected they would be released: “At the time, Carver was two months old. WWE, even though they finished our angle on Raw before we had expected to, I had planned and we had this conversation with WWE, and WWE’s doctors and we were all on board. And I have the text messages back and forth with them. I was going to work until 26 weeks [pregnant] at least. And then after that, I was going to have to get another doctor’s note. So I knew that WWE had ended the angle early. But I thought they would continue on with my contract, have me back and you know, complete my contract with them. I didn’t have any inkling they would have released me. Because I didn’t ask for my release. My big concern I had already talked with them about, was having another child. And I had had that child, and I was all ready to come back at WrestleMania. And I had been getting back in shape, I had already lost 35 pounds. Like, I was ready to come back at WrestleMania. And so when they started calling around, I thought that they were going to fire Mike because he had already asked for his release. I didn’t think they were going to fire the both of us.”

Maria on how she found out: “I was on my way back from my two-month appointment with Carver at the doctor when I got the call from Mark Carrano. And I was fine on the phone. But at the same time, like, I realized that we were going to be in a world of hurt. And they knew that, and it’s just really hard for me to talk about because that was such an emotional day of like, ‘Okay we just had this two-month appointment with Carver, and he’s healthy, and he’s big for his age.’ But the doctor was impressed by how strong he was, and how fast he was. But at the same time, I was receiving a phone call from the company that, I had all these conversations about, about my family. And I had put this out on national television that I was having a second child. And that I had put on national television that I was having a boy. And I was told over and over again that storyline was going to mean something.

“To be fired in a pandemic was just sad to me, from this company that prides itself on being a family-based company, to be fired. Now, I didn’t receive a phone call after I had Carver to ask if I was okay, if the labor went okay. I didn’t receive a phone call seeing how my recovery was going with either of my children. But I received a phone call to be fired in a pandemic. I had given a lot of years to WWE, and a lot of years to wrestling, and that was not how my relationship with WWE was going to end. I didn’t think it was going to end in that very cold way. Especially after the five-and-a-half years I spent with WWE the first time.”

Mike on if he knew he was being released: “I knew I was going. I was, as soon as we got the text message, or we got the video sent to everyone via their app where they were like, ‘We’re going to have to start letting go some of the talent.’ I looked at Maria and I was like, ‘Well, that’s me.’ I mean, I had asked for my release three times already. One of them was public but two of them wasn’t. The only reason I went public because they wouldn’t grant it to me and I was fed up. And I was like, ‘All right, fine. I’ll just use my tool and power and that’s social media.’

“So I knew I was going. But I like to see the best in people. And in my heart I was saying, ‘They’re gonna fire me because I asked for my release, and they were mad about that.’ And I understand that, and again, I hold myself accountable to that. So if this is the end, and even if it’s in the middle of a pandemic, I own it. I asked for my release, I put it public, this is — I didn’t get my release in October, instead I’m going to get it now. Okay, I own that. But on the same token, I was like, ‘They’re not really going to release an entire family in a pandemic, right?’ Because my wife has never done anything wrong in that company. She’s always been the utmost company person. She’s always done what they asked her to.”

Mike on his reaction when they released Maria: “When I was on the phone and they were like, ‘We’re gonna have to talk to your wife too.’ I bit my tongue, but what I really wanted to say was, ‘You [censored].’ But that was my first reaction was, ‘How dare you? This is vindictive now. You know what’s going on, you know we have two brand-new kids. You know you just fired me, and now you’re going to leave us out to dry.’ And again I wasn’t mad, but I was just kind of like, this is so cold. You could you? Especially when you don’t have to?” And so I wasn’t upset for me. I was upset for my wife.”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit ROHStrong with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.