WWE Superstar Mike Kanellis has explained why he recently requested his release from WWE.
Speaking with The Smarks & Stripes podcast, Kanellis discussed his reasoning behind his decision. He noted that his choice to ask the promotion was a personal choice, not one based off of any sort of issue with the company itself.
“For me, it was all personal,” Kanellis stated. “It had nothing to do with the company. Since the minute I got to WWE, they’ve treated me great; they’ve treated my wife great; they’ve treated my daughter great. They’ve treated me great. When I came out and said that I had an addiction, there was no negativity from anybody – it was just constant support.”
He explained how, after getting clean and maintaining his sobriety through hard work and dedication, all he wanted to do was work. “I feel like I could go and have my best matches right now and it’s extremely difficult when there [are] so many people on the roster and you just don’t get that opportunity.”
“I’ll Go Wherever That Opportunity Exists”
Kanellis stressed that he isn’t “mad,” he is just hungry for the chance to perform to the level he knows he can compete at.
“I just want to work and I just want to work a lot,” he shared. “I want to be able to go home and tell my daughter that ‘daddy put in the time, daddy put in the effort,’ and it’s incredibly difficult for me to go on social media and preach that you have to work hard,’ ‘you have to work your ass off,’ and then not do it myself. And so, I’m a worker and I’ve always been a worker. And I’m at a point where I just want to work, and work, and work. And I’ll go wherever that opportunity exists.”
He understands how saturated the industry currently is with top-level talent, especially within WWE. Naturally, Kanellis doesn’t hope anybody gets hurt in order to open up a spot—but he does want to be ready in case a chance does present itself.
H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
