– Perhaps the most notable omission from the inaugural Women’s Royal Rumble Match was that of two-time WWE Women’s Champion Victoria, who unlike many of the former female stars brought back, remains active on the independent wrestling scene. She was also not at Raw 25, which featured a segment honoring the company’s top female performers over the years. Former WWE Women’s Champion Gail Kim called out WWE on not inviting Victoria and Lita to the show (Lita did, however, work the Women’s Royal Rumble Match).
Heard @AmyDumas and @REALLiSAMARiE weren’t included in the @wwe raw25 …. that’s f’ed up in my opinion. Two great females who made an impact for the company. Let’s hope there’s a legitimate reason!
As today is Victoria’s 47th birthday, WWE is now celebrating her career. The company posted these messages on social media wishing her a happy birthday.
The official WWE website also posted this photo gallery looking back at her career.
– In Maria Kanellis’ latest pregnancy vlog on WWE’s YouTube channel, Maria and Mike get a closer look at their baby girl when they go for a 3D ultrasound.
– This Tuesday on WWE Mixed Match Challenge, Bayley and Elias will face Rusev and Lana. In this video, Bayley and Elias say they’re competing for Americares, a group working to help those affected by poverty or disaster.
WWE Superstar Maria Kanellis was one of several female professional wrestlers to be victims of private photo and video leaks online. The former Playboy cover girl took to Facebook to issue her thoughts on the entire situation, entitling it “What will you tell your child about being in Playboy? “Playboy, Leaked Photos, and Being Sexy””:
What will you tell your child about being in Playboy?
“Playboy, Leaked Photos, and Being Sexy”
I have never thought about not being me. I have never been afraid to show off my body. I have never been scared of being sexy. And I don’t want my son or daughter to be afraid of their body. I want my children to be confident. In a world so full of hate and unknown, Mike and I do not want our children to feel like love is a foreign concept. I have been asked on numerous occasions about Playboy, my leaked photos, and about being sexy. My answers may surprise you and hopefully give you some insight into what it means to me to be able to be sexy and still be a great mother.
What will you tell your child about being in Playboy? I will tell them that mommy bought a house by capitalizing on a huge opportunity. I will tell them that mommy believes that the human body should be celebrated not shammed. I will tell them that Playboy is an iconic magazine and the decision to pose was something I discussed with my family and friends before making a well informed choice. I don’t believe sex is the enemy I think ignorance is. If my children, are well informed about the meaning and value of a person’s virtue, I think that is the best a parent can do.
Leaked Photos…. So, I guess I probably should make a statement about this at some point. Haha… I guess first you should know, every photo that I have seen leaked was something for my husband of over three years, who I have been with for 6 and a half. They were sent to or taken by Mike. So, you aren’t seeing anything salacious or forbidden. You are seeing our personal photos. It doesn’t bother me that I’m naked. I have been naked. Boobs, butt, etc… everyone has them. If my children asks about those photos, I will say mommy and daddy have a healthy relationship. We love each other. Daddy thinks Mommy is sexy. AND, there is nothing wrong with that. The problem is the intrusion of privacy. The sad, sad humans that can not make a happy, healthy life of their own. I would tell my child to feel sorry for the people that do not have enough love of their own and have to steal it from others. Mommy and daddy, pity the people that have enough time on their hands to fish through our photos but no time to make a life of their own. To those people, I say get some help, try online dating, and stop breaking the law.
I’m too sexy for small mindedness. Sex. Woah. How could you? NO, I can and I will never be afraid of it. Being sexy doesn’t end for pregnant people, married people, curvy people, skinny people, any people… Sex is beautiful. It creates life and draws humans together. War, is ever present on TV, in movies, and on video games and no one blinks an eye but you see a little boob and OMG!! Mark 10:6-9 “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” One flesh sounds fun. If God wanted me to wear clothes, I would have been born with them. I wasn’t, so I’ll continue being sexy and enjoying my body. The body that was created by this universe.
Let’s talk about the things I am afraid of talking about with my child, war, sexual harassment, economic inequality, sexism, racism, homophobia, genocide, and the current political climate. There are much bigger problems in this world then, my sexuality. I have built my life around being a good person and being a good role model for my little sister when she was still little and now my nieces and nephew and soon for my child. In this country, we should focus less on the way people love and more on the way people hate. That is what I will teach my child. Hold hands not hate. Be the change you want to see in this world. Love Yourself. #PowerofLove
Love,
The Crazy Pregnant Lady
Maria Kanellis
This past September Maria Kanellis announced that she and her husband, SmackDown Live star Mike Kanellis, are expecting their first child together. Apparently people have been shaming Kanellis for getting pregnant while working for WWE, and she recently took to Facebook to respond to these people:
#DivaLadyWifeMom
“How dare you get pregnant? You can’t workout. And other stupid things people have said to me.”
“I think it’s funny that everyone is an expert on pregnancy, including men that can’t birth them and don’t have children of their own. Now, I am not an expert on pregnancy but I do have my OB, PCP, mom, my friends with kids, and my trainer on speed dial. Let’s just analysis the first statement/question: “How dare you get pregnant?” I’m not exactly sure what this means but I can only assume it’s because I work for WWE. I signed a contract with WWE in March and had no plans of getting pregnant until my contract was up. So, yes I have only been signed for a few months this time but, I worked for WWE before. For 5 and a half years. I’ve also been working in wrestling for 13 years. AND I’ve been working since I was 12. I was a bus girl for my first job. Thus, I have been working for 23 years. I CAN get pregnant. I can even stay home while pregnant and have a job because WWE thinks I am important and this baby is important enough to do so. After 23 years of work, do I deserve maternity leave? I think so and so does WWE. Women deserve maternity leave and men deserve paternity leave. It should be a right not a privilege. I will continue fulfilling the obligations of my WWE contract even after the baby arrives so, SMGMB. (Suck My Giant Momma Boobs) Hahaha……
“You can’t workout….. Really? Has anyone seen a lioness while pregnant? What if she decides, oh I can’t run today, I’m pregnant? The lioness starves and so does her cubs. Or what happened in colonial times when the men went off to war? Did the farm get neglected? No, she plowed the field and took care of her 7 other children. Women are amazing. Women’s bodies are amazing. I will not let people on social media make me feel powerless. Should some women not workout? Of course. But, I don’t have any special circumstances. And if I did then, I would “settle down” as one hater put it. There are real problems with gaining too much weight while pregnant for instance childhood obesity, gestational diabetes, less accurate sonogram results, premature labor, preeclampsia, high blood pressure, excess bleeding, larger percentage of c-sections, and the list goes on. If you are really concerned about it read up here or here. And if you still have questions go here, here, or here. Links are below to research. I will not stop working out because some ill informed person tells me too. Some women don’t workout while pregnant and that’s their choice. It’s an individual choice a woman makes with her doctor.
“On to more stupid things….. “You are annoying. No one wants to hear about your pregnancy.” Let me solve this, real quick. I am pregnant. For the foreseeable future, that is the next 19 weeks, I will talk about being pregnant. You will see pregnant belly photos, baby stuff, blogs about being pregnant, and when I am feeling ultra emotional, photos of Mike with my pregnant belly. Therefore, if you don’t like it, Stop Following Me. Done. Another of my favorite comments, “You look really pregnant.” What the hell does that mean? You are either pregnant or you are not. I am pregnant so of course I really look pregnant. Also, as a warning, in a few months, if you say that to me, I may eat you. I am hungry all the time. Because, I will be really pregnant. AND my all time favorite stupid comment, word for word “Kid won’t have room to move. Prob get caught up in tubing. U ever heard of relaxing” My response was, you don’t understand the female anatomy. I’ll just leave that there.
“Mike and I will be revealing baby’s gender in January and as a Christmas Gift to our amazing fans we will be telling you baby’s initials on Christmas Day!!!
– SmackDown Live star Maria Kanellis took to Facebook to write the following “open letter to hateful people.” Here’s what she had to say:
“Hello Lovelies, and an open letter to hateful people,
“I am writing you today not out of some frivolous need but out of real necessity. I am a pregnant woman and I realized that even though I find being pregnant empowering, many people find it gross, a disability, or not sexy. People on Instagram make comments like, I don’t want to see that or you will never come back to the WWE. Which I try to delete. But, it is hard. Let me repeat, Pregnancy is HARD. Not because I am sick or hungry or tired (which I am sometimes) but because people make you feel powerless. Like, now all I am is a incubator for this tiny human. And I am supposed to be Happy about my new title. Which I’m happy to be pregnant and I can’t wait to meet this little one that is starting to kick me and get the hiccups, (adorably) BUT, that is not my only title. I am someone more that a waiting room. I fight to be more everyday, I fought even before I was pregnant. I waited to start a family because I wanted to be more, give more, and inspire more. I am a small town girl that had a big dream to make it in the entertainment world. And in some ways I did and then I lost everything, my job, my house, and my direction. Until I found my husband. Mike has drive and a willingness to do the work without EVER getting the accolades he deserves. He has wrestled for 16 years and has worked towards one dream to come to WWE. What he brought with him into WWE, other than his incredible talent, was an addiction, a demon, which he has fought and will continue to fight to to overcome. He almost lost everything.
“Jobber. Jobber is the word “they” use to describe us on blogs, websites, and even comments on our own social media pages. I have a question for you, “Do you think you are clever?” Do you think we have no heart, no soul, no emotions, do you think this is easy? We fought to get to WWE and by the time we got there Mike had an addiction and in July I got pregnant. Is it a blessing that we are having a little one? YES! But, easy? NO. This is our dream job!! WWE is our dream company to work for! We are doing our best and if that is not enough, then look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself… Have I worked for anything for over 10 years, lost everything and then fought back? If not, then don’t comment and don’t try to teach me anything. Because we have. We continue to. I am pregnant, not powerless and I plan, God willing, to come back. I will be bringing the Milk Money. Now, chill, and enjoy the show because we don’t quit, we don’t give up, we just DO IT ANYWAYS. #poweroflove #fromnothingtosomething #19weekspregnancythoughts #alieninvasion”
You can read the original post by clicking this link here.
The Miz and Maryse are not the only WWE power couple expecting a baby. WWE Superstar Maria Kanellis announced on Monday that she is 13 weeks pregnant.
She and husband Mike Kanellis tried getting pregnant last year when they had lighter schedules, but put those plans on hold – or so they thought. She said Mike has wanted children for a long time and her ‘biological clock’ is ticking, so the timing is perfect for them to start a family.
Maria said WWE is her dream job and with her doctor’s approval, she plans to return after the baby is born and she gets plenty of ‘mommy time.’
She plans to keep fans updated with her pregnancy on social media and thanks everybody for their support.
Earlier this month WWE Superstar Mike Kanellis (a.k.a Mike Bennett) opened up on his battle with prescription drug abuse which has been haunting him for three years since dislocating his knee cap. Here’s what he had to say:
“It really started to spiral out of control this past year and a half,” Bennett wrote on Instagram. “I almost lost everything. Finally I decided I couldn’t keep hurting my wife or myself this way and I was going to get my life back.”
His wife, WWE Superstar Maria Kanellis, took to Instagram to issue a lengthy statement on her husband’s road to recovery, which he began just two months ago:
“This was the first week of my husband’s recovery from prescription drugs. This was the hardest week of my life. People try and give advice or you can read every book but the truth is there is no right way for a person to get clean. My husband was addicted to prescription drugs and I didn’t know. You blame yourself. You blame the business. You blame God. But, anyone can become addicted. No one is safe. A glamorous job doesn’t protect you from addiction.
“It truly makes you wonder about everyone around you. Is that person hurting? What’s that person’s story? In these photos you see Mike in the hospital, finding his appetite, trying to workout, having a match for the first time at WWE, and playing with my niece with the marks from the Clonidine patch the hospital gave him still on his arm. Addicts don’t look like the people in the movies sometimes. They are just people that took a road they shouldn’t have.
“Mike is doing great. He channeled all that energy into working out and being healthy. Mike wanted to quit. Now, as we move forward even though the road is hard. It’s the right road. I love you, My Friend. WE believe in you. You are a hero to so many. Keep Fighting. Keep Pushing. Be the Miracle. @therealmichaelbennett #keepingupwithkanellises #holdhandsnothate #poweroflove”
Former Ring Of Honor (ROH) and Impact Wrestling stars Mike Bennett (who now goes by Mike Kanellis in WWE) and Maria Kanellis have made their ways to the WWE. The pair made their debut in a brief segment at the Money In The Bank pay-per-view (PPV) earlier this month shortly before the main event. Mike Bennett recently joined former WWE Tag Team Champions Edge and Christian’s podcast, E&C’d Pod Of Awesomeness, to talk about he and Maria’s arrival in WWE.
During the interview, Mike explained how WWE United States Champion Kevin Owens helped him sign with the company. Bennett say she contacted Paul Heyman about a potential WWE run, who connected him with Triple H. Hunter told Bennett that someone would be in touch with him shortly, however, he never heard anything back for weeks. In that time Bennett was leaning towards signing back with Impact, until Owens caught wind of that decision and decided to call Mike up and convince him to wait things out:
“What are you guys doing? I heard you guys were resigning with TNA, I don’t think you should do that. That is a stupid idea. You should come here.”
Owens convinced Bennett to wait about a week before making a decision, and in that time, William Regal called Mike and Maria up and offered them a spot right up on the main roster.
35-year old Maria Kanellis spent 6 years in WWE following her participation in the 2004 Diva Search. After spending some time training in OVW, she would eventually become the “Diva of the Year” in 2009.
Maria is also the last woman to pose for Playboy while employed by WWE.
WWE correspondant, Cathy Kelley, hosts the following video of reactions to Maria’s return from members of the WWE roster:
Maria and Mike Kanellis on Smackdown
The couple’s return at Money in the Bank was followed by a dark segment on this week’s Smackdown. The segment did not air on Smackdown, but was posted to WWE’s YouTube channel shortly after.
Maria once cost Gallows & Anderson the IWGP heavyweight tag team championships. They lost the titles to the Kingdom, Matt Taven and Mike Bennett, who were managed by Maria at the time.
The storyline, which was pretty out there by NJPW standards, was that Karl Anderson was so infatuated with Maria that he would never pay attention to his matches with the Kingdom.
News that Maria is once again in the same promotion as him has seemed to surprise Karl.
35 year old Maria Kanellis-Bennett was with WWE from 2004 to 2010. She was discovered in the 2004 Diva Search.
Maria is someone to keep an eye on. When she was in OVW she impressed Paul Heyman with her mind for the business, to the point that she is said to have been contributing booking ideas at the time.
Since leaving WWE, Maria has performed for NJPW, ROH and Impact. She most recently completed a degree in Sports, Entertainment, and Event Management, which seems relevant.
According to Mike Johnson of PWInsider, former Ring of Honor/IMPACT stars Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis are set to make their WWE debuts next week.
This will be Maria’s second stint in WWE after leaving in 2010, she then spent 4 years in Ring of Honor between 2011-2015, this also included various appearances in New Japan Pro Wrestling alongside Bennett. Their well promoted run in IMPACT lasted just over a year, their departure was officially announced on March 1st this year.
Pro wrestling power couple Mike Bennett and wife Maria Kanellis are set to join WWE soon, according to a report by Wade Keller at PWTorch.com.
Although WWE is in the process of beefing up the NXT roster with talent like Drew Galloway, Kassius Ohno and Aleister Black Keller’s report states that “The Miracle” and Maria will be joining SmackDown Live.
Aside from winding down their independent bookings, the couple has been turning down guest spots on multiple podcast, another indication that they could be WWE-bound.
With news that SmackDown Live’s Kevin Owens is rebooting the ‘United States Champion Open Challenge’ – we can’t think of a better opportunity for the Bennetts to make a big splash on the main roster.
– Cody Rhodes defeated Mike Bennett over the weekend to capture the NEW Heavyweight Championship. Bennett had a short title reign and the latest Wrestling Observer Newsletter states that Bennett and Maria are taking their talents elsewhere and have been “very secretive” about it, which typically indicates WWE.
Bennett and Maria were among the talents who left Impact Wrestling prior to the most recent tapings. Maria started working for WWE back in 2004 when she participated in the RAW Diva Search. She remained with the company through 2010. Since then, she’s worked for ROH, NJPW, TNA and various independent promotions.
– In the ongoing battle over the likeness of Matt Hardy’s ‘Broken Universe,’ Anthem Sports and Entertainment is going through all the ‘Broken’ videos on the Impact Wrestling Youtube channel and adding the ™ trademark symbol to phrases like ‘Broken Matt’ and ‘Broken Brilliance.’ We’re not lawyers but doesn’t seem like these actions will mean much of anything when this dispute winds up in court.
Oh my god, Impact is going back and adding TM at the end of every Hardy mention on their YouTube as if it gives them a legal standing… pic.twitter.com/Jhry4exx7T
“The Miracle” Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis are the latest performers to depart TNA Wrestling, according to PWInsider. They join Matt Hardy, Jeff Hardy and Drew Galloway as notable talents who left this week.
TNA officials have been trying to sign the couple over the past several weeks. They reportedly reached an agreement, but Bennett and Kanellis decided it was time to move on. They’re not expected to work this week’s Impact Wrestling tapings from Orlando.
Just hours after her husband, Mike Bennett, appeared to make it clear what he thinks of today’s TNA news, Maria Kanellis Bennett tweeted a multi-part message on Monday night not long after Raw started:
Granted, she’s not retiring right away. Still, it’s not like retirement tours are new in the wrestling business, either.
Analysis: As noted earlier in the post about Mike Bennett’s tweet, the married couple came into TNA under the new type of contract that the company started offering this year. The idea was for TNA to be able to offset good guaranteed money by booking talent out to independent promotions, but it appears that the prices being charged by the promotion were not competitive enough to get most indies to bite.
With wrestler paychecks being late and/or bouncing at least twice over the court of the last three pay periods, you can see why someone in TNA would become disillusioned with the business, especially when both halves of a marriage are having the same pay issues. If you have options, and Maria clearly feels like she does, then maybe a way out sounds awfully good right now.
While she never turned into great mechanical pro wrestler, Maria absolutely doesn’t get enough credit for how good a performer she has become in all other facets.. In one sense, it will be a shame to see her go, but I hope she does great in the next stage of her life and we should all respect her decision, especially under the current circumstances for TNA roster members.
That’s the Twitter handle of Nate Rau, a reporter from the Tennessean newspaper in Nashville, who was live tweeting the hearing. While numerous fans and some wrestlers followed Rau during the hearing, Maria was the only one to openly tweet about what was going on.
It only makes sense: As noted earlier today, checks written to various talent bounced on September 1st. On top of that, Corgan had previously alleged that TNA told the roster that the restraining order/lawsuit was stopping the company from paying them on October 15th. The Bennetts, who left ROH and NJPW, were among the performers who signed with TNA this year for decent sized guarantees with the idea that the company would make it back by booking them out to independent promotions. That has not gone well so far.
TNA star Maria Kanellis spoke with ETOnline.com this week about her experience interacting with Donald Trump when she was a contestant on Celebrity Apprentice back in 2009.
Ironically, Trump “fired” her on the show because he did not like her “locker room talk.” “He fired me for what I said, and what he said was much worse so,” Kanellis said. “My hope is that he gets fired as the Republican nominee.”
She also shared a story of Donald Trump critiquing her appearance and encouraging her to have a mole removed, because he deemed it to be an imperfection. “I have a mole on my shoulder and he said to me that I should have the mole removed because it is an imperfection,” she said. “I just felt as if that comment didn’t belong in the boardroom, I felt as if he should not be making comments like that to me and telling me that a part of my body is an imperfection.”
“It wasn’t something that bothered me [at the time],” she continued, “but as a presidential nominee, it bothers me because of all the recent comments and things that he has said or that has come out. It just shows more and more of what his character is.”
– This week’s TNA Impact on Pop TV saw two title changes – Maria Kanellis captured the Knockouts Championship after making Allie lay down, and DJ Zema Ion captured the vacant X Division Championship by winning Ultimate X over Mandrews, Rockstar Spudd, Braxton Sutter, Trevor Lee and Andrew Everett. This is the first championship reign for Maria and the second for DJZ.
– Next Thursday’s Impact will feature a big “#DELETEorDECAY” match with Abyss, Crazzy Steve and Rosemary vs. Reby Sky, Matt Hardy and Jeff Hardy. A teaser can be seen below:
SHARE & RT this #BROKEN brilliance with the World.
Maria Kanellis announced on Thursday night that she will be unable to compete against Gail Kim this Sunday at TNA Slammiversary due to a broken hand.
ImpactWrestling.com reports, “We were informed that discussion were on-going and that TNA’s Billy Corgan will be running point on this developing situation.”
Nashville-based model and branding specialist McKenszie Mitchell is now handling the weekly Impact Breakview segment, looking back on this week’s episode.
Following Impact, here’s the final card for Sunday’s Slammiversary PPV:
TNA Champion Drew Galloway vs. Bobby Lashley (Submission or KO only)
Jeff Hardy vs. Matt Hardy (Full Metal Mayhem)
Knockouts Champion Jade vs. Sienna
Tag Team Champions The Decay vs. The Bromans
X-Division Champion Trevor Lee vs. Eddie Edwards vs. DJ Zema vs. Andrew Everett
King of the Mountain champion Eli Drake vs. Bram
Mike Bennett vs. EC3
Maria Kanellis vs. Gail Kim
Grado & Mahabali Shera vs. The Tribunal (with Al Snow)
Former Ring Of Honor Tag-Team Champion Michael Bennett and his real-life wife, former WWE Diva and ROH performer Maria Kanellis, have both reportedly signed deals with TNA Wrestling, according to the latest issue of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
According to the weekly newsletter, Bennett and Kanellis likely received a big deal, one that is financially guaranteed in nature.
Bennett and Kanellis, along with the third member of their on-air team, Matt Taven, finished up with Ring Of Honor last month when they dropped the ROH Tag-Team Titles to War Machine at the ROH “Final Battle” event. Bennett and Kanellis officially wrapped up business with ROH at the television tapings the day after the Final Battle event, as it was the final date on their contracts.
In related news, TNA has also wanted to “shore up” their roster by making sure their key players are under official contracts and that they acquire whatever talent that they can, as long as it makes financial sense.
TNA handled their last cable television move the same way, as just prior to and immediately following their debut on Destination America, they re-signed those that had deals that were about to expire and pursued outside free-agents in an attempt to freshen the brand.
Ring of Honor stars Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis finished up with the company at Saturday night’s ROH TV tapings in Philadelphia.
Their departure was not a real surprise to people close to the situation, as the two sides had been unable to come to terms after weeks of negotiations. Bennett’s tag team partner Matt Taven is signed with ROH for 3-4 more months.
Kanellis and Bennett have reportedly been telling people that they’ll be starting with TNA in January. This likely means they are done with New Japan Pro Wrestling as well. With TNA working on some surprise debuts for the January 5th Impact Wrestling premiere on Pop TV, Bennett and Kanellis would certainly fit the bill.
The Wrestling Observer Newsletter is reporting that the fact that the official WWE website recently ran articles on Rey Mysterio and Maria Kanellis is a notable sign of their interest in both talents.
In the case of Mysterio, it’s well known that WWE would like to get him back under contract both because they’re looking for top Hispanic stars and to prevent him from going to Lucha Underground.
As far as Kanellis is concerned, her Ring Of Honor contract, along with the ROH contracts of Michael Bennett and Matt Taven have expired. The Observer notes that it’s an interesting situation with these three, based on the fact that you have to factor in interest from New Japan Pro Wrestling, ROH and WWE, and which of the three talents those promotions would be interested in.
– There has been talk within WWE recently about the company being interested in signing Ring Of Honor star Michael Bennett and his partner Matt Tavern as a tag-team when their deals are up with the promotion. Bennett’s wife, former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis, noted her ROH deal is up after the end of this year. Whether or not WWE has interest in Kanellis returning remains to be seen.
– As noted, Rachel Ellering, daughter of WWE Hall Of Famer Paul Ellering, has been training with Lance Storm at his Storm Wrestling Academy out of Canada. The second generation competitor is scheduled to make her professional debut in a tag-team match with Storm at the Prairie Wrestling Alliance event on November 21st.
Former TNA Knockout Taeler Hendrick took to social media on Wednesday to post what appears to be a tease for an upcoming women’s division in Ring Of Honor.
While ROH roster members Veda Scott, ODB and Maria Kanellis occassionally wrestle for the brand, they currently do not have an extensive, complete women’s division or title at this time.
Below is the post Hendrix made regarding women in ROH: