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Maria Kanellis On WWE Spreading Rumours – “Trying To Make Us Look Bad”

Former WWE Superstar Maria Kanellis has alleged that WWE spread rumours about her and her husband Mike Bennett before they were released from their contracts.

Kanellis returned to WWE in June 2017, seven years after her first stint with the company had come to an end. This time she was joined by her husband and former Ring Of Honor star Mike Bennett with the couple debuting at Money In The Bank.

A few short months later, Maria Kanellis announced her first pregnancy and took a leave of absence from television. Over a year later she returned to Bennett’s side with the two now mainly appearing on 205 Live. In July 2019 Maria announced she was pregnant with the couple’s second child and this was turned into a short-lived storyline on television where Maria would embarrass and denigrate her husband.

Both Maria Kanellis and Mike Bennett were released from their WWE contracts alongside a slew of other talents on April 15th, 2020.

Now speaking to Shakiel Mahjouri of Cageside Seats, Maria Kanellis says she believes WWE spread rumours about her and Bennett in an attempt she says “to feel better” about releasing the pair:

“We signed our contracts, found out I was pregnant two weeks later. So while we were negotiating we were trying to get pregnant. They signed us anyways. OK, not my fault. From there, I started getting direct messages from different news outlets. ‘Oh, did you not tell them blah blah, blah.’ Those rumors are coming directly from WWE and they are just trying to make us look bad so that when they release us they can feel better about it. But we gave them every opportunity to restructure my contract or not pay me as much. They came with more money. That’s not my fault. And so those are the facts.”

Since leaving WWE, both Kanellis and Bennett have returned to Ring Of Honor, with Mike Bennett reviving his tag team with former ROH Champion Matt Taven.

h/t SK Wrestling for the transcription