Maria Kanellis is opening up about how her AEW run ended and finally addressed her future in professional wrestling.
While speaking to Wrestling Life Online, Maria said her time in AEW ended in a disappointing way because she felt there was still more she could have done. She explained that her tumor appeared around the same time her contract was ending, which made everything come to a sudden stop.
“So, with my time in AEW, I feel like I didn’t really get to accomplish everything that I wanted to. I appreciate the opportunity. I appreciate the fact that I got to work with such tremendous talent. But it just, you know, I got my tumor right around the time my contract was ending and so it just kind of ended.”
Maria said Tony Khan was kind to her during that period, especially when it came to her health, but professionally she still felt unfinished: “TK was very sweet about, you know, wishing me well on my tumor and everything like that. But for me, professionally, I just felt like I could do more.”
She also admitted it took her a long time to even think about getting involved in wrestling again. That changed when she visited TNA in Nashville just three weeks after giving birth, where she saw familiar faces and started reconnecting with the business.
“So it took me a long time to even consider doing something again. And then I went to TNA and they had a show in Nashville, which is like 30 minutes from me, and I was only three weeks postpartum and I went to TNA and I was like, wow, you know, everybody here is so nice.”
Maria said seeing people like Santino Marella, Dolph Ziggler, Allie, The Hardys, Candice Michelle, and Delirious backstage made her realize she still misses wrestling. However, she made it clear any wrestling opportunity would need to make sense for her life and her family.
“So, it’s like I see everybody backstage and I was like, ‘Oh, I miss this. I really miss this.’ And so, the doors aren’t closed. It’s open for the right opportunity. Until that opportunity comes up, until, you know, it’s the right thing, it’s not going to really take me from my family.”
Maria’s AEW run may have ended in a way she didn’t want, but she clearly hasn’t closed the book on wrestling. For now, she is open to the right opportunity, as long as it doesn’t pull her away from what matters most at home.
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