WWE: Mike Kanellis’ Road to Redemption Has Only Just Begun

It will take a bit more than the power of love for Mike Kanellis to be redeemed, but if given an opportunity to shine, he will make the most of it.

Unless you’ve been tuning into WWE Main Event on a weekly basis or paying close attention to brawls when they break out on Raw, you likely forgot Mike Kanellis was still employed by WWE.

If you can recall, Kanellis entered WWE with a bit of buzz in the summer of 2017 following a successful stint in IMPACT. It seemed like a strange move to immediately introduce him to the SmackDown Live brand without having him develop in NXT first, but perhaps WWE was under the assumption his wife Maria would be enough to get him over with the audience.

The WWE Universe was certainly receptive to their WWE arrival at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view and the act showed signs of potential. Unfortunately, the lack of follow-up on the subsequent episode of SmackDown hurt them considerably.

Despite how incredibly talented both of them are, their “power of love” gimmick was too one-dimensional and had no depth. Worse yet, they were directionless for weeks before finally settling on a storyline with Sami Zayn, who Kanellis beat in his in-ring debut on July 18.

Officials must not have been impressed with what they saw, because it was a mere five days later that he suffered his first defeat at the hands of Zayn in a rematch at Battleground. Their rivalry was then abruptly cut short with Kanellis getting pinned a second time by Zayn on SmackDown that Tuesday.

Curt Hawkins’s lengthy losing streak dating back to late 2016 has been well-documented, but at least he has been able to score a decent amount of television time over the past two years, unlike Kanellis.

Following his feud with Zayn, Kanellis was taken off WWE programming all together. He lost to Bobby Roode twice that fall and didn’t resurface until the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34.

One would have expected him to be injured based off how much time he spent on the sidelines. Instead, he was completely healthy, yet WWE had no plans to push him and opted to relegate the former Ring of Honor star to strictly house shows.

In addition to abysmal booking, there were several factors behind Kanellis’ absence from TV, including dealing with addiction issues and Maria getting pregnant soon after she and Mike joined the company.

Without Maria, Mike isn’t nearly as compelling as a character, but his in-ring ability speaks for itself. Granted, he has never been the most exceptional wrestler in the world, but there are far worse wrestlers on the roster who are on Raw and SmackDown much more frequently than he is.

Maria has teased getting back in the ring upon her return to TV, but fingers crossed she won’t break off on her own for her husband’s sake. He actually scored his first singles win in over 14 months on the latest edition of Main Event, but beyond that, he has been a staple on the show since moving to Raw in the Superstar Shake-up earlier this year.

In fact, Kanellis hasn’t been in action on Raw or SmackDown since September 2017, begging the question of why WWE bothered to sign him in the first place.

Contrary to popular belief, Kanellis can be repackaged and resurrected from jobber purgatory. His social media activity has shown that he has a positive attitude about his current position in the company, but there’s only so much he can do (such as training or lobbying for a match on Raw) until WWE gives him a chance to show what he’s capable of.

WWE has proven in the past that they can take a talent, start from scratch with them, and turn that talent into a main event player if they so choose. Look no further than Jinder Mahal, who went from making sporadic appearances on Raw to winning the WWE Championship in a matter of months last year.

Of course, Kanellis should not be vying for the WWE or Universal title at any point in the foreseeable future (if ever), but there’s no reason he can’t be in contention for either the Intercontinental or United States Championships eventually.

Some of WWE’s best angles over the years have blurred the lines between reality and storyline. With that said, Kanellis’ real-life road to recovery should absolutely be incorporated into his on-air character, as it would give fans a reason to rally behind him and want to see him succeed.

Maria returning to serve as his mouthpiece would be a huge help, but Kanellis needs way more than that to get back on track. NXT would be the perfect platform for him to reinvent himself, and now that the rumors are true about the couple landing on 205 Live, that will be beneficial as well.

Many WWE fans were quick to write off Mike Kanellis as an enhancement talent for life following his fall from grace in 2017, but the company can still build him back up into a credible competitor with the right booking.