WWE: Mike Kanellis on the real reason why storyline bothered him

Mike Kanellis recently publicly requested his release from WWE on social media, and he spoke about why his recent storyline with real-life wife Maria Kanellis bothered him.

There are some WWE storylines that cause a great deal of controversy and are difficult to sit through. The storyline in which Mike Kanellis was emasculated by real-life wife Maria Kanellis was one of those storylines for many fans.

Even those who were open to seeing a woman in wrestling carry a more dominant role in an on-screen relationship were upset due to the portrayal of Maria Kanellis’ character and some of the lines she delivered.

However, the nature of the storyline itself didn’t bother Mike Kanellis. He requested his release because of WWE’s end goal for the storyline.

In short, which will come as no surprise to seasoned professional wrestling viewers, WWE had no real plan for either Maria or Mike.

He spoke at length about his thoughts on the angle to Swings & Mrs.

[Hat tip to WrestlingInc.com’s Darren Wood for the quote.]

"“The angle itself didn’t bother me. Because I tell people this and it makes people yell at me, but it’s a fake television show. It’s not real. My name isn’t really Mike Kanellis and yes, I really am married to Maria Kanellis, but at the end of the day I am playing a role on a TV show. It’s the same thing as if Mike Bennett played serial killer number one on Law & Order. It doesn’t reflect who I am as a person so I don’t mind trying something different or thinking outside the box. My only issue was it didn’t go anywhere.”“If I’m going to do a storyline like that, I want it to go somewhere, I think the fans would like that too. There should be a payoff. Because there wasn’t a payoff, it’s like what was the point? I don’t mind thinking outside the box. I don’t mind embarrassing myself, I mean, I wrestle in underwear for a living. I really don’t care. If they say I have to be emasculated by my wife, I’m like fine, I don’t care. I get offended when it doesn’t go anywhere.”"

Maria Kanellis had already been a valuable part of WWE before joining for her second stint with the company when she and her husband signed deals in 2017, debuting at Money in the Bank. Although WWE teased giving them something to sink into with 205 Live, neither have been used to anywhere near their fullest potential, let alone in this bizarre storyline.

Before joining WWE, Mike Kanellis was a rising star and an X Division champion at TNA/Impact. Before that, he was known for his extensive body of work at ROH, so wrestling fans were initially excited to see how Maria and Mike showed off their characters as a tandem in WWE.

If WWE grants Mike Kanellis his release, hopefully he gets another chance to show his talents elsewhere, perhaps even at AEW. He has a lot to give to wrestling as someone who is willing to think outside the box, and it’s a shame WWE didn’t give him any storylines that had a real end result and weren’t just embarrassing for the sake of being embarrassing.

But also, kudos to Mike for not being embarrassed at the “emasculation” angle. His issue was clearly with WWE’s lack of a larger reason for the angle, which must have been incredibly frustrating for him to deal with as a performer. It’s why he asked for his release.