Mike Kanellis, loving husband of Maria Kanellis and formerly “Miracle” Mike Bennett of independent fame, has had an interesting journey to WWE. He’s held championships in New Japan, Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling, and is now riling up fans by sheer virtue of being a guy in love. At least he has probably the best entrance theme in all of wrestling. (Sorry, Bobby Roode.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpS9oFx-OT4
While most wrestling fans don’t really know a lot about Kanellis’ personal life other than “married to Maria” (and honestly, most WWE fans don’t really know a whole lot about his pro wrestling career, either), and although he hasn’t had much to do since debuting straight on the WWE main roster other than trade wins with Sami Zayn, he recently took to Instagram to talk about a very personal issue he’s been struggling to overcome: an addiction to prescription medication.
Painkiller addictions used to seem like they were standard issue when it came to pro wrestlers and former professional wrestlers, but the epidemic seems to have decreased in regularity and severity in recent years. Kanellis opening up is a stark and necessary reminder that it is still very much an issue among those who have to put their bodies on the line every night for the entertainment of the fans.
Raw general manager Kurt Angle spent a lot of time this year talking about his own struggles with prescription medication and painkillers, so Kanellis is certainly not alone in recovery within WWE. We hope he has a good support system in place and wish him all the best in his mission to stay clean.
