Mike Bennett (aka Mike Kanellis) revealed on Twitter today that he has asked for his release from WWE. He spoke well of his coworkers and the company but explained,
“Working 1 day a week is just not going to cut it for me. I came to WWE to work and that opportunity does not exist right now. I re-signed with the company back in June because I thought it was what was best for my family, and maybe from a financial standpoint it was. But I quickly realized that bringing my work frustrations and misery home with me, is not good for my family and I no longer want my daughter to see me come home defeated, sad and angry. It’s not fair to her or my wife.”
Bennett also outlined his goals for his wrestling career:
“Being a pro wrestler was and is my lifelong dream and I’m just not ready to give that up yet. I wasted 4 years of my life addicted to drugs and not caring, when I should have been having the best matches of my life. Now that I am clean, sober and motivated, I want to have those 30 minute matches. I want to travel the world and wrestle in front of UK crowds, German crowds, Japanese Crowds. I want to feel the love and excitement wrestling once gave me.”
Here’s Bennett’s full statement, which also mentions he wants the way he conducts wrestling career to be a good example to his daughter:
https://twitter.com/RealMikeBennett/status/1183855911619776512
Bennett, usually paired with his wife, Maria Kanellis, has been working for WWE since June 2017, performing on Smackdown, 205 Live, and Raw. Last Friday, it looked like he formed an alliance with Brian Kendrick after he attacked Akira Tozawa to help Kendrick win a hardcore match. Much more prominently, since he re-signed with WWE in June, Bennett has been part of a storyline on Raw in which his wife was knocked up by another man and is publicly humiliating him about it.
Though it looks like Bennett sincerely asked for his release for understandable reasons, this might not mean this is the end of his time in WWE. The last time a WWE star publicly asked for his release on social media, the company reportedly extended his contract and he showed up back on WWE programming months later. However Bennett’s story ends up playing out, we’ll keep you updated.
