Mike Kanellis On His WWE Release, 'I Didn't Want It To Happen During A Pandemic'

Mike Kanellis (Mike Bennett) spoke to WrestleTalk editor Louis Dangoor about his recent WWE release. As noted earlier this week, several WWE stars were released due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. A full list can be found by clicking here.

While speaking about his release, Mike Kanellis admitted that he did ask for his release in October 2019, but he and WWE worked things out. He and both Maria signed with WWE in the spring of 2017. Maria previously worked for WWE until 2010.

"So, I mean in the sense that in my head it was always like if there is going to be releases, it's probably going to be me and probably going to be my wife, just because my wife has been out on maternity leave and they weren't doing anything with me," Kanellis explained. "I had already asked for my release in the past, though we did work things out after that. I didn't want it to happen during a pandemic." (h/t to WrestleTalk)

He specified that Maria never asked for her WWE release like he did. While he wasn't surprised he and Maria were released, he was surprised it happened during a global pandemic.

"I think that's a hard thing for me to try to explain to people ? not to go off-topic ? but there are a lot of people who are like, 'Well he did ask for his release,' which I did, but my wife never did and I want to get that clear, my wife was happy to stay there," Kanellis revealed. "But it's like, you think in the back of your head, 'Yes I did ask for my release,' but no one wants to be released in the middle of a pandemic. You ask for your release when you think you can go and do other things. I asked for my release because I wasn't working and I wanted to work."

Mike also shared what he would like to do in the future. One thing is he would like to team with ROH star Matt Taven again. While Mike was in Ring of Honor, he was part of The Kingdom with Taven and now NXT star Adam Cole. He also would like to do a singles run in New Japan.

"I would love to do a singles run at New Japan and I would love to team up with [Matt] Taven again. To me, those are the two coolest things."

The whole interview with WrestleTalk is available in the video above.