Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis talk with Jim Ross about joining TNA, Maria leaving WWE & more

[Big Red Machine]

Source: WrestleChat

By C.J. Quinn
– Posted on March 6, 2016Posted in: Other News, TNA

A recent episode of “The Ross Report” with Jim Ross features real-life husband and wife Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis.

Jim kicks things off by saying, “This show is going to be very different, because this week we have a married couple.” He goes on to add that he’s often said relationships in the wrestling business don’t usually work. He welcomes his guests—TNA and NJPW’s Mike Bennett and his wife, former WWE Diva and current TNA Knockout, Maria Kanellis—and says that they are the exception to the rule. Jim says that Marie and Mike are making their marriage work, and suggests that they’d be prime candidates for their own reality show. Maria says that they’re actually working on getting a reality show off the ground. The couple recently filmed a pilot for a tentatively titled concept called “Mike and Maria’s Date Night.” Maria jokes that it might not work: “Mike would actually have to take me on dates—usually it’s just Netflix.” Maria says that she’s been very interested in reality television for a long time; she was on the third season of Celebrity Apprentice.

JR asks Maria to describe Donald Trump. Maria says that Donald Trump has a few different sides to him. When she escorted him to the ring at WrestleMania 23, he was said to be “very flirtatious.” But when it came time for Celebrity Apprentice, the Donald was all business. Trump handpicked Maria for the show, due-in-part to his relationship with WWE. She says that he was tough on her, and warned her that if she didn’t “speak up” from the start, she was going to get fired. Maria made a point to make herself heard on the first episode, and made it to the top five of the season. She also says Trump is very funny, and is able to adapt to whatever his surroundings might be. JR asks Mike if he’s politically-minded. He says yes, and that he comes from a family of “political junkies.” He adds that his parents are die-hard republicans, whereas he is an independent that tends to vote “right down the middle.” JR asks Mike if he thinks Donald Trump can be the next president of the United States. Mike says: “When he first started I didn’t. But the more I’m following, I’m beginning to think that he might. He pushes the buttons that I think people want to hear. I don’t think he has any solid, quality ideas—but he’s a sound-piece. I think this country is so sick of just hearing lifetime politicians ramble on about what they’re going to do. Trump is doing the same thing—‘I’m going to do this, I’m going to do that’—but he’s saying the things people want to hear. And it helps that he doesn’t have the background of a lifetime politician.”

JR asks Maria if the Diva Search was during his time in talent relations, or if it was during John Laurenitis’s tenure. Maria says it was during the “infancy of John’s tenure,” and JR exhales a sigh of relief: “Thank god. I feel exonerated now.” Maria was part of the first Diva Search—won by Christy Hemme—and debuted for the WWE in 2005. JR asks if Maria ever thought the Diva Search would lead her down the path she’s taken. She says probably not; she notes that she always wanted to be an entertainer and grew up with a love for professional wrestling. She remembers breaking her brother’s nose during a play-fight in the living room, to which JR exclaims: “Potato!” She says that she never thought about being a wrestler, but was an avid fan during 2003-2004 when the competition was first announced. She signed up immediately, and didn’t know she was accepted until she saw her picture on Monday Night Raw. Maria says that she never wanted to “get married right out of high school and start popping out babies,” as was the custom in Ottawa Illinois. She “wanted to do something,” and wrestling “became that something.” She says that wrestling has given her everything she’s ever wanted, including a chance encounter with her husband of just over one year, Michael Bennett.

JR says that Maria is a true success story, noting that she’s accomplished a lot in just eleven years. He adds that she’s also never gotten mixed up with drugs, been involved with any salacious scandals, or been to prison. Maria begins to laugh and says, “I have a story to tell you—about the time I went to prison.” Maria was traveling on Halloween with one of her dogs; earlier in the show she and Mike mentioned that they have three long haired Chihuahuas. She says, “Something on the leash resembled a pair of brass knuckles—and they weren’t brass knuckles, but they thought they were. And this was in Los Angeles Airport [LAX]. And in LA, it is a FELONY to own brass knuckles. So they sent me to jail! I spent the night in jail.” She says that this was in 2011, when she and Mike first began dating. She says, “I was so embarrassed, I had to call him and tell him that I went to jail.” JR calls the actions by the Los Angeles Police Department HIDEOUS. Maria says, “I was in a cell with six other women, and luckily they thought I was hilarious. So they just laughed at me and left me alone. But I could have been beat up, or killed, or worse!” The district attorney dropped the charges, and apologized in person when Maria returned to Los Angeles for her court date.

JR—who is the new American voice for New Japan on AXS—steers the conversation toward Mike and Maria’s time overseas. JR says that a lot of Japanese men like blonde American women, and asks if they have the same affinity for redheads. Mike chimes in: “Well we know the Japanese cameramen love Maria’s butt. That much we do know.” Maria laughs and says that Japanese fans have “never seen a butt as big as hers.” Both Mike and Maria express their true appreciation for the Japanese wrestling fans. Maria notes that men aren’t her only admirers: “If I was a lesbian, I would have a field day in Japan. Japanese women hug me, they cry, they bring me gifts—I love Japanese women! I’m just not in love with Japanese women.” JR asks Mike if he and Maria are perceived as heels or babyfaces when they’re abroad. “Oh we’re definitely babyfaces. They love us. When we’re over there, we spend the majority of our time wrestling the Bullet Club, and they’re the big time heels. But I love going over there, it’s been the time of my life. When I first started wrestling it was always ‘WWE or Bust’ for me, nothing else, I always wanted to do WWE. I never thought Japan was ever a possibility. I didn’t watch a lot of Japanese wrestling growing up. But getting the chance to go over there and work their guys and learn their wrestling culture, it almost became the only place I ever wanted to wrestle. The most fun I ever have wrestling is when I’m in a New Japan ring—when I’m in there with guys like Nakamura, and Okada, and Tanahashi. To me, they’re the best wrestlers in the world.”

JR asks Maria whether her departure from WWE was “acrimonious,” or if she left on positive terms. She says that she was interested in pursuing other things outside of the WWE, especially coming off the heels of her performance on the Celebrity Apprentice. According to Maria, Vince McMahon and John Laurenitis weren’t receptive to the idea, feeling that it wasn’t the right time for Maria to branch out. She says they “left it at that,” and allowed her contract to expire. Maria says that she’s “still friendly with everybody,” adding that she still speaks with Vince and Mark Curano a few times every year. She says, “Who knows? People leave, people come back. There’s no one-way to do things in this crazy, wonderful business. So the door is always open there, and who knows? Casting, right time, right place.” JR asks Maria what valet she draws inspiration from, and she says: “Honestly, I follow Heyman. I do what Paul Heyman does. I talk to Paul, I ask him things, I send him ideas. I met Paul down in Ohio Valley Wrestling. I was there when he was booking. So ever since then, I’ve had a great relationship with him, and he’s the one I watch. Whenever something major happens in the ring—to whomever he’s managing—he’s always got the perfect expression for that moment. Whenever he cuts a promo, he builds up the person he’s managing so much, that it makes them more important than anyone else on the roster. I always want to add, and I always want to be a presence, but I never want to take away. I always watch Heyman for that kind of stuff.”