Maria Kanellis Alleges WWE Spread Rumours About Her Before Her Release
Maria left WWE last year
Sep 2, 2021
Maria Kanellis has accused WWE of spreading rumours about her and husband Mike prior to releasing them from their contracts last year.
Mike and Maria departed WWE as part of the company's cutbacks in April 2020, which the promotion put down to COVID-19 related cost-cutting measures.
The couple found out they were pregnant with their first child just a couple of weeks after signing with WWE, but Maria says media outlets reached out to her and asked her if she did not tell WWE she was pregnant when negotiating her contract.
The former 24/7 Champion believes WWE spread these false rumours about her and husband Mike so they didn't look as bad when they released the duo from their respective deals.
In an interview with Shakiel Mahjouri of Cageside Seats, Maria said: "We signed our contracts, found out I was pregnant two weeks later. So while we were negotiating we were trying to get pregnant. They signed us anyways. OK, not my fault.
"From there, I started getting direct messages from different news outlets. ‘Oh, did you not tell them blah blah, blah.’ Those rumours are coming directly from WWE and they are just trying to make us look bad so that when they release us they can feel better about it?
"But we give them every opportunity to restructure my contract or not pay me as much. They came with more money. That’s not my fault. And so those are the facts."