Maria Kanellis on Her Current Impact Wrestling Deal, Talks With Tony Khan, Tripl

[Liz]

During a recent interview with Will Washington, Righteous Reg, and Phil Lindsey for Fightful's Grapsody, Maria Kanellis discussed her current Impact Wrestling status, having talks with Triple H, Tony Khan, WOW, and more. Below are some highlights from Fightful:

Maria Kanellis on her current deal with Impact: "I'm on a per-appearance deal with them [IMPACT Wrestling] until October 8. It's so hard to make decisions moving forward because I love what we're doing in IMPACT and I know the possibilities of where we might go with it and where I might go with it as an individual. Scott D'Amore is a fantastic boss, if I'm not in the Maria Honor No More voice [laughs]. I absolutely love what we're doing there. When [The Kingdom] won the tag titles, that meant something, especially after losing what, to me, was going to be the next ten years of my life, if not longer, Ring of Honor. I was looking at Ring of Honor like, 'Okay, this is going to be the next ten to fifteen years of my life. I'm going to run this women's division. I'm going to transition completely to the other side. I'm going to help with production. I want to move forward with taking over more responsibilities.' Then it ended, and Scott gave us an opportunity."

Kanellis on what's next and having recent talks with Tony Khan, Triple H, and WOW: "It's really hard looking 'where do I go next?' I talked to Tony Khan, I talked to Triple H, I talk to Scott all the time. Recently, I talked to WOW [Women of Wrestling]. It's a very interesting time for me. For me, it's about creating opportunities for all of the women I'm working with now. Where does that make sense?"

On her and Mike Bennett's run in WWE and how she will make her next decision: "Not only that but then there is the heart of me that says when Mike, my husband, went to WWE and it was his ultimate dream to be in WWE. That's all he talked about. He was a WWE person from the moment I met him. We got to WWE, and it was not the way he wanted it to go. I think, for him, there is still a part of him that thinks there is unfinished business. For me, I don't know if you guys could see it, but when [The Kingdom] won the tag team titles (in IMPACT), there were tears. They are my boys. Taven married us. I was literally standing with the both of them at my wedding going, 'you are my husband's best friend and my friend, and this is my husband, we are family.' The idea of the two of them walking out at WrestleMania and me managing them. Of course, that thought is in my mind. Then I look at AEW where they have some of the greatest tag teams in the world. Competition-wise, there is that at AEW. The fact that the boys have never gotten in there with FTR. I look at all of these things and go 'shit.' Then, where is Ring of Honor going to go? I think it's an amazing time in wrestling right now."