Maria Kanellis has revealed that her husband, Mike Bennett, admitted to a painkiller addiction just a couple of weeks after the couple learned she was pregnant in 2019, according to F4W Online. The revelation came shortly after Kanellis had informed WWE of her pregnancy following the pair’s re-signing with the company that year.
Kanellis described the pregnancy news as unexpected, and said the personal revelation from Bennett followed soon after she had already shared the news with WWE officials. The timing meant the couple were navigating a major personal disclosure within the company at the same time they were dealing with Bennett’s admission at home.
Reflecting on the WWE Divas Era
The same round of interviews saw Kanellis push back on what she considers a persistent misconception about her earlier WWE run during the so-called Divas era. Speaking on the “Insight” podcast with Chris Van Vliet, as reported by NoDQ and eWrestlingNews, Kanellis said the common belief that performers from that period did not care about wrestling itself was inaccurate. She stated plainly, “We were fighting to not have to do a bikini competition,” pushing back on the notion that Divas-era talent were hired purely for sex appeal rather than in-ring ability.
Kanellis-Bennett joined WWE during a period when women on the roster were often promoted around their appearance rather than their wrestling credentials, a dynamic she said she and her peers actively resisted. According to eWrestlingNews, she framed the era as one where talent pushed back against being reduced to bikini contests and similar gimmicks, insisting that wrestling ability mattered to the women involved even when the company’s booking did not always reflect that.
In the same wide-ranging conversation, Kanellis also addressed what she is doing currently and whether she would consider an in-ring return, according to WrestleView, alongside further reflection on the pregnancy storyline WWE built around her real-life pregnancy. The interview places her candid account of Bennett’s painkiller addiction admission alongside her broader reassessment of how the Divas era has been remembered by fans and media.
