During an appearance on the ROH Strong Podcast, Maria Kanellis talked about her and her husband Mike being released from WWE:
“I was all ready to come back at WrestleMania. I had been getting back in shape. I had already lost 35 pounds. So when they started calling around, I thought that they were going to fire Mike because Mike had asked for his release. I didn’t think they were going to fire the both of us. I was on my way back from my two-month appointment with Carver at the doctor when I got the call from Mark Carrano. I was fine on the phone, but at the same time I realized that we were going to be in a world of hurt. And they knew that. It’s just really hard for me to talk about because that was just such an emotional day. … To be fired in a pandemic, it was just sad to me. From this company that prides itself on being this family-based company, to be fired. I didn’t receive a phone call after I had Carver to ask if I was OK, if the labor went OK. I didn’t receive a phone call seeing how my recovery was going with either of my children. But I received a phone call to be fired in a pandemic.”
