Making her first public appearance since her WWE release yesterday, Maria Kanellis joined the Special Delivery Show on XM satellite radio just under an hour ago to speak for the first time on her departure and also premiered in full, for the first time, her debut single ‘Fantasy’.
In the interview, Maria said she believes her release is due to her wanting to pursue outside projects independent of WWE. She continues that WWE expects that it’s Superstars are “all there 100% of the time” and that it’s a “demanding position to be in.”
Despite the obviously whirlwind past 48 hours, as Maria also celebrated on her 28th birthday on Thursday, the former Diva was extremely upbeat and friendly.
Listening to her interview, I have to commend her, she has seemingly taken everything in her stride and has a great head on her shoulders. This was a very insightful interview and I 100% stand by Maria, no one has just one thing that drives them in life and people have more than one passion or motivation. It’s no secret that WWE demands their Superstars eat, live and breathe WWE and if you don’t, you’re a liability. Maria unfortunately, isn’t Mickie James and I guess they thought she was expendable. In the case of James, she is the company’s most relied upon female worker and most over Diva, cutting her because of her outside passions isn’t as realistic though I’d suggest that they’ve found other means to ‘punish’ her.
I have that much more respect for Maria for her level-headed attitude in this interview. She has every right to be upset but never came across as ‘bashing’ WWE. Kudos to her.
Listen to the interview below:
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February 28, 2010 at 3:43 am
Thanks Melanie for putting this up
i’m over Maria’s WWE departure now, i think she could make it in the music industry that song blew me away, she would fit in TNA perfectly as a member of The Beautiful People.
February 28, 2010 at 3:51 am
Love the interview, i was about to say do they let them cuss on tv but it’s radio(: haha!
I actually kindda like the song, not my kind of music at all but i don’t like country either and i like mickie’s song,
Way to go maria!(:
February 28, 2010 at 3:56 am
Wow, this was a great interview from Maria. Even though she didn’t have the best wrestling abilities, she has such a likeable and bubbly personality. Just listening to her, she is such a sweet girl.
A shame that WWE pretty much steers you away from your dreams and makes you think WWE is your life. The song is super catchy and I actually love it.
Good luck Maria!
February 28, 2010 at 4:21 am
I love this song! Ah, it’s so awesome! I think Maria is taking her release really well and I’m happy for her. I hope she has a lot of success with her singing.
February 28, 2010 at 4:27 am
i’m going to miss Maria, it’s always hard to see a WWE diva leave especially when they’ve been there for a long time. Maria has been in WWE for 6 years so seeing her leave does hurt. I hope she all her future dreams some true
If Maria was released due to her venturing outside WWE and doing other projects, I fear Mickie will be the next one to go
February 28, 2010 at 4:28 am
* I hope all her future dreams come true
February 28, 2010 at 4:33 am
Never was much of a fan, but I do respect Maria more after hearing this. She didn’t take the Stacy Keibler route and bash the company, even though she would have more of a legit reason to(Keibler wasn’t released). I hope she lands on her feet.
Not to keep bringing this up, because I don’t want to sound like I’m some expert, but Mickie isn’t as safe as you assume she is. What she says in public interviews is irrelevant. Only an fool would say “I think I might be leaving WWE soon.” Maria made that mistake, and already paid the price. But it seems like WWE is under the impression Mickie might leave when her contract is up. Don’t think that Vince McMahon is just going to let a diva play a “wait and see” game as far as her outside interests are concerned. Every female performer that has ever pissed McMahon off has very quickly found themselves out of a job. The McCool title win this week leads me to believe that something is about to go down.
February 28, 2010 at 5:18 am
@ Rkoyou – i definitely agree with you. it hurts me, i’ve been a fan of maria since her diva search days. and i believe mickie is next. i hope wwe think about mickie and keep her there, but with a better role. maria was a sweet girl, i know she will do better in the future.(: i bet wwe is grateful of her for not bashing them like keibler did.
February 28, 2010 at 5:42 am
I love the song so much!!! It’s been stuck in my head since that first audio clip was released.
I love Maria so much, even more so now that she’s gone. I think it’s so cool that she wrote (or at least co-wrote) her entire album. It makes her accomplishment so much more personal. Can’t wait to buy Sevin Sins!
February 28, 2010 at 7:00 am
Wow, the interviewer is freaking ANNOYING.
Great interview nonetheless<3
February 28, 2010 at 7:53 am
Still feels a bit surreal to me because I always imagined someone as popular as Maria getting a proper send-off. Maria may not have been my favorite wrestler but she was SO likeable! She just had such a perky personality that anyone could love. That is what i think is going to take her far in the next stage of her life because she is very,very loveable & a beautiful person as well! I wish Maria all the best!
February 28, 2010 at 7:56 am
LOL — surreal? i meant UNreal.
February 28, 2010 at 11:24 am
“A shame that WWE pretty much steers you away from your dreams and makes you think WWE is your life.”
You can’t really blame them for that. They are a commercial company. If you work a 9 to 5 job, and you arent dedicated in your job, you will eventually be fired. This is no different.
I’m not worried about Mickie James though. For her and Chris Jericho singing is just a hobby, and its their only activity outside of WWE. Maria on the other hand wanted it all, singing, be on tv, acting etc etc. It’s good to have ambitions, but it’s also obvious that you cant combine all those activities with a job as a pro-wrestler where you are on the road 300 days a year.
February 28, 2010 at 11:34 am
wwe had every right to fire her! she didnt care about the business and her heart is not in wrestling! and to the comment at the top, if maria came to tna and ruined the beautiful people i would never watch tna again! tbh i hope thats the last i see of maria
February 28, 2010 at 1:32 pm
i always liked maria (even tho i didn’t care for her in ring work)
i really hope she accomplishes whatever she wishes to do next,
oh and about the TNA thing, i really cant see maria going to TNA
i guess she could be with TBP
February 28, 2010 at 2:09 pm
Maria seems far too nice to be a member of The Beautiful People.
Good luck to her. While she wasn’t the best in ring by a wide margin, I thought she was a great talker and had good personality while she was a backstage interviewer. Yeah, she didn’t bash WWE the way Stacy Keibler did.
February 28, 2010 at 2:43 pm
“i really cant see maria going to TNA”
Why not? She is a relatively big name, with a large fanbase. If TNA hires Christy, Victoria and Lacey just because of their name/past, then Maria would definately be high on TNA’s wanted list. And for Maria it would be perfect, it’s a very relaxed schedule, so she can combine it with her other activities.
February 28, 2010 at 4:05 pm
for me, maria being in tna would be okay as long as it isn’t in a full time wrestling capacity. as pointed out, she has quite the fan base.
with the music stuff.. i don’t see why wwe couldn’t have produced her album themselves. it would’ve kept both sides happy, surely? whatever happens next for maria, she wasn’t a favourite of mine but i totally respect her and good luck in her future!
February 28, 2010 at 4:09 pm
thinking about it, tna could be pretty clever in picking her up, even in just a valet/backstage interviewer role.
the apprentice final is live in america, right? and guessing there’s around 15 episodes, her no-compete clause should be up. what a minor blow it would be to wwe for maria to announce she’s now with the competition
February 28, 2010 at 4:14 pm
I also believe that Maria could be in TNA. They have Lacey, a really beautiful woman, but a kinda bad wrestler. They have Christy, who never was a good wrestler. So it wouldn’t be a gigantic surprise to see Maria in TNA.
About the interview: I kinda believe that they might have released her because of her outside projects and I believe Mickie will go the same way.
However, I think that Mickie’s role in the WWE is different. Like someone said, to her and Jericho, music is the secondary job, and wrestling is more important to them.
BUT, apparently WWE management is not happy with Mickie, because she gained weight. And even though i don’t think Mickie is fat, when you’re hired by a sports company, you’re expected to be fit and like some people have commented, Mickie’s gain of weight is kinda interfering with her in ring skills. She might be one of the best divas, but she’s not as good as when she debuted.
February 28, 2010 at 8:57 pm
i’ll miss her so much, good luck wwe with only 3 popular wwe divas (Melina, Mickie and K2)
February 28, 2010 at 9:50 pm
I knew she had been released because she wanted to do too much, including make an album. She is a sweetheart but she sounds a bit bitter. She said “the WWE was holding her back” and if that’s the case than why didn’t she just ask to be released if she felt that strongly? If she felt that the company was holding her back, she could have easily left the company and went on with doing whatever it is that she wanted to pursue. However, she didn’t and she seems surprised that the company wanted her to focus one-hundred percent on her career and not anything outside of it. She should have known that unless your promoting the company, outside of wrestling goals are frowned upon. I mean, really.
March 1, 2010 at 12:33 am
This is the saddest i have felt since my nan passed away over a decade ago, i know its sounds weird comparing this to my nan’s death but i felt the same feelings then as i did when this news broke, its gonna take some time to get used to life without Maria in WWE and a lot of time to get used to life without watching WWE a company a now have little respect for
March 2, 2010 at 3:35 am
Maria sucked. I’m glad WWE released her. She ain’t got no mic skills, her theme song sucks and she’s a disgrace to the WWE Divas. The Bella Twins are next. GOSH I’m glad she’s gone.
Hate me all ya want…..All I’m saying she’s garbage.
March 2, 2010 at 3:40 am
Another thing is she didn’t even deserve the 2009 Slammy trophy…like what did she do to accomplish that? absolutely nothing. Besides acting like a retarded bimbo.
Plus she doesn’t compete in the ring that often cus once again she’s garbage.