Mike Kanellis says he enjoyed working for WWE even though he always suspected he was in danger of being released.
Mike Kanellis was one of the many names cut by WWE on April 15, 2020. In the past, he had asked for his release from WWE because he felt the promotion wasn't utilizing him enough.
Speaking with WrestleTalk, Mike opened up about being let go from WWE and whether or not he expected the release.
“I’m doing good considering the circumstances. Nobody wants to be let go from their job in the middle of a pandemic, but it is what it is and when shit hits the fan you just keep going forward. We two, we’ve got two kids. There is no stop for us now it’s onward and upward,” Mike began. “So, I mean in the sense that in my head it was always like if there [are] going to be releases, it’s probably going to be me and probably going to be my wife, just because my wife has been out on maternity leave and they were doing anything with me. I had already asked for my release in the past, but we did work things out after that. I didn’t want it to happen during a pandemic. I think that’s a hard thing to explain to people, not to go off-topic, but there are a lot of people who are like “well he did ask his release”, which I did, but my wife never did and I want to get that clear, my wife was happy to stay there. But it’s like, you're thinking in the back of your head, yes I did ask for my release, but no one wants to be released in the middle of a pandemic. You ask for your release when you think you can go and do other things. I asked for my release because I wasn’t working and I wanted to work.”
When asked how they found out the news that they would be let go, Mike revealed that they had a video sent to them where their boss informed them that necessary measures would be taken in order to cut costs.
“We got a video sent to us from the boss telling us they were going to start laying people off and they would call you if you were one of them. When we got that video I looked at Maria and was like ‘oh yeah, let’s get ready.’ Kind of jokingly I was like ‘it's us, it’s going to happen’ We both kinda knew it and then an hour later we got a call from Mark Carano who is Head of Talent relations, he was another guy who was super good to me, and I have nothing bad to say. It was one of the things I said to him on the phone, ‘I wish it went a little bit differently than it did, but I’m not going to yell and scream at you because you guys gave me a fun three years and then they called my wife. They are not going to tell me to tell my wife. Mark has known my wife longer than he has known me. He adores my wife and she adores him. We both kinda knew it was happening but there’s always that small hope in the back of my head where I was like, ‘just release one of us. Just hold on to someone else.’”
In spite of him maybe not having the WWE run that he dreamed of, Mike Kanellis remains positive about his time in WWE.
“I’ve said this in the past I liked working for WWE, I liked the people there, it was my dream, I never wanted to leave. But I had the sense I needed to leave and needed to work and be productive. If you’re not working that means they aren’t using you and that means eventually they are probably going to let you go because you’re just dead weight.”
Fightful Select has a transcription of the video sent to talent featuring Vince McMahon making the brief statement. Subscribe today for breaking news like that, exclusive podcasts, and more.
