Maria Kanellis recently spoke with Sean Ross Sapp of Fightful for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, the IMPACT Wrestling performer and founder of the new Women's Wrestling Army promotion spoke about a good conversation she recently had with AEW and ROH President Tony Khan, how she has really been enjoying her latest run in IMPACT Wrestling and her current contract status with the company, as well as her love for IMPACT executive Scott D'Amore.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where she touches on these topics with her thoughts.
On how she had a very good conversation with AEW and ROH President Tony Khan: “I’m a very honest person, so I will answer this honestly. We did have a conversation and it went very well. It was a good thirty-minute, maybe forty-five-minute, conversation. So it wasn’t a short call. He gave me a good amount of his time and I appreciate that greatly. He said he was open to different ideas moving forward for Ring of Honor. So when Ring of Honor or if Ring of Honor makes its re-debut, I’m sure that we’ll have another conversation. I’m really excited for what Ring of Honor will become, to have a different platform that people will be able to see how great Ring of Honor really can be. The talent that comes out of there is like you just know, you know that the talent, when it comes out of Ring of Honor, is going to be something special. So I’m excited for it to re-debut.”
On her contract status with IMPACT Wrestling: “I don’t talk about me as a talent. That’s just not going to happen. I think it’s better that way. Me as a talent is like a different person… I always say, ‘That’s the person on camera and then there’s the other person, that’s me, that’s the mom and wants to produce.’ So I don’t cross that bridge. When I’m talking with Tony about representing the women’s division, whether it’s human resources or producing talent, that’s totally separate from me being a talent. I am signed with IMPACT for a few more months. I love what we’re doing and we have big things planned, too.”
On how she’s really been enjoying her time in IMPACT during her latest run with the company: “It’s unfortunate that more people don’t watch IMPACT. What we just did last night was one of the coolest segments I’ve seen in wrestling in a while. Because with Mike taking the camera—and this will be the producer side of me talking about what I did on screen as talent—but with Taven grabbing the camera and bringing it close and the cuts back and forth showing Mike holding the camera, that was really cool. So it was Vincent’s idea originally to grab the camera, but he had something to say on the actual show. So I said, ‘Well, can we still grab the camera someway?’ and then it ended up being Mike. Then I said, ‘I’m gonna get in the ring about the same time as Mike. Is there any way Mike can pan up me and then I can draw the camera.’ So that’s how that camera all came to play. I love what we’re doing because we can have that influence on doing it. It brings those two sides of me together a little bit in being this managerial role. We’ve got champions in every single person we have on the team. So I’m super excited.”
On how much she loves Scott D’Amore: “Scott’s one of the best bosses I’ve ever worked for. Great guy, willing to listen, brings people together. I mean, seeing all the different bosses of IMPACT in one photo was so cool—with Dixie and Ed and Billy—that was just a really cool photo. That’s what he does. He brings people together. So, yeah, it’s an interesting time in my life right now.”
Watch the complete Maria Kanellis interview via the video embedded below, or by visiting Fightful.com.
