Maria Kanellis on Being First Lady of Ring of Honor, Women’s Wrestling, Her Husband, More

– Former WWE Diva and current Ring of Honor star Maria Kanellis recently spoke with Channel Guide Magazine. Below are some highlights:

Being The First Lady of ROH:

“I think I’ve always had a passion for the pro wrestling business. In Ring of Honor, I was able to find something that inspired me and challenged me. I have been able to have a lot of fun with it. I think with this character and being the ‘First Lady of Ring of Honor,’ I’m having so much fun with it.”

The ROH locker room:

“I’ve always had a lot more guy friends than girlfriends, so it has never intimidated me being in a locker room full of guys. The Ring of Honor locker room is one of the best locker rooms I’ve ever been in. The guys are just so sweet and so wonderful. A lot of them came to my wedding. It’s great to be surrounded by all my big brothers and little brothers.”

The state of women’s wrestling:

“I think we are going in the right direction. We still have a long way to go. We have to be very careful right now, because we can’t become complacent that we are getting a few more nuggets of hope with time on television. It’s not enough. You look at women as a whole. Yes, there are more females that are going be on the cover of Fortune 500. You are going to see more females take bigger roles in these sitcoms and television shows. That doesn’t mean it is equal. Just because the girls get one main event every six months at NXT, that’s not equal. Yes, we are moving in the right direction. No, it’s not enough.”

Working with husband Mike Bennett:

“We separate church and state. There is ‘work’ us and ‘relationship’ us. We are a couple that just happens to be professional wrestlers. Our professional wrestling careers don’t define us as human beings. We have a lot of outside passions that we are able to experience as a couple. We love to cook together. We have three long-haired Chihuahuas together. We are big into our families. Even though we are wrestlers, it’s just one piece of our delicious soup.

“…I don’t think there have ever been a couple truly like Mike and I. You could kind of equate us to Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. You can kind of equate us to other people. That doesn’t necessarily get the whole picture. We’ve never really been seen before in the fact there isn’t one dominant person in our onscreen relationship. It depends on what the match calls for. If I need to be involved more, I’m involved more. If I need to sit on the outside and do nothing, that’s what I do. When it comes to the dynamic of Mike and I, there is nobody like us.”

Dolph Ziggler – TNA Update, New Backstage Story on Paul Heyman, The Undertaker – WrestleMania Backstage News, Major Heat on Kevin Owens?, Must See New Lana and AJ Lee and Paige, Lots of New GIFs & Galleries, More