Maria Kanellis-Bennett On Re-Signing With Ring Of Honor, ROH’s Women’s Division, Career Goals, Mike Bennett’s Success & More
Ring Of Honor Wrestling Entertainment — more commonly-known as “Ring of Honor” or “ROH” — is one of the top professional companies in the world. The Baltimore, Maryland-based company launched 19 years ago in 2002 and can currently be watched on FITE TV, the FIGHT NETWORK, WATCHCHARGE.com and on hundreds of Sinclair television stations. Simply put, most of wrestling’s biggest stars of the last 2 decades have worked with or for ROH, countless world champions included.
Last month, Ring Of Honor announced that Maria Kanellis-Bennett re-signed with the company. Kanellis-Bannett — referred to by many as “The First Lady Of Professional Wrestling” — returned to ROH in December after a 5-year absence, announcing the launch of ROH The Experience and her involvement in the groundbreaking fan-engagement initiative. She will continue to play a vital role behind-the-scenes in Ring Of Honor, in addition to working as an on-air performer.
Kanellis-Bennett made her ROH debut in 2011 and went on to be a founding member of The Kingdom, which would become one of ROH’s top factions, with her then-boyfriend (now husband) Mike Bennett, Matt Hardy and Adam Cole. After Matt Taven joined The Kingdom, Kanellis-Bennett led him and Bennett to the ROH World Tag Team Championship and New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship. She also wrestled on occasion. ROH aside, over the years the former WWE Diva Of The Year has appeared in multiple reality shows on network television, hosted podcasts, modeled, released music, and acted in a variety of television and movie projects.
On April 29, 2021, I had the pleasure of speaking with Maria Kanellis-Bennett via Zoom, as embedded below. Besides her work with Ring Of Honor, we talked about her successes outside of wrestling, balancing a multi-faceted career with motherhood, future career goals and more. Additional information about Kanellis-Bennett and ROH can be found here, here, here and here.
Photo of Maria Kanellis Bennett courtesy of Mike Adams for Ring Of Honor Wrestling
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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