Maria Kanellis is not currently looking back at professional wrestling as the center of her life, but she is not declaring her in-ring and on-screen career permanently finished either.
The former WWE, Ring of Honor and AEW personality recently discussed her present-day relationship with the industry during an appearance on Wrestling Life Hall of Fame. Kanellis explained that she has largely stepped away from wrestling since her time with AEW concluded at the end of January 2025, focusing instead on family life and several professional pursuits outside the business.
That distance has not erased the complicated feelings surrounding how her wrestling run ended. Kanellis said her exit felt sudden and lacked the sense of closure she had hoped would follow two decades spent building a career in the industry. Still, after taking time to process that disappointment, she has come to see the transition as an opening to pursue new ambitions.
“[I’m] not very involved with wrestling at all,” Kanellis said on Wrestling Life Hall of Fame. “You know, that’s not saying that the door is shut, but I’m really enjoying what I’m doing now.”
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A Career That Spanned Multiple Major Promotions
Kanellis has been a familiar name to wrestling audiences across several eras and promotions. Her career included prominent stretches in WWE, where she became widely known as Maria, as well as work in Ring of Honor and AEW. Beyond her own performances, she was frequently associated with Mike Bennett and the wider group known as The Kingdom, a connection that remains important to her when considering what could potentially bring her back.
Her AEW departure in January 2025 represented an end point that did not arrive with a major farewell storyline or an announced final match. For performers whose careers are tied to public competition, character development and long-running audience relationships, the absence of a formal goodbye can create a difficult adjustment. Kanellis acknowledged that she spent considerable time wrestling with that reality.
“It just kind of abruptly ended, and it took me a long time to move past that and be like, ‘But I spent 20 years in it. Why don’t I have this send-off?’” Kanellis said. “And I didn’t. I didn’t have a send-off. Which is fine. It took me a while to accept it, but now I’m thankful for it, because it gave me the opportunity to try other things and be involved with other things.”
Kanellis’ comments reflect the emotional challenge that can accompany an unexpected departure, especially after such a lengthy tenure in the business. Wrestling careers do not always end with retirement ceremonies, final victories or carefully designed closing angles. Opportunities can change quickly, creative directions can shift, and contracts can conclude without the type of ending a performer might have envisioned.
Rather than framing that experience solely as a negative, Kanellis now sees value in the freedom it created. The lack of a conventional send-off forced her to consider what came next away from the familiar environment of locker rooms, television tapings and wrestling travel.
Building Businesses Outside Professional Wrestling
Since moving away from regular wrestling involvement, Kanellis has devoted time to building a life that includes several new business and creative interests. She has started her own florist business and has also entered event management. In addition, she revealed that she is in the process of writing a book.
Those projects represent a significant shift from the demands of a full-time wrestling career. The industry’s schedule often requires performers and personalities to balance constant travel, physical preparation, live-event obligations and television production. Kanellis is also a mother, and her current priorities encompass both her family and the businesses she is developing.
Her interest in floristry and event management underscores that her post-wrestling path is not simply a pause while waiting for another wrestling call. Kanellis is actively creating work that gives her different challenges and opportunities. Writing a book adds another dimension, allowing her to pursue a long-form creative project separate from the immediate, live nature of professional wrestling.
For Kanellis, the change appears to have created room for professional growth that may not have been possible while operating within the rhythms of a major promotion. Her comments suggest she is enjoying that process rather than treating it as a temporary substitute for wrestling.
The Door Remains Open Under the Right Circumstances
While Kanellis is not actively immersed in the industry, she stopped short of ruling out a return. The key factor, however, would not simply be an offer to appear. She said no company has approached her with an opportunity that has sparked excitement or felt like the right fit.
That distinction is important. Kanellis is not presenting herself as someone seeking to return at any cost or merely recreate a previous role. Instead, she is weighing wrestling possibilities against a life that she says is already fulfilling. Any comeback would need to offer genuine personal satisfaction and a meaningful creative reason to step back into the industry.
“If something comes along that I think will bring me joy, or it gives me the opportunity to work with my Kingdom one more time, that would be it,” Kanellis said on Wrestling Life Hall of Fame.
The mention of The Kingdom provides the clearest indication of what could make a future wrestling appearance appealing. Kanellis’ association with the group has been an enduring element of her later-career presentation, particularly alongside Bennett. A chance to reunite in a way that feels worthwhile could give a potential return an emotional and professional purpose beyond a one-off appearance.
At present, though, Kanellis has not identified a wrestling opportunity that meets that standard. She specifically noted that no company has reached out with an idea that she is excited about. That leaves her future in the industry uncertain, but not closed.
Closure Does Not Have to Follow One Script
Kanellis also spoke about the broader idea of closure, emphasizing that there can be a time and place for it. Her own experience shows that closure is not always delivered through a retirement angle or a final moment in front of a wrestling crowd. Sometimes it arrives later, through reflection and the ability to build something new.
That does not mean the disappointment of an abrupt ending disappears. Kanellis was candid that accepting the absence of a farewell took time. After 20 years in wrestling, wanting recognition of that journey is understandable. Her career crossed multiple major companies and generations of fans, with her work evolving from her WWE beginnings to her later roles in ROH and AEW.
But Kanellis’ current outlook is rooted less in what she did not receive at the end of her AEW tenure and more in what she has been able to create since then. Her florist business, event-management work and book project have offered avenues to explore other parts of her identity and professional ability.
For now, that is where her focus remains. Wrestling is no longer a daily part of Kanellis’ life, yet she has not dismissed the possibility that the right situation could change that. A role that brings her joy, or a chance to share the stage with The Kingdom again, could be enough to reopen that chapter.
Until then, Kanellis is moving forward on her own terms. Her story is not necessarily one of retirement, nor is it a declaration of an imminent comeback. It is the story of a veteran performer learning to make peace with an unplanned ending, while discovering that a life beyond wrestling can offer its own meaningful next act.
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Darryl Polo
Darryl Polo is a passionate wrestling fan covering WWE, AEW, TNA and beyond. He loves great rivalries, breakout stars and the moments that keep fans talking long after the bell. How we work.