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Mike Kanellis recently appeared on the Smarks and Stripes podcast on which he discussed his recent request for a WWE release, not getting the opportunity in WWE and why his release has yet to be granted. Below are the highlights, transcribed courtesy of 411Mania.
āYeah, and me and you have talked about this on a personal level and weāve been friends for a long time. But for me, it was all personal. It had nothing to do with the company. Since the minute I got to WWE, they treated me great. Theyāve treated my wife great, theyāve treated my daughter great, theyāve treated me great. You know, when I came out and said I had an addiction, there was no negativity from anybody, just constant support. And so, or me personally, having been almost two and a half years sober, it got to the point where I started reflecting on my past and what I did. And it became very hard for me to almost sit and reflect on the fact that I blew four years of my life doing drugs. And now, I felt like my mind was clear, my head was clear, and I just wanted to work. I just want to wrestle, I just want to work. Like, I feel like I could do and have my best matches right now. And itās extremely difficult when there are so many people on the roster, and you just donāt get that opportunity. And like I said, everybody wants to come at me negatively and say Iām mad; Iām not mad at anybody. Like, Iām genuinely not. And if WWE called me tomorrow and was like, āWeāre going to put you on TV,ā Iād do it. Iām not mad. I just want to work, and I just want to work a lot. I want to be able to go home and tell my daughter that, you know, Daddy put in the time, Daddy put in the effort. Itās incredibly difficult for me to go on social media and preach, āYou have to work hard, you have to work your ass off,ā and then not do it myself. And so, Iām a worker, Iāve always been a worker. And now Iām at the point where I just want to work and work and work. And Iāll go wherever that opportunity exists.ā
āWell I think honestly ā again, I just go back to it. There are so many talented guys on the roster right now. So I mean, and Iām not saying Iām not, and Iām not saying that I wouldnāt be a good fit. What Iām saying is, if those guys are getting the opportunity and doing their job and theyāre successful at it, then theyāre wonāt going to necessarily look for ānext man up.ā Thereās no need. You hope itās next man up when ā you know, you donāt hope that someone goes down, but you hope that youāre ready if someone goes down. But I just ā wrestling right now is loaded with talent. I keep hearing people talk about it. Itās the best Iāve ever seen in any company, on independents, on any national company, itās just loaded. Everyoneās just really frigginā good right now. And I just think my opportunity hasnāt existed. And you know, Iām 34; I have 10 or 12 years left in me. So I donāt want to waste them.ā
āAs far as not giving me my release, I think itās like anywhere. Like, the Patriots arenāt going to trade or release a player that they think the Jets are going to pick up. And I think we have to think of it like that. Itās not a negative, itās just how it works. It works in sports, it works in wrestling.ā
You know, honestly [I donāt think about it] a whole lot. Because I get it. You know, I have a brand. He has a brand. Again, I have no negativity or animosity. And thatās kind of where my life has pushed me, I get it. And I also think we live in a different time. I think we live in a social media time that we all have to adapt to, that wasnāt necessarily there in the past. And I think companies in general, and CEOs and anyone are learning that there is a power in social media that wasnāt there before. And so, I get it. Iām not mad. I have a great relationship with Triple H. I talk to him. Iāve brought up my issues. I get it. So I understand why people might be upset, but me personally, I got too much going on. It doesnāt bother me.ā
āSo people keep asking me this, and I get it. But personally, again, I go back to personal accountability. If WWE were to call me tomorrow and say, āWeāre gonna put you on TV and we want to work you,ā great. Iāll show up and Iāll do my job. If they say, āNope, you signed five years, youāre going to sit at home.ā Okay, cool. I own that, and then Iāll figure out something else to do with my life. Iām not going to sit here and say, āOh well, just do this and do that.ā It doesnāt do me any good. And thatās why Iāve started doing like motivational speaking, and going to indy shows and talking to the guys in the locker room. Because if Iām not going to do anything, Iām going to give back. Iām gonna do whatever I can to help younger guys out, because I can worry all day, I can sit on my couch. Or I can just go and be active. So again, it just comes down to accountability.ā
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