Nine months later, on the October 10 episode of "205 Live", Maria officially made her television return as she interrupted a match between Lince Dorado and Lio Rush, allowing her husband (who debuted on the show) to attack Dorado. Three weeks later, on October 28, in her first match back in WWE in over eight years, Kanellis took part of the first ever all women's pay–per–view, Evolution, where she competed in a battle royal for a future women's championship match but she was eliminated by the eventual winner Nia Jax. Throughout the rest of the year, Kanellis would continue her managerial role as she would accompany her husband Mike to his matches on "205 Live" where both would appear regularly. On January 16, Pro Wrestling Sheet's Ryan Satin reported that Maria and Mike recently asked WWE to release them from their contracts. Maria would go on to deny that she asked for her release. Mike Johnson of Pro Wrestling Illustrated reported that they were not backstage at the following episode of "205 Live". On January 27, 2019, at the Royal Rumble, Kanellis competed in her first women's Royal Rumble match, entering at number 15 and lasting 08:12 minutes before she was eliminated by Alicia Fox. They would not appear on television until the January 29, 2019 "205 Live", where Bennett would lose to Kalisto.