Mike Kanellis

Mike Kanellis, as **Mike Bennett**, teamed with Bryce Andrews on the April 9, 2007, episode of *WWE Heat*, where they faced Cryme Tyme.

On June 18, 2017, at Money in the Bank, now billed as **Mike Kanellis**, he made his WWE debut alongside his wife Maria Kanellis. In the following weeks of *SmackDown Live*, Mike and Maria would be unintentionally interrupted by Sami Zayn, leading the Kanellis couple to demand an apology on the July 11 episode, but Zayn refused. This prompted Maria to slap Zayn, and Mike to attack Zayn with a vase, establishing both as heels and beginning a feud with Zayn. On the July 18 episode of *SmackDown Live*, he faced Zayn in his WWE debut match in a winning effort, after interference from Maria. A rematch was subsequently scheduled for Battleground, with Zayn winning. In total, he only wrestled four times on *SmackDown* due to going to rehab shortly after joining WWE and Maria getting pregnant around the same time. On April 16, 2018, Kanellis was moved to the Raw brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up. Over the coming months, he wrestled primarily on *Main Event*, facing the likes of Chad Gable and Zack Ryder. During his time on Raw, he did not win a match on their weekly show *WWE Raw*.

On the October 10 episode of *205 Live*, he and Maria made their debut for the brand, attacking Lince Dorado. On the October 24 episode of *205 Live*, he defeated Dorado in his debut match. Kanellis would then join forces with TJP against Lucha House Party (Dorado, Kalisto and Gran Metalik). On the December 4 episode of *205 Live*, Kanellis and TJP were defeated by Lucha House Party in a tornado tag team match. On the January 9, 2019 episode of *205 Live*, Mike and Maria complained to general manager Drake Maverick about how they have not been on the show for five weeks. Maria told him that the new roster members, that come to the brand will have to go through Mike first.

They would not appear again until the January 29 episode of *205 Live*, where Kanellis would lose to Kalisto. The following episode of *205 Live*, Kanellis would lose again, this time to The Brian Kendrick. Following the loss, Kanellis acted extremely upset in the ring, while Maria consoled him. On the March 19 episode of *205 Live*, Kanellis was able to defeat Akira Tozawa after a distraction from Maria, ending his losing streak. He went on to feud with Tozawa over the following weeks, culminating in a no-disqualification match won by Tozawa.

A few months later Mike and Maria started appearing on *Raw* again. A storyline began where Maria announced her pregnancy, but she would start berating Mike, saying he was not the father, always insulting him, and accusing of not being a man. During the storyline, Mike won the WWE 24/7 Championship, his first-ever title in the company, but Maria ordered him later in the show to lay on his back and let the referee count to three as she became the next 24/7 champion. Mike won the title for a second time after hugging and pinning Maria on her OB-GYN's bed but lost the title to R-Truth moments later as he pinned Mike in the OB-GYN's waiting room disguised as a woman.

After a multi-month hiatus, Kanellis returned on the February 14, 2020 episode of *205 Live*, teaming with Tony Nese to defeat Ariya Daivari and The Brian Kendrick. On April 15, 2020, Kanellis was released from his WWE contract.