According to Sportskeeda, former Impact Wrestling stars and real life married couple Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis have either signed or are very close to signing WWE deals.
The report adds there has been discussion as to whether or not the duo would debut on Smackdown Live or NXT, and the decision appears to have been made. If the duo does debut on WWE Smackdown Live, it will likely be after the upcoming WWE Backlash PPV, as the card for that event is reportedly full. However, if the duo debuts on NXT, it could be as soon as the next TV tapings which take place this week.
Maria left WWE back in 2011, after 7 years with the company, and has publicly stated on numerous occasions that she did not get along well with The Bella Twins. Maria has also accused the Twins of having “no real talent”, and getting ahead in WWE based on their real life relationships with John Cena and Daniel Bryan. It has been speculated in the past that her real life issues with The Bellas might have prevented her from returning to WWE sooner following her departure in 2011.
The issues between Kanellis and The Bellas, more specifically Nikki, might have begun several years ago when Maria was dancing with Nikki’s then-boyfriend Dolph Ziggler. Maria had the following to say on the issue in a past interview:
“We were all hanging out, having fun and dancing. I was dancing with [Ziggler]. I was dancing with the girls. I was dancing with the other people that were there. So all of a sudden when I’m dancing with Dolph I get a tap on the shoulder and it’s Nikki Bella going, ‘what are you doing?’ And I said, ‘uh, dancing with my friend?’ And she’s like, ‘oh, he’s with me.’ I said ‘okaaaay, sure.”
Maria has since publicly apologized to The Bella Twins for their past tensions.
Nick was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, and lived there until the age of 18, when he decided to pack his flack jacket and move to New York City.
