Another WWE couple is welcoming the birth of their first child.
WWE.com announced today that Maria Kanellis-Bennett and Mike Bennett are now officially parents after Maria gave birth to their daughter this morning. The baby is named Fredrica “Freddie” Moon Bennett and weighs six pounds, and WWE notes that “mom and baby are both doing great.”
With Mike using Maria’s last name on television, the couple arrived in WWE at Money in the Bank 2017 after leaving Impact Wrestling. Maria announced that she was pregnant last September and made a brief appearance on Raw’s 25th anniversary episode in January, while Mike has been wrestling at house shows and in dark matches at SmackDown tapings.
Maria Kanellis-Bennett announced on Instagram today that she’s pregnant with her and Mike Bennett’s first child. She wrote that she’s 13 weeks pregnant, noting that “life is what happens when you are making other plans” because they thought they had put their plans to have a baby on hold earlier this year.
Despite that, Maria wrote that they’re happy for their new path, that Mike has wanted children for a long time and her biological clock recently started ticking, and that now is the perfect time for their family.
Maria said that she plans on coming back to WWE with her doctor’s approval after giving birth and after she gets to spend plenty of time with the baby.
The couple hasn’t been on television since the August 29th episode of SmackDown, though Mike has faced Bobby Roode in dark matches in recent weeks. Maria wasn’t with Mike when he faced Roode last week or when Mike wrestled against Sami Zayn at SmackDown’s house show last night.
Maria and Mike got married in 2014. They were paired together on television in Ring of Honor and Impact Wrestling before joining the SmackDown roster at this year’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view.
Here’s Maria’s full post announcing her pregnancy:
“The Power of Love is Strong…..And BABY makes 3. Mike and I are happy to announce I am 13 weeks pregnant!! Life is what happens when you are making other plans. This is the universe’s plan for us. Last year Mike and I tried to expand our family when we had a lighter schedule and this year we thought we had put those plans on hold but apparently that is not what is meant to be and we are so happy for our new path. Mike has wanted children for a long time (he is gonna be a very good daddy) and my biological clock just recently started ticking!! Timing is everything and now is our perfect time for family.
As far as the future… WWE is and has been my dream job and I plan on coming back with my doctor’s approval after the baby is born and get’s plenty of mommy time. But, until then, I will be posting my REAL updates on my social media accounts. There is so much pressure to have the perfect pregnancy, gain the right amount of weight, and be super stylish. But, let me just say I’ve gained 7 pounds, been nauseous everyday, and wore yoga pants every day since 6 weeks. I’m not perfect. Haha… life is messy. My husband is a recovering prescription drug addict, we are in the middle of buying a house, we are moving across county, and I’m pregnant!!! I figure I can either stress or feel blessed. I feel blessed. I choose happiness. WE choose happiness. Thank you to our families, friends, WWE, and the fans for all of the support! Let’s continue building the #PowerofLove with my husband on Smackdown Live. Because the Power of Love is Real. I have the picture to prove it…..”
Maria Kanellis and Mike Bennett have arrived on the SmackDown roster.
They were introduced as Mike and Maria Kanellis on tonight’s Money in the Bank pay-per-view, with the announcers mentioning that Mike had taken Maria’s last name. Maria cut a promo saying that for the last seven years, she had been looking for a partner and she ended up finding Mike. She said their goal in WWE is to “promote the power of love.”
It had been rumored that Bennett and Kanellis were heading to WWE following their departure from Impact Wrestling earlier this year. Both were spotted in St. Louis this weekend prior to the PPV.
Kanellis and Bennett started to appear together as an on-air couple going as far back as 2011 for Ring of Honor. They also were featured together in Impact Wrestling and in Japan for New Japan Pro Wrestling.
The Big Takeaway – Showcase matches for Moose and Dalton Castle. Veda Scott threatens a lawsuit and a wild main event highlight a fun hour of ROH TV.
Nigel McGuiness joins Kevin Kelly at commentary for this show. He replaces Steve Corino because Corino put his hands on BJ Whitmer last week. Nigel cannot elaborate on whether he’s been suspended or fired at this time.
Donovan Dijak w/Truth Martini vs Moose w/Stokely Hathaway
In 4 years, you’ll probably be seeing this match on Monday Night RAW. Moose gets the early advantage, knocking Dijak out of the ring with a dropkick and then following him outside to toss him into the ring barricades. Dijak recovers and chokeslams him onto the ring apron as Martini briefly joins commentary to sing his praises.
Back in the ring and Dijak tries a moonsault but Moose gets his knees up. Moose with a couple of running shoulderblocks and then knocks him off the top turnbuckle with a dropkick. Moose follows up with a somersault plancha to the outside. Dijak turns it around and hits a chokeslam for Feast Your Eyes but Moose powers out. A spear from Moose finishes it.
WINNER – MOOSE by pinfall
Cedric Alexander w/Veda Scott vs Dalton Castle w/o his boys
Castle comes out without his usual getup. Just a Dalton Castle t-shirt and regular wrestling trunks. Cedric taunting Castle at the start and Castle just wants to fight, taking him down with a suplex and then pounding on him in the corner. Alexander tries to fight back but Castle hits a couple of gut-wrench suplexes. Fans chanting DAL-TON CAST-LE after starting with the “Fan Up” chants.
Castle uses a Gator roll to try and set up the deal-lift German suplex. Veda Scott grabs Castle’s leg to slow his momentum, allowing Alexander to take the advantage. Alexander chops Castle in the corner but Castle no-sells it and hits some chops of his own. Alexander goes for a dive off the ropes but Castle catches him and suplexes him again. Castle then finishes him with the Bang-A-Rang.
WINNER – DALTON CASTLE by pinfall
Veda Scott gets a mic and is screaming at Nigel for booking a no-DQ match for Alexander against Moose at All-Star Extravaganza. She calls it an unsafe working environment and says they’ve causes severe emotional distress. She threatens a lawsuit and promises thing are about to get a lot more difficult and more expensive.
Jay Lethal and Truth Martini are out next and Lethal’s got both the World and TV title belts. He’s sporting a sharp fedora and dressing in all-black. Fans chanting AJ STYLES to get under Lethal’s skin. Martini starts to talk but is interrupted by Roderick Strong, who grabs a mic from ringside.
Strong congratulate the House of Truth for making history. He also wants to congratulate the man who beat him. He teases shaking Lethal’s hand but instead shakes Martini’s hand and says Lethal wouldn’t even be in ROH, let alone have both belts, without Martini. He then asks for ONE MORE MATCH, like he’s Christian or Matt Hardy. Lethal laughs it off, saying he’s already beaten him “a thousand times”. He says Strong has to get in line cause he’s got a lot of challengers lined up.
Nigel McGuiness gets in the ring and basically agrees with Lethal. AJ Styles is the new #1 contender and he can’t get another shot at the World title. BUT….there is no #1 contender for the TV title so he books a TV title match between Lethal and Strong. Obviously, it will be at a future date since there’s already a six man tag match main event and ROH actually books it’s main events ahead of time and not on the fly like on Monday Night RAW.
Mandy Leon is here with Inside ROH and they look at the Best of 5 series between ACH and Matt Sydal. They show highlights of all 4 matches, including the first two which happened before people who watch just the TV and PPVs knew there even was a best of 5 series (like me). Sydal won the first, ACH won the next 2 and Sydal won the fourth to tie it up at 2-2. The deciding match will be held at Survival of the Fittest in Milwaukee on November 13th.
The Kingdom (Adam Cole, Michael Bennett and Matt Taven) w/Maria Kanellis-Bennett vs “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin and ReDRagon (Bobby Fish/Kyle O’Reilly)
No Code of Honor as these guys are fighting even before the bell. They announce next week’s main event is Adam Cole vs AJ Styles. Elgin elicits a “BIG MIKE” chant from the crowd by doing a cannonball dive outside the ring onto Bennett and Cole. He then suplexes Taven into an armbar from O’Reilly but Taven makes the ropes. It settles down at this point, with the faces cutting off the ring and working over Taven as we go to break.
Back from break and Elgin’s doing the Harry Smith delayed suplex spot on Taven. No pin attempt as the faces just continue to make quick tags. Bennett comes in without a tag and helps turn things around. Taven gets to the corner and now Bobby Fish is isolated in the Kingdom’s corner as they make quick tags.
Cole goes to the opposite corner and spits on Kyle O’Reilly, drawing him into the ring. The ref tries to push him back, allowing the Kingdom to do some triple teaming. Kelly also announces that the Young Bucks are back on TV next week, facing Silas Young and his buddy, the Beer City Bruiser.
Taven arguing with ringside fans, very audibly saying “This is why we’re tag champs, cause we’re really good”. This whole segment, the Kingdom maintained control going to break with Fish stuck in an Adam Cole chinlock.
Back from break and Fish hits a Samoan Drop on Bennett and then tags in Eglin. He’s a house of fire, eventually hitting a double powerslam on Taven and Bennett, covering them both but they kick out. After a kick exchange between Elgin and Bennett, Elgin takes both Bennett and Taven’s heads off with short arm clothesline and then tags in O’Reilly.
Cole comes in without a tag and does the “Adam Cole Baby” spot but O’Reilly jumps on his back with a sleeper. Cole is not the legal man though and Bennett hits O’Reilly from behind to break it up. Outside the ring, Bobby Fish spears Adam Cole into a ring barrier. Back in the ring, it’s ReDRagon and the tag champs going at it, with ReDRagon having the advantage.
They set up Chasing the Dragon on Taven but Bennett pulls Bobby Fish out of the ring. Taven and Bennett hit a double superkick on O’Reilly. Elgin in and lays out both Bennett and Taven with punches. He goes for a double clothesline but gets taken out with a double superkick. Bennett and Taven then hit the Proton Effect on O’Reilly and Cole nails him with a Shining Wizard but that only get a two.
Kingdom sets up for a Spike Piledriver but O’Reilly gets out of it and catapults Bennett into Taven, who’s perched on the top. Elgin then hits a buckle bomb on Bennett, throwing him into Taven, who’s still tried up on the ropes. Chasing the Dragon on Bennett follows and that’s it.
WINNERS – REDRAGON/MICHAEL ELGIN by pinfall
Cole grabs one of the tag belts and lays out all 3 winners immediately after the bell. As the Kingdom is leaving, O’Reilly grabs a mic and challenges Cole to a rematch TONIGHT. Nigel says he can’t make the match because Cole’s already fought and he’s booked next week already as well. But what he can do is make the main event a 3 way and it’ll be Cole vs AJ vs O’Reilly in the main event next week.
