Mike Bennett Talks ‘Horrible’ First Impression He Gave at WWE

Former WWE Superstar Mike Bennett recently appeared on SiriusXM’s Busted Open Radio. Formerly Mike Kanellis, Bennett would discuss a number of topics from his time with WWE. These topics would include creative meetings with Vince McMahon, appearing for NWA and his battle with addiction.

“Here’s the thing that I learned when I got sober, is you have to hold yourself accountable” Mike Bennett began on the show. “One of the big things I’ve started doing is…there’s this mantra that I kind of live by. It may not be your fault, but it is now your responsibility. That’s something that I’ve kind of had not only in life and that’s what helped me with my addiction, but just in general.”

Bennett would then recant his early days when WWE, shortly after being signed along with Maria Kanellis. The couple debuted in 2017 at the Money In The Bank PPV. “So I showed up at WWE, it was my dream job. It’s what I always wanted to do. But, I showed up not in the best shape. I showed up addicted to drugs and I showed up not ready to go. And so, first impressions are a big deal.”

“If the first impression that Vince [McMahon] or anybody else got there was, well? ‘He’s had three months to sit at home before we brought him there AND he’s not in the best shape of his life!? What has he been doing!?'” Bennett continued. “And then ‘we sign this guy who’s addicted to drugs!? Maybe we need to look at our vetting process a little bit better!?’ You add all those things together? And I think there’s a percentage of the failures that falls on me.”

Mike Bennett would also discuss the angles that he was put in on WWE programming. Originally, Bennett and Maria Kanellis were portrayed as a performer/manager pairing, however that shifted to a ‘cuckold’ style angle, with Mike having to ‘submit’ to his wife. “It might not be my fault but it is my responsibility. Now was there bad creative along the way? Of course there was, but I tried to make the most of it. I tried to do the best I could; with what I was given.”

“I actually liked the challenge of that crazy RAW angle of like submitting to my wife all the time” Bennett continued. “I was like, ‘let’s see if we can get something out of this. Because who knows? Maybe this could be the best thing that ever happened to me.'”