Maria Kanellis-Bennett On Her Inspiration For First Lady Moniker

Over the course of wrestling history, there have been three women who have gone by the moniker "The First Lady of Wrestling." The most prominent to carry the name was WWE Hall of Famer Miss Elizabeth. Additionally, former WCW and ECW valet Missy Hyatt also used the label – even adopting it for the title of her book. Most recently though, it's been associated with AEW and ROH valet Maria Kanellis-Bennett as she corners for The Kingdom.

In an interview on the "AEW Unrestricted" podcast, Kanellis explained what inspired her desire to use the phrase while also sharing the most random moment such an idea was even hatched. 

"We were actually just sitting in my husband's parent's basement," Kanellis said. "And his friend at the time said 'What about being the First Lady?' And I was like 'Oh, I kind of like that.' And it's a bit of an homage to Miss Elizabeth because she was called the First Lady as well. She was such an integral part of the matches, even though she wasn't wrestling."

"And I think that that's important to be a real manager, not just for show ... When you're out there, you want to be a part of it," she added. "You want to do something for these matches. It was a bit of that. And at the time, when I came into Ring of Honor for the first time," she continued, "there weren't a whole lot of women that were part of the company. So it was also playing off of that."

If you use any quotes from this article, please credit "AEW Unrestricted" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription