Maria Kanellis Offers Updates On Pre-Surgery Health, AEW Contract Status

In July, Maria Kanellis revealed on social media that doctors had found a growth on her adrenal gland. The former WWE and current AEW star recently posted a video update on Instagram regarding that diagnosis, announcing that she would be going in for surgery later this month to have the mass removed.

"We're getting close to my surgery; we're within 20 days of it at this point," Kanellis' post said. "This week, I have an ultrasound, I have genetic testing, and I also am meeting with my surgeon to make a plan and hopefully start discussing what time of day we'll be doing the surgery and if we're going through the front or through the back. So, I'm trying to not focus too much on that."

If that weren't stressful enough for the former TNA Knockouts Champion, Kanellis also revealed her AEW contract is set to expire on October 31, which would be around the same time as her surgery.

"I've reached out to them to find out whether or not they are going to be signing me, but I haven't really heard anything yet," Kanellis said.

The 42-year-old mother of two did not indicate in her post whether she had a strong desire to renew her contract, only that it was "weighing on her." No word if Kanellis' contract situation is indicative of that of her husband Mike Bennett or Matt Taven, as all three members of The Kingdom signed with AEW in October 2022. Throughout much of 2023 and early 2024, the trio performed mainly on "Rampage" and "Collision," along with AEW's sister promotion, Ring of Honor. Most recently Kanellis had been managing Cole Karter and Griff Garrison in ROH.

This will be Kanellis' second surgery in as many years, having undergone a partial thyroid removal in early 2023.

Update: Kanellis posted on X, formerly Twitter, Tuesday morning to say she will accept interviews to discuss her "time and treatment in AEW" after October 31, perhaps indicating she will not return to the promotion. She also said she'd be taking bookings from six weeks after her surgery, targeting the second week of December.