Major AEW name explains how WWE booking became her "worst nightmare"

AEW has often been described as a better promotion for creative freedom. Former WWE Diva Maria Kanellis-Bennet, who had a notable run in the late 2000s, recently recalled how bad her early tenure was.

While she eventually branched out and reinvented herself as a legitimate in-ring competitor, most fans were introduced to Maria as a backstage interviewer. She eventually left WWE and went to ROH and IMPACT Wrestling,

During her recent appearance on the AEW Unrestricted podcast, Maria Kanellis-Bennet recalled her gimmick as a ditzy interviewer and how terrible it was for her:

"I'm thankful for it now, but I was pissed when they made me ditzy," she explained. "I fought against that from the time I was young. So as soon as they were like, 'We're gonna have you be ditzy and dumb,' I was like, 'Aaaaahhhh!'"

Kanellis-Bennet continued, describing the run as her "worst nightmare at the time."

"It was my worst nightmare at the time. I'm so grateful now, because of that, and being that kind of character I got to work with everybody because they could play off of me. They could get their characters over because I was ditzy." (H/T: WrestlingINC).

During the same podcast appearance, Maria detailed how her children never got to see her wrestle and teased one final appearance for their sakes.

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The AEW star believes that The Divas Era was positive for women's wrestling

Many fans criticize the Divas Era for capitalizing on the physical features of women instead of their in-ring ability. Today, especially in promotions like AEW, women are given the spotlight more often, but in the late 90s and 2000s, that was hardly the case.

Continuing in the same interview, Maria Kanellis-Bennett explained why she believes the Divas Era helped women:

"I think of 'diva' as a very positive term in terms of wrestling," she continued. "Because if you think about who was considered a 'Diva,' it was Mickie James, Beth Phoenix, Michelle McCool, Kelly Kelly, Melina, Jillian Hall, the Bella Twins; all these people who are still making an impact in this industry were considered 'Divas.' So how can that be a bad word?" asked Kanellis. (H/T: WrestlingINC).

It remains to be seen if Maria will return for one last match in AEW, but despite what some of her detractors believe, she doesn't compare herself to the likes of Trish Stratus and Lita. Only time will tell, but it seems that Kanellis-Bennett is keen on the idea.