"They didn't fire me for being an addict" - Mike Bennett opens up about his WWE release

Former WWE Superstar Mike Bennett (f.k.a. Mike Kanellis) was on It's My Wrestling podcast this past week. Among other topics, he discussed his time in Vince McMahon's company.

In 2017, Mike debuted at WWE Money in the Bank along with his wife, Maria Kanellis. Although he won the 24/7 Championship twice, his stint was rather underwhelming. The couple was released from the company in April 2020.

During the interview, Mike Bennett spoke about battling addiction during his time in WWE. He mentioned that Road Dogg, Billy Kidman, and Goldust would often come and check on him. He was also grateful that WWE did not fire him while he was battling his inner demons.

Here's what Bennett had to say:

"When I give them credit, I'm giving credit to people like Road Dogg who would come up to me and check on me. I'm giving credit to guys like Billy Kidman who would come up and check on me or Goldust who would come up and talk to me. The boys. The boys always looked out for me. And that's when I say yes, WWE helped me. They did. The guys in the company helped me and I will still say this, and people will try to manipulate my words all the time. I'm very thankful I wasn't fired because I wanted to work at the company at that time. And so like, the fact that they didn't fire me for being a drug addict, went a long way with me now."

You can watch the full video here.

Mike Bennett clarifies that WWE did not pay for his rehab

During the interview, Bennett also cleared the air regarding his rehab. He mentioned that WWE did not pay for his rehab because he never went to one. Instead, he found other ways to keep himself clean.

He confided in his wife about his addiction. Maria helped Bennett through his addition by strict measures like taking away his keys, cell phone, and wallet. Thankfully, he is sober now.

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