Maria and Mike Kanellis reportedly asked WWE to release them from their contracts, according to Pro Wrestling Sheet.
They reportedly made the request a few weeks ago because they’ve been unhappy with how they’ve been used in WWE. They were moved to 205 Live and debuted on the October 10 episode, but have barely been used.
This doesn’t necessarily mean that WWE will grant them the release, and they could be paid to just sit on the sidelines until their contracts run out, whenever that may be.
Mike made his WWE debut along with Maria on June 18, 2017 at Money in the Bank. He had a brief feud with Sami Zayn, then was barely used. Maria announced that she was pregnant in September 2017, then as she was training for her return in August 2018, suffered a broken wrist. Mike has mostly been wrestling on Main Event since, until his move to 205 Live.
Interestingly, they both appeared on last week’s episode of 205 Live, complaining about not being used, then Maria told Drake Maverick that she hopes the newcomers he’s bringing to 205 Live are willing to fight as much as she is.
So if their request was in fact weeks ago, they were still being used as of last week, unless the video below was meant as a cryptic way to write them off of TV.
.@MariaLKanellis has a thing or two to say to @WWEMaverick…#205Live pic.twitter.com/ejwOdyiAF5
— WWE (@WWE) January 11, 2019
Update
PWInsider is now reporting that at least Mike Kanellis did request his release three weeks ago, but he was denied.