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The First Lady of ROH is back after a five-year absence.
The pro wrestling world has been buzzing since Maria Kanellis Bennett appeared in a video on ROH’s social media channels to announce the January return of The Experience, a groundbreaking fan engagement initiative that she will be at the forefront of.
Kanellis Bennett said fans will have a platform to make their voices heard and #ChooseYourHonor. ROH has launched the ROH The Experience Facebook group for fans to share their thoughts and opinions about all things ROH.
“Ring of Honor has cultivated an environment where the wrestlers and the fans are the experience,” Kanellis Bennett said. “I want wrestlers to thrive and I want to give you the fans what you truly desire. I want Ring of Honor to be yours. No … I want Ring of Honor to be ours.
“I want your voices to be heard. I want my voice to be heard. And I’m in Ring of Honor to speak it.”
Kanellis Bennett has made her presence felt in every wrestling company she has worked for, including WWE, where she won the 2009 Diva of the Year award in a fan vote.
She made her ROH debut at Final Battle 2011 when she accompanied then-boyfriend, now-husband Mike Bennett to the ring. In 2014, she co-founded The Kingdom with Bennett, Matt Hardy and Adam Cole. The Kingdom would go on to become one of the greatest factions in ROH history.
Matt Taven subsequently joined The Kingdom, and Kanellis Bennett managed Bennett and Taven to the ROH World Tag Team Championship and New Japan Pro-Wrestling’s IWGP Heavyweight Tag Team Championship.
Kanellis Bennett also wrestled on occasion in ROH, including teaming with Bennett and Taven to defeat the Briscoes and ODB in a six-person tag match.
Mike Bennett made his return to ROH last month, which immediately had fans asking whether his wife would be joining him.
During the couple’s appearance on The ROHStrong Podcast in July, Kanellis Bennett perhaps foreshadowed her return and involvement with something unique in ROH.
“I see tremendous opportunity with Ring of Honor,” she said. “Not just with the incredibly talented group of individuals that are working there right now, but also in the opportunity to do shows differently. I think there is an opportunity to be incredibly creative and create something that is different, but still with the great wrestling that the Ring of Honor fans have come to watch and love over the years.”
Outside the ring, Kanellis Bennett has appeared in reality shows, including “The Celebrity Apprentice,” and graced the cover of Playboy.
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