The Disappearing Debut: What's Happening To Mike And Maria Kanellis?

It’s been over two weeks since former ROH and TNA stars Mike Bennett and Maria Kanellis joined “The Land Of Opportunity” aka WWE Smackdown. Unfortunately for the both of them, the Shane Mcmahon pushed tagline for the show could only apply mockingly to their WWE debut. On the heels of a debut featuring what looks to be the makings of a great gimmick, with exceptional entrance music to boot, Mike and Maria disappeared completely from the following Smackdown. They were relegated to dark match duty instead of the center stage in spite of their high profile Money In The Bank segment. To top it off, the Kanellis’ Smackdown debut was almost immediately interrupted by a clueless Sami Zayn’s entrance. To many, this would probably be a reassurance as it seems to imply that we will soon see the First Lady Of Pro Wrestling’s husband up against the Underdog of the Underground. I admit, that’s the likely case. However, you wouldn’t be any the wiser of this impending feud if you had watched Sami Zayn’s match. Instead of having the Kanellis’ interfere in Sami Zayn’s bout with Baron Corbin, WWE had them skulk backstage seemingly accepting the fact that they’ve been pushed off the show. Why couldn’t they have interfered in Sami’s match, cost him the win, and done the dual service of keeping Zayn a legitimate threat to Corbin while also breaking him away into a solid mid-card rivalry,

In the end, this feels like the new normal for Smackdown Live. Rusev’s debut storyline has seemingly been dropped. The Hype Bros immediately lost to the Tag Team Champion Usos on their first night back in action together. Lana has now lost twice in two weeks to the Women’s Champion Naomi. It’s about time Smackdown starts living up to Shane Mcmahon’s words and becomes the land of opportunity that he promises it to be every Tuesday. If something doesn’t give soon, I think WWE is going to begin to do irreparable damage to some of the potentially brightest stars in WWE’s lineup. Let’s not make the new power couple of WWE another Shakespearean tragedy of Shockmaster proportions.