Mike Bennett Says He Had Fun With His Crazy Storyline On RAW Until There Was No Payoff
Mike Bennett says wrestling is supposed to be fun and he was doing just that on WWE RAW — until he knew a promised storyline payoff wasn’t happening.
Bennett recently spoke with Wrestlezone’s Managing Editor Bill Pritchard and talked about the wacky storyline that not only saw him find out Maria was pregnant, but a battle over the 24/7 Championship that saw them have a “match” in a OB-GYN office.
As Mike explained it, the couple knew Maria was eventually going on maternity leave so the goal was to leave Mike in a better position when she was home. He says he had fun with the whole thing and even pitched the idea for Ron Simmons’ RAW Reunion appearance with them, but once the Rusevs got involved, it turned into a ‘well… shit’ type of moment. He said that he still doesn’t know what the payoff was supposed to be, but they were told there would be one.
Despite the sudden end to the storyline and lack of a resolution, Bennett says he really enjoyed the segments and had fun with them—at least until they realized there was no payoff. He says he takes everything in stride and storytelling can help change his character rather quickly, but he realized portraying a whipped guy if his wife wouldn’t be around was not going to help him in the long run.
“I had a blast with it. The stuff we did with the 24/7 title, I was enjoying it. That scene with R-Truth and Carmella in the doctor’s office—we couldn’t get through the takes because we were laughing so much, it was fun. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wrestling is supposed to be fun. It stopped being fun when there wasn’t a payoff and then you’re like ‘you just made me look like a fool for 4-5 weeks…’ and now I’m in the same spot I was before where I’m just ‘Maria’s husband’ and that’s what my character is.
That’s a character that nobody wants to see, especially if Maria’s out on maternity leave, so everything up until the point where [it changed to Rusev and Lana] I enjoyed. I don’t think I love wrestling and every aspect of it but I don’t take myself too seriously, because at the end of the day I’m still a man. I’m a grown-ass man that gets to fake fight for a living. I don’t take myself seriously, it’s not worth it.”
Bennett spoke about some more highlights from his WWE run and called his 205 Live matches with Akira Tozawa and Drake Maverick some of the work he’s most proud of. You can check out his comments on that and much more in the full interview at the top of this page; Bennett’s “WZ Watch List” recommendations are also linked below.