Maria Kanellis-Bennett announced on Friday that she was recently diagnosed with skin cancer and has undergone surgery to remove it.
In a post on social media, Kanellis-Bennett provided details on the procedure and encouraged her followers to be proactive about their health.
PSA: get your moles checked!!! I had type 0 skin cancer removed today after a previous biopsy came back cancerous. Feeling very blessed they caught it so early but definitely exhausted. I will have a beautiful 3 inch scar on my leg. It’s been an interesting few years. They marked… pic.twitter.com/LnVObLlPjg
— MariaKanellisBennett (@MariaLKanellis) September 13, 2025
She stated that a “type 0 skin cancer” was removed after a previous biopsy on a mole came back cancerous. The procedure will leave a three-inch scar on her leg.
This is the latest of several public health issues for Kanellis-Bennett. In 2024, she had a non-cancerous tumor removed from her adrenal gland, which followed a 2023 surgery to remove part of her thyroid.
Kanellis-Bennett’s wrestling career began in 2004 when she was a contestant in the first WWE Diva Search. Over the next several years, she became a regular on-screen personality, working as both a backstage interviewer and an in-ring competitor before leaving the company in 2010.
After her WWE departure, she worked for promotions including Ring of Honor, TNA/Impact Wrestling, and New Japan Pro-Wrestling, often in a managerial role alongside her husband, Mike Bennett.
The couple returned to WWE in 2017. After being released in 2020, she and Bennett eventually signed with All Elite Wrestling in late 2022.
She and Mike Bennett announced in June that they are expecting their third child.
