Maria Kanellis, a former WWE Diva released in February, detailed WWE wanting more control over her non-WWE projects that led to her release in an interview with Alex Marvez in his weekly syndicated column.

Maria also said she's not happy with WWE for quickly posting news of her release on their website before she had time to tell her family she was gone from WWE.

"People are saying it was about money or this and that," Maria told Marvez. "It wasn't. It had to do with my other passions and things I wanted to do alongside WWE. Unfortunately, it didn't work for them."

Maria says she didn't want to leave WWE, but now that she's gone from the company, she'll consider her options with TNA or Ring of Honor down the road.

"I didn't want to leave when I did," Maria said. "Who knows where the road is going to lead me? Maybe a good cause will come up for me to go to TNA or even visit with Ring of Honor. I've always said some of the great talent is on the independent (circuit)."

Maria's next TV appearance will be on HDNet's "King of the Cage" MMA fight card this weekend as a backstage announcer. Maria said she'll be on a learning curve as she enters the MMA field.

"This is definitely a new adventure. It's funny because I was on the road a lot of times (with WWE) when there were MMA shows going on," Maria said. "I don't know about it as much as I would like, but I'm going to know a lot about it very soon."

Caldwell's Analysis: Here we have another example, based on what Maria is saying, of WWE having a warped application of the independent contractor classification of wrestlers. WWE basically wanted to treat Maria like an employee taking more control over her non-WWE projects, but why should Maria give WWE any control when they classify wrestlers as independent contractors? It's so bizarre and would not be allowed to continue if a government body cared enough to investigate the matter, but since it's pro wrestling, WWE has been allowed to continue with this scheme for decades.