Leah Van Dale (born October 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling manager, dancer, and model, currently signed to WWE under the ring name Carmella, performing on the SmackDown brand.
In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE, and was assigned to their NXT in Orlando, Florida. In October 2014, she aligned herself with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, thus also becoming their manager. In July 2016, she made her main roster debut on SmackDown. In June 2017, Carmella became the winner of the inaugural women's Money in the Bank ladder match.
Video Carmella (wrestler)
Early life
Van Dale grew up in Spencer, Massachusetts, a small town outside of Worcester. She attended the University of Rhode Island and later transferred to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing. After graduating, she became a cheerleader for the New England Patriots for three seasons, ending in 2010. She successfully auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers dance team, appearing as a Los Angeles Laker Girl from 2010 to 2011.
Maps Carmella (wrestler)
Professional wrestling career
WWE
NXT (2013-2016)
In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE, and she was assigned to the company's developmental territory NXT in late September. In December, she announced that her new ring name was Carmella.
Carmella made her debut on the September 4, 2014, episode of NXT, portraying a hairdresser in a segment with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. Two weeks later on NXT, Carmella appeared in another segment with Amore and Cassady at the WWE Performance Center, announcing that she had lost her job as a hairdresser due to Amore and Cassady's actions, and asked for a job at NXT. She made her in-ring debut on the October 16 episode of NXT, fighting a local wrestler, whom Amore and Cassady dubbed Blue Pants. While portraying a villainous character despite her alliance with Amore and Cassady, Carmella defeated Blue Pants on two occasions, but lost to her on the January 1, 2015, episode of NXT after Amore accidentally caused a distraction. In March, Amore and Cassady began a rivalry with the NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy while Carmella rejected Blake and Murphy's advances on several occasions, becoming a fan favorite in the process. On the May 13 episode of NXT, Carmella was defeated by Alexa Bliss after a distraction by Blake and Murphy. A week later, at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Bliss attacked Carmella during the NXT Tag Team Championship title match, ensuring the win for Blake and Murphy. While continuing to manage Amore and Cassady, Carmella began feuding with Eva Marie, which led to a match between the two, on the August 26 episode of NXT, where she was defeated. On the September 23 episode of NXT, Carmella was once again defeated in a rematch against Marie via count-out.
In the beginning of January 2016, Carmella received her first push, winning a battle royal to become the number one contender to Bayley's NXT Women's Championship. Carmella received her championship match against Bayley, on the February 10 episode of NXT, but she was unsuccessful in capturing the title. After the match, Marie and Nia Jax attacked the two, which led to a tag team match on the February 24 episode of NXT, where Carmella and Bayley were on the losing side. Carmella made her first appearance on WWE's main roster on March 12 at Roadblock, accompanying Amore and Cassady to their match against The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship. On the May 25 episode of NXT, Carmella competed in a triple-threat match against Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss to determine the number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: The End, which was won by Jax. On the August 17 episode of NXT, she competed in a six-woman tag team match alongside Liv Morgan and Nikki Glencross, in which they defeated Daria Berenato, Mandy Rose, and Bliss, which served as Carmella's last match in NXT.
SmackDown (2016-present)
On July 19, Carmella was drafted to SmackDown as part of the 2016 WWE draft. Carmella made her main roster debut for the brand on July 26, where she confronted the brand female talents before being interrupted by Eva Marie. Two weeks later, following an attack from Natalya on the August 2 episode of SmackDown Live, both women faced off on the August 9 episode of SmackDown Live, where Carmella achieved her first victory on the main roster by defeating Natalya. At SummerSlam, Carmella, Becky Lynch, and Naomi competed against Natalya, Alexa Bliss, and the returning Nikki Bella in a six-woman tag team match, where Carmella's team was defeated after she was pinned by Bella.
On the August 23 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella attacked Bella before their scheduled singles match, turning herself into a villainess for the first time during her time on the main roster. At Backlash, on September 11, Carmella competed in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, where she was eliminated by Lynch, who ultimately won the title. Carmella then continued her feud with Bella, competing against her on October 9 at No Mercy, where Carmella was defeated. She later stated that Bella's success was due to the popularity of her boyfriend John Cena. On the November 15 episode of SmackDown Live, she competed against Bella in match that ended in a no-contest after Raw Women's Champion Charlotte appeared at ringside, causing a distraction and a brawl between all of the women of Raw and the women of SmackDown. At the Survivor Series pay-per-view, the SmackDown women's team went up against the Raw women's team in a 5-on-5 elimination match with Natalya replacing Bella as team captain after she was mysteriously attacked backstage, where Carmella's team was defeated. On December 4, Carmella lost to Bella in a no-disqualification match at the TLC pay-per-view, later revealing that Bella's attacker at Survivor Series was Total Divas co-star Natalya, thus ending her feud with Bella.
On December 20, Carmella started a storyline with James Ellsworth, professing that she found him "uniquely attractive." On January 3, 2017, Ellsworth started accompanying Carmella to the ring during her matches. On the May 16 episode of SmackDown, Carmella scored a victory over Naomi in a non-title match. At Backlash, Carmella teamed up with Natalya and Tamina to compete against Flair, Lynch, and Naomi in a six-woman tag team match, where Carmella's team was victorious. On June 18, Carmella was declared the winner of the first ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view after Ellsworth obtained the briefcase and dropped it to her, ending the match in controversial fashion. The following Tuesday, General Manager Daniel Bryan stripped Carmella of the Money in the Bank contract on SmackDown Live, issuing a rematch between all five women for the following week. In the main event of the June 27 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella was victorious after she retrieved the briefcase herself, officially becoming the inaugural winner of the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. On August 8, Carmella defeated Naomi in a non-title match after an interference by the returning Ellsworth following his suspension on July 4. On September 5, Ellsworth inadvertently costed Carmella her match against Natalya, and got scolded by her. Later backstage, he apologized to Carmella, which she accepted. On November 7, 2017 episode of Smackdown Live, after Ellsworth lost against Becky Lynch, Carmella attacked Ellsworth with a superkick, thus marking a disassociation between Ellsworth and Carmella and Ellsworth's last appearance in WWE.
Carmella participated in the 5-on-5 elimination match along with Becky Lynch, Naomi, Tamina and Natalya as part of Team SmackDown against Team Raw at Survivor Series in a losing effort. In 2018 Carmella entered at number 17 in the first ever women's Royal Rumble match at the namesake pay-per-view but failed to win the match after being eliminated by Nikki Bella. In the last Smackdown in January Carmella tried to cash in the money in the bank against Charlotte Flair after the Riott Squad attacked Flair. However before the referee could ring the bell Carmella accidentally knocked him out.
In other media
Carmella has been in two video games, making her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K17 and also appearing in WWE 2K18. On July 24, 2017, it was announced that Carmella would be joining Total Divas as a main cast member for the show's seventh season.
Personal life
Van Dale is a certified fitness instructor and a personal trainer. She also has a background in dancing. She is the daughter of Paul Van Dale, a former professional wrestler who worked as a jobber for WWE in the 90's and also wrestled independently. Her favorite wrestling personalities while growing up were Miss Elizabeth and Trish Stratus. She was previously in a relationship with professional wrestler Big Cass. She also has a younger sister named Breanna Van Dale, who is two years younger.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Mella Buster (Sitout facebuster) -- 2016; parodied from Nikki Bella
- Code of Silence (Modified figure-four headscissors, often proceeded by a reverse STO) -- 2014-present
- Princess Kick (Superkick) -- 2016-present
- Signature moves
- Atomic drop
- Bodyscissors
- Multiple big boot variations
- Running, to a bent over opponent
- Split-legged cornered
- Diving crossbody
- Forearm smash
- Guillotine choke
- Inverted DDT
- Multiple pinning variations
- Backslide
- Crucifix
- Oklahoma roll
- Schoolgirl
- Small package
- Monkey flip
- Rope-aided hurricanrana
- Running single leg dropkick
- Suicide dive, sometimes done repeatedly in succession
- Sitout rear mat slam
- Staten Island Shuffle (Running turnbuckle thrust, or running bronco buster with theatrics)
- Tilt-a-whirl headscissors takedown
- Thesz press, followed by multiple punches/mat slams
- Turnbuckle handstand transitioned into a frankensteiner
- Vertical suplex
- Wheelbarrow snapmare
- Nicknames
- "Ms. Money in the Bank"
- "The Princess of Staten Island"
- Managers
- James Ellsworth
- Wrestlers managed
- Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady
- Entrance themes
- "Fabulous" by CFO$ w/Nicole Tranquillo (NXT/WWE; October 16, 2014 - present)
- "Sawft is a Sin" by CFO$ featuring Enzo Amore (NXT; May 20, 2015 - March 12, 2016; used while managing Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady)
Championships and accomplishments
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- Ranked No. 38 of the top 50 female wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2017
- WWE
- Money in the Bank (Women's 2017)
Notes
References
External links
- Carmella on WWE.com
- Carmella on Twitter
- Carmella's profile at Cagematch.net
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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