Carmella reveals why Triple H didn’t think she was a hype girl, her biggest struggle in NXT, a previous stalker, more

May 2, 2017 - by Steve Gerweck

WWE’s Carmella guested on AfterBuzz TV’s Lilian Garcia: Making Their Way to the Ring and squashed rumors as to why she started dating Cass, revealed her biggest struggle in NXT, that Byron Saxton helped create the Carmella character, why Triple H didn’t think she was a hype girl, how she made a name for herself in the WWE, she would meet with Dusty Rhodes weekly about character development, she had a stalker she hopes never contacts her again, why she never thought she would be wrestling at Wrestlemania this year and much more!

CARMELLA’S 1st WRESTLEMANIA MOMENT

“Gosh I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t emotional like I was trying so hard to just hold back the tears and just be in the moment and look around and be like holy crap like if you told me last year I was watching in the crowd just with all of our NXT people and uh watching it I would have never in a million billion years thought I would be wrestling for the title at Wrestlemania this year, I would’ve told you no way.”

HOW CARMELLA HANDLES BEING SPLIT FROM CASS

“I get home on Wednesdays and he leaves on Fridays so we have all day Wednesday, all day Thursday and then sometimes he’ll randomly get like a Friday off here and there, but we’ve gotten used to it, at first it was like okay how do we do this how do we figure it out but it’s pretty great I mean I’d be lying if I said it wouldn’t nice to be on the same brand because we could see each other all the time but then I’d probably get sick of him, he’d probably get annoyed with me, because we’re so opposite in so many ways like he’s like a night owl and I like to go to bed and like we just you know we have our own ways of doing things but it’s so nice to miss him and it’s so nice like when I get home on Wednesdays when he picks me up from the airport it’s just so nice like we have our few days together and we’ve gotten really good at like texting and like figuring out like what works best for us when he’s on the road and um when I’m on the road, so it’s bittersweet you know, it’s like either way there’s gonna be an issue but we’ve really worked our way to like figuring out what works best.”

CARMELLA’S THOUGHTS ON BEING ON THE MAIN ROSTER

“Oh my gosh I feel like I’m so so so blessed, our locker room since the draft has been amazing like all of our girls we’ve just worked so hard together to build this SmackDown brand of this womens’ roster because we don’t like we didn’t have the four horsewomen we have Becky which is great um but we didn’t even have a title at first so we’re like okay what are we working towards here um and I think a magic, magic, magic moment was that night we had the six pack challenge for the SmackDown title because all of our girls worked so hard and we pulled it together and we that was one of my favorite nights I’ve ever had in life never mind in work um just because that match was so magical everyone really pulled together and did whatever they could to make the match the best, and everyone just started crying and teared up because we just had such a magical night it was amazing and the locker room has just been so great everyone’s been really so cool.”

CARMELLA REVEALS HOW SHE MADE A NAME FOR HERSELF IN THE WWE

“When I first got my ring name as Carmella I knew I was just going to do whatever I could to create this over ridiculous over the top character that would um you know just help me get my face and I don’t even know what I’m trying to say but just get me out there and just show like ok wow we need to pay attention to this girl because she has something.”

CARMELLA REVEALS WHY TRIPLE H DIDN’T PICK HER TO GO WITH ENZO AND CASS

“When Hunter told me he said the reason why you’re not going with them is because you have the ability to make it on your own, you’re not just a hype girl for Cass and Enzo you’re not, I see more in you, you have more potential and you’re gonna be fine on your own.”

CARMELLA WOULD MEET WITH DUSTY RHODES WEEKLY ABOUT CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT

“I would meet with Dream weekly about character development.”

CARMELLA SHARES THE MOMENT SHE FOUND OUT SHE WAS GOING TO DEBUT

“Enzo had this hair vs hair match against Sylvester Lefort in NXT for TakeOver and um they needed to film this vignette for him getting like this hair removal cream that was gonna take um Sylvester’s hair off and so they had that and I remember Cass told me oh ya we had to film this stuff tomorrow for this thing and then Bill came Bill DeMott came up to me at the performance center and said oh hey do you know we need you for this uh shoot tomorrow and I’m like what shoot as if I didn’t know, and uh he’s like oh no this shoot for this Enzo and Cass thing and like okay so I just thought it was just I’m like this little extra and I was the chick that provided them with the hair removal cream I was like this hair dresser they were putting me as, and then um I think it was one of the writers that were there to film he’s like oh ya this is important because at the end of the segment that we were filming I had to say they, ended up spilling hair removal cream on a poodle and the poodle lost his hair and they needed to make sure I got this line in saying “oh my gosh you guys you’re gonna get me fired” so they’re like you need to say that because thats whats gonna end up um building up to your debut and I remember thinking oh okay, and then I just walked away and I like had a heart attack cuz I was trying to act like it was nothing I was like oh okay cool, sure, and then I walked away and I was like dying inside thinking oh my God I’m gonna debut so I was like freaking out.”

CARMELLA HAD A STALKER WHO SHE HOPES NEVER CONTACTS HER AGAIN

“I had like this crazy stalker…when I first moved out there I had no where to go like I had no where to go so I was just staying in a car…maybe about a week or so so it wasn’t crazy but um…or like staying on my friends couch or like living off of you know Easy Mac and just like whatever I could do to just try to get by and then like I said when I was living out there I did have this crazy stalker at the time but nothing you know nothing came of it but I ended up first like they hacked into like my phone and my everything and I ended up going to the police because at the time so I literally just made the cover of the Laker Girls calendar which was kind of a big deal because they only had two calendars I was like the cover girl or whatever um and then the day after was when I had like got these phone calls from this guy that was stalking me and so I went to the police in LA and I’m like um so I just got the cover of this calendar, I was afraid I was going to lose my job because this guy was just like being crazy and uh they were like mam this is LA we can’t do anything for you so I was like okay…it was just like it was like it was nothing…I’m knocking on wood I have not heard from him or anything.”

CARMELLA’S BIGGEST STRUGGLE IN NXT

“So I think the biggest struggle for me is I wasn’t Charlotte, Sasha, Bailey or Becky, um they had obviously wrestled before, well Charlotte hadn’t but she obviously comes from such greatness with um being a Flair and ah because of that I didn’t have any like history of wrestling or any experience, um so I think that was the biggest struggle to try to like how do I fit in here knowing I’m not one of them but knowing that I do think I have something to offer that’s different, um so to me I just knew ok well I’m never ever ever ever going to be a wrestler like them like be this technical wrestler because I just know that’s just not me a.) my body can’t do that I just know it can’t um, but b.) I know I have something else to offer as far as the personality and I know I can be over the top.”

HOW CARMELLA TRANSITIONED FROM CHEERLEADING FOR THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS & DANCING FOR THE LA LAKERS TO BECOMING A WRESTLER

“So when I was living in LA, first of all I had actually tried out or submitted um to be on Tough Enough when I was living in LA and then I ended up getting like a few call backs but because I had just moved out there for the Lakers I just felt like I couldn’t have done both like they wouldn’t have let me so I had to just stay with the Lakers because that was why I moved out there so I did the Lakers and then like okay the Tough Enough went by and I didn’t really think much of it again and then when I was done with the Lakers um I had an agent that I used for dance and like dance gigs and things like that and they had just randomly told me about this opportunity they said they couldn’t say the company and they couldn’t say what it was for but it was something like if you had like experience in any sort of boxing or this and that, and I had boxed all the time because he was a boxer as well and um you know athletic background and I’m thinking okay well whatever this is I know I’d be great at it because I have an athletic background and I know about boxing like they said boxing so I was like ok let me see and then they ended up telling me it was for WWE and I’m like okay well I need to do this because my dad was a wrestler and this could be like the most perfect opportunity for me because I don’t I didn’t know what I was gonna do after dance because dance wasn’t isn’t a life long career you know like you can only do so much with it and I felt like I had done everything I could with it and dance will always be my first love because I’ve done it for like twenty two years um but I just thought oh my gosh this is the most perfect opportunity because I love performing, I love being in front of a live crowd that’s my favorite thing like I thrive off of it, and then with my background in dance and then with my background with my dad when I found out about this I ended up just um getting to go meet with Canyon.”

HOW CARMELLA GOT HER FOOT IN THE DOOR AT THE WWE

“So being from Massachusetts it was only like a two hour drive to the to Stamford so I ended up going to meet with Canyon and I was just I did everything I could to like make sure like a.) I looked my best, I went and got my hair and makeup done which I never done that before in my life so like I went and got all that done like my makeup you know to go pay someone to do my makeup other than like photo shoots and stuff…I wanted to just make sure I was going in there looking my best and I had all my these answers prepared and like he was just like it was so casual like he was just like “hey what’s up?” And I’m like first of all I couldn’t even believe I was at the headquarters it was just insane to be there and I just told myself there’s no way I’m walking out of here not getting a tryout because I can talk as much as I want but I just want to show what I can do and I’m a quick learner I’m a fast learner and um I met with him in January and I just did not stop bugging him until June when I got my tryout and I would go to the boxing gym with my dad and I’d be bumping in the boxing ring which is like not fun at all to bump on because it’s like it was not made for that obviously and uh I would be training in there every single day and just doing whatever I could to just be prepared for the tryout.”

CARMELLA’S CHARACTER WAS INSPIRED BY _____

“Actually Byron Saxton helped me so much with Carmella yes he helped me so much…so I knew when I got the name Carmella I wanted to do like a mafia like mob wife feel because I come from an Italian family and I wanted to like bring that into it um so I started like coming up with all these ideas and I went to him and I was like ok I have this idea like Carmella like Staten Island or actually I didn’t say Staten Island I just said Carmella like mafia whatever and then he’s the one who came up with Staten Island because Sasha was already from Boston so they couldn’t we couldn’t really do it that way so I said ok well I guess I have to learn a New York accent now which um was really fun um but he was like he started like looking at his nails like he just transformed himself into this character and I’m like this this is exactly how I picture her he’s looking at his nails and he’s like ah Paige was the NXT Women’s Champion at the time and we were talking about this promo that I was gonna do in promo class, and he was like “Paige like what is that like a book or something Paige?” and I’m like “Byron yes!” this is this is it just works and like from that point on from that meeting with him I’m like okay I know what I’m doing I know who Carmella is I wrote this whole back story and you know everything about her and now I just like I know who she is and she’s freakin’ fabulous.”

CARMELLA AND CASS WERE TOGETHER BEFORE THE GIMMICK

“This is hilarious, so people okay so I’m just gonna say this right now people think that I started dating Cass because of the gimmick but Cass and I were together way before the gimmick even started…yes so I we were together basically as soon as I got to NXT and I saw him and I’m like oh my gosh this is the most handsome man I’ve ever met in my entire life and I was obsessed with him and we just like you know the rest is history.”

CARMELLA EXPLAINS HOW SHE AND CASS STARTED WORKING TOGETHER

“I started this Carmella thing and then they randomly um actually Enzo was injured at the time in NXT he had broke his ankle so they were just booking Cass in singles matches on the live events and they were like maybe we can put Carmella with him because I was like wearing leopard print like that was just that’s what I was doing with my character so they ended up putting me with him on live events as his like little you know manager while Enzo was out um and they were like okay this is kinda cool, this is working and then Enzo came back so then I’m like ok well now I’m back to the sidelines again which was fine um and then I just started doing my own thing on live events I was wrestling.”

HOW CARMELLA FELT NOT BEING CALLED UP AT NXT

“I was devastated I really was, um it was right around this time last year it was right after TakeOver and I had been on the road with them we were going and doing loops for you know um the main roster, and I was with them every single time they even did a Pay Per View they did Roadblock um on the main roster and I was always with them so to me I was just thinking oh this is a package deal and everyone was telling us this was a package deal package deal, and ah so I’m thinking ok this is cool like I’m excited. And then the night of um TakeOver last year Hunter had pulled the boys aside to tell them that they were going up and then I had already gone on the bus to leave and then someone came on the bus and was like oh um Hunter wants to talk to you and I’m thinking oh my God this is it, like we’re going up like I was so excited, so I got pulled up and it was just me and the boys weren’t there so I’m thinking ok this is weird..and Cass, I had seen him like I walked past him to go and he was just kinda look and I just knew at that moment the way he was looking at me so I got into the room with um Hunter and Matt Bloom and he said okay so I just ah wanna let you know ah Cass and Enzo are they’re going up on Monday and you will not be going with them and I did everything I could not to cry for so many different reasons a.) because this is my boyfriend and I spent the last almost like two and half years with him um and now I’m losing him was like my first thought and then second I’m thinking well then what am I gonna do like this is all I’ve known being in wrestling was being with them my whole gimmick was around them they said bada boom realest guys in the room I said bada bing hottest chick in the ring that was like our thing.”

CARMELLA’S FATHER WAS ALSO A WRESTLER

“He did a lot of enhancement work, he wrestled Razor Ramon, Jimmy Superfly Snuka…there’s been so many, Big Boss Man, Papa Shango, so I really did when people say oh I grew up watching wrestling like okay but I really did grow up watching wrestling because my dad watched it every week and I might be making myself sound a little older but we used to record Monday Night Raw on VHS every single Monday night um because he would work nights a lot of the time so we would record it and then when he would get home the next day I would watch it when I got home from school with my dad.”

THE PERSON CARMELLA OWES HER SUCCESS TO https://youtu.be/URoPdvpO7k8?t=1h6m23s

“My dance teacher is probably, I’m gonna get emotional talking about it, um but she for sure is like, she was the one, I don’t even know why I’m crying, who saw something in me you know to be what I wanted to be because I didn’t know that I could do anything like being like I said from such a small town and I wanted to be this you know somebody and she saw something in me when I mean obviously my parents did because they’re my parents but she saw something in me that nobody else did and I was you know ten, eleven years old and she invested all of her time, all of her any spare time in me to help me like blossom and I was like you know this star of the studio you could say or whatever it is but you know I always got the opportunities because she saw something in me and she did whatever she could to help me and I owe so much to her.”


About AfterBuzz TV’s Lilian Garcia: Making Their Way To The Ring:

For 15 years, Lilian Garcia worked with some of the best athletes in the world, the WWE Superstars. They put their bodies on the line 300+ days a year to entertain us. She loves and respects them so much, yet… she realized she didn’t know anything about them, their lives and the obstacles they broke through to get into professional wrestling! AfterBuzz TV’s Lilian Garcia: Making Their Way To The Ring is a platform for Superstars, past, present and future, to share their story and the journey of what it takes to be a Superstar in this business. The conversations will be Real, Raw and Inspiring; offering the viewer a genuine connection to the person behind the performer. AfterBuzz TV’s Lilian Garcia: Making Their Way To The Ring will leave you cheering and rooting for that star’s life and dreams!

About AfterBuzz TV:

With nearly 30 million weekly downloads from over 200 countries, AfterBuzz TV is an online broadcast network created by E! host Maria Menounos and producer Keven Undergaro. Nicknamed the ‘after show’ network, when viewers finish watching episodes of their favorite shows, they can go to AfterBuzzTV.com to watch or listen to a post-game ‘after show’ for that series. On each AfterBuzz TV after show an eclectic and knowledgeable mix of celebrities, personalities and industry professionals break down that night’s episode, take calls from fans and interview guests. The network produces over 100 after shows per week.

To see other AfterBuzz TV celebrity interviews and content, visit https://www.AfterBuzzTV.com

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