A commentary role is a position Carmella would be interested in pursuing.
Back in the fall of 2022, former SmackDown Women’s Champion Carmella shared the news that she was treated for ectopic pregnancy. She had been away from WWE programming for several months at that point and noted that the month prior, she suffered a miscarriage.
Carmella joined Kevin Patrick and her husband Corey Graves on WWE After The Bell and further opened up about her break from WWE. She touched on the support she received and added that a return to in-ring competition was up in the air for her.
It’s insane because not only am I in the emergency room for this crazy medical condition that we have to monitor very closely. I was on bedrest for four weeks straight, couldn’t do anything but then I’m also processing the loss of our baby so, it was a double whammy so I just think through all of that, we made it through and I’m so, so grateful and I’m not trying to gloss over any of this as if it was — I mean, I was in a deep depression for a while. It was really hard. But I felt like it was necessary for me to share my story, I felt, because even though I had you (Corey Graves), I had my family, I’ve never felt so alone because it’s like blaming yourself. What did I do wrong? How could I have prevented this? But, turns out there’s nothing I could have done. It’s just how your body reacts and women came out of the woodwork, that’s why I wanted to share my story because I was so lonely and I felt so isolated through the experience and I felt if I’m going through this, surely there are other women out there or men who are helping their wife or partner or daughter or anyone going through that and I just wanted to share my story because women came out the woodwork. Women from my high school, women from my college, even women who I’ve met here through WWE have come to me and said, ‘Wow, I went through this’ or, ‘I know someone who went through this’ and, ‘I wish had the courage to share my story’ and that’s mostly what I wanted to do with coming out with it publicly because it’s not talked about enough. Women don’t talk about these things. You talk about your pregnant, you think you’re pregnant, you’re having a baby and that’s it and I was excited to have a baby and then it’s all taken away and it was just a very difficult time and it felt like my return was such up in the air. I didn’t know. Am I ever gonna go back to work? Am I ever gonna feel okay? Am I ever gonna feel good enough to get off this damn couch and put some damn makeup on my face and feel good about myself? And luckily, we’re here, we’re on the other side but, it was definitely (a) difficult journey.
One of the many individuals who constantly checked on Carmella was Stephanie McMahon. McMahon sent a message to Carmella after she returned to the ring as well.
Stephanie McMahon, I’m gonna get emotional thinking about it. She was so supportive of me through all of it, reached out to me several times, we had several phone conversations about it. Even after my return a few weeks ago, she texted me, ‘So good to see you back. Hope you’re feeling alright’ and it was just, oh my gosh, not only does she just preach women empowerment, she practices it. I am just so forever grateful for her and the support that she has shown me through all of this.
On the topic of her in-ring work, Carmella does feel she’s overlooked and underrated. She addressed the comments that are made about her in-ring ability and feels that saying she cannot wrestle is the same thing people would say in 2016 when she joined the main roster.
For sure. I have made history in the WWE several times. I think Carmella is overlooked because people look at Carmella, I think, you know, I have the looks, I can talk but I think a lot of times, people underestimate my in-ring ability and there’s something to be said for that. I feel like for me, it’s always a chip on my shoulder. I feel like I have to go out there and prove exactly what I can do. When people say, ‘Oh, Carmella can’t wrestle.’ First of all, that was like so 2016, okay? People thought I couldn’t wrestle in 2016. Well I’ve proved them wrong time and time again. But I, honestly, I love to be underestimated. I’d rather be underestimated, underrated than overrated because now I always have something to prove and something to — I wanna prove to everybody why I belong here and I think that’s exactly what I’ve done. I not only have the looks, I not only can talk, I can go and people still don’t want to talk about that and recognize that and give me the credit I deserve. Well that’s on them, they’re an idiot and they’re clearly blind.
The prospect of doing commentary was brought up and it is a role Carmella would be interested in pursuing.
She joked that she would have to do that role with Michael Cole because she’d end up divorcing Corey Graves if they were partners on commentary.
I had so much fun, I had a blast truly (doing commentary). Again, because I got to be my character but also know what the point of why I was out there. I wasn’t out there just to talk about myself. I wanna make fun of Asuka, I wanna make fun of Raquel (Rodriguez) and Nikki Cross and to be honest, I think the reason why I did pretty decent at it is because I am married to you (Corey Graves) and I’m not just saying that to talk about how amazing you are but I listen to you when you complain about something or if you’re upset or you’re like, ‘Oh, this worked so well on commentary last week when I said this or this person did that.’ I absorb what you say and I feel like because I do pay attention to you and I watch how you do things, I was just able to kind of apply that a little bit. I’m not saying I’m gonna be some amazing play-by-play or color commentator in the future. But, I wouldn’t be opposed to it.
If I did do it, I’d have to do it with Michael Cole and not you (Graves) because I would divorce you over that because he’d be yelling at me, telling me how terrible I am. There’s no way in hell.
In the 2023 women’s Elimination Chamber match, Carmella and Asuka were the final two participants. They are scheduled to go one-on-one again on the 2/27 Raw.
If the quotes in this article are used, please credit WWE After The Bell with an H/T to POST Wrestling for the transcriptions.
