While her contemporaries have long been out of the scene, Natalya Neidhart managed to keep her position intact in the WWE. The women’s wrestling industry has evolved beyond expectations over the past several years where talents like Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Bayley, and more ruled the roost to the core of the women’s roster. But […]
Carmella
Leah Van Dale (famous as Carmella) is an American professional wrestler, Hip hop dancer, and model. At present, she is signed up for WWE since June 2013, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Carmella. She was assigned to their developmental brand NXT in Orlando, Florida.
In October 2014, she aligned herself with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady and became their manager. In July 2016, she made her main roster debut on SmackDown. In April 2018, she won the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Match (and the second), defeated no less a talent than Charlotte Flair to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship, and won the second-ever WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal.
Being a former Laker girl, the so-called “Princess of Staten Island” – Carmella won both the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal and then the WWE 24/7 Championship (twice). Known for her creativity, she thrived in everything through her hard work. She exploded in the freewheeling sideshow of the Mixed Match Challenge, where she joined forces with R-Truth to originate an endearing seven-second dance break en route to winning the competition.
From fairing in as a hairdresser or a moonwalkin’ to trash-talkin’ girl from the 718, Carmella proved everyone all wrong, and fabulously so.
Early life
Born on 23 October 1987 in Spencer in Massachusetts, Leah Van Dale is the daughter of Paul Van Dale who is a former mixed martial artist and professional wrestler. Growing up in Spencer, Massachusetts, she graduated from David Prouty High School in 2006.
She graduated from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2010. Van Dale was 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 Laker Girl during the 2010-2011 season.
Personal life
Van Dale is a certified fitness instructor and a personal trainer and has cited Miss Elizabeth as her idol since childhood. She came into a relationship with fellow wrestler William Morrissey, famous as Big Cass. In 2019, Carmella entered a relationship with fellow WWE employee Matthew Polinsky, better known as Corey Graves.
Professional Wrestling Career
World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)
NXT (2013–2016)
Van Dale applied to be a part of WWE Tough Enough in 2010 but after being accepted as a Laker Girl she moved to Los Angeles, withdrawing from the selection process. Three years later, in June 2013, she signed a contract with WWE where she was assigned to the company’s developmental territory NXT in late September.
Later, she adopted the ring name Carmella debuting on the 4 September 2014 episode of NXT and portrayed as 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. There she announced about losing her job as a hairdresser because of the actions of Amore and Cassady, asking for a job at NXT. She made her in-ring debut on the October 16 episode of NXT, wrestling an unnamed opponent whom Amore and Cassady dubbed Blue Pants.
Carmella defeated Blue Pants on two occasions, but later on the 1st January 2015 episode of NXT, Carmella lost to her 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.
On the May 13 episode of NXT, Carmella was defeated by Alexa Bliss after a distraction by Blake and Murphy. On May 20 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. This led to a match between the two on the August 26 episode of NXT, which Carmella lost. In January 2016, Carmella won a battle royal, becoming the number one contender to Bayley’s NXT Women’s Championship.
On February 10, Carmella unsuccessfully challenged Bayley for the title. After the match, Eva Marie and Nia Jax attacked the two, which led to a tag team match on the February 24 episode of NXT, which Carmella and Bayley lost.
Carmella made her first appearance on WWE’s main roster on March 12 at Roadblock where she accompanied Amore and Cassady for their match against The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship.
On the May 25 episode of NXT, she competed in a triple threat match against Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax to determine the number one contender to Asuka’s NXT Women’s Championship at NXT TakeOver: The End, but she was pinned by Jax.
SmackDown Women’s Champion (2016–2018)
She was drafted to the SmackDown brand on July 19 as part of the 2016 WWE draft. However, Carmella made her main roster debut for the brand a week later and confronted the brand female talents before she was interrupted by Eva Marie.
On the August 9 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella achieved her first victory on the main roster by defeating Natalya. On August 20 at SummerSlam, she participated in a six-woman tag team match, alongside Becky Lynch and Naomi, which was won by their opponents Alexa Bliss, Natalya, and Nikki Bella after Bella pinned Carmella. Two days later on SmackDown Live, Carmella attacked Nikki Bella, turning heel in the process and started a storyline feud between the two.
On September 11 at Backlash, Carmella took part in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural SmackDown Women’s Champion. She was the last woman eliminated by Becky Lynch.
Meanwhile, Carmella was also part of Team SmackDown in the traditional five-on-five Survivor Series match that took place on November 20 at Survivor Series against Team Raw, where she was the first one to be eliminated by Alicia Fox.
On December 4 at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Carmella lost to Nikki Bella in a no disqualification match to end their feud.
In 2017, Carmella moved into a storyline with James Ellsworth, professing that she found him “uniquely attractive”, who then, started accompanying her to her matches.
Carmella made her WrestleMania debut, on 2nd April 2017, competing in a six-pack challenge for the SmackDown Women’s Championship, but was unsuccessful. In late April, Carmella formed an alliance with Natalya and Tamina – dubbing The Welcoming Committee, and the three started a feud with Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, and Naomi.
The two teams faced off in a six-woman tag team match on May 21 at Backlash, where The Welcoming Committee was victorious.
On June 18 at Money in the Bank, Carmella won the inaugural women’s Money in the Bank ladder match after Ellsworth obtained the briefcase and dropped it to her. Two days later on SmackDown, Carmella was stripped-off of the briefcase and the second Money in the Bank ladder match was set by SmackDown General Manager Daniel Bryan.
On June 27, Carmella regained the Money in the Bank briefcase after she won the second match with the help of Ellsworth. In November, Carmella ended her association with Ellsworth after he lost to Becky Lynch in an intergender match. On January 28, 2018, at the Royal Rumble, Carmella participated in the first women’s Royal Rumble match.
She entered at number 17 and lasted over 18 minutes before she was eliminated by her former rival, Nikki Bella. She then appeared in the first WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal at WrestleMania 34 but was the first woman eliminated from the match by Sonya Deville.
She held the contract for 287 days, the longest recorded period for a wrestler to hold the contract. After a few unsuccessful attempts to cash in her briefcase on Charlotte Flair, Carmella officially cashed in her contract on the April 10 episode of SmackDown Live. She defeated Flair to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship for the first time in her career after The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce) attacked Flair.
In her first title defense, Carmella defeated Charlotte Flair at Backlash. Shortly after, Carmella feuded with Asuka which ultimately led to a title match between the two at Money in the Bank, where Carmella won after a distraction by the returning James Ellsworth.
And then again in a rematch between the two, Carmella defeated Asuka and retained her title (with Ellsworth suspended in a shark cage). After losing to both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in non–title matches, it was announced that Carmella would face both of them in a triple threat match at SummerSlam on August 19. At the event, Flair pinned Lynch to win the championship, ending Carmella’s reign at 131 days. Two weeks later, Carmella received her rematch against Flair but she was unsuccessful in regaining the title.
Alliance with R-Truth (2018–2019)
Around the end of her title reign, R-Truth demanded a “title match by pinning her” and thereafter, Carmella was placed in a storyline with R-Truth. On the September 4 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella turned face for the first time since 2016, after she agreed to manage Truth for his match with The Miz to avoid Maryse’s interference.
Shortly after, Carmella started managing Truth and the two were also announced as tag team partners, calling themselves – “The Fabulous Truth”, for the upcoming season two of Mixed Match Challenge.
Carmella once again took part in Survivor Series as part Team SmackDown in November, eliminating Tamina before she herself was eliminated by Bayley.
Carmella and Truth lost the first three matches of Mixed Match Challenge, but defeated Rusev and Lana and qualified for the playoffs. The two of them went on to defeat Jeff Hardy and Charlotte Flair in the quarter-finals and then, the previous winners The Miz and Asuka in the semi-finals.
In the final of the Mixed Match Challenge at the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view that took place on December 16, Carmella and Truth defeated Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox.
This earned them the number 30 spots for their respective Royal Rumble matches at Royal Rumble. At Royal Rumble, she participated in the Royal Rumble match but was eliminated by Charlotte Flair.
In February, Carmella started teaming up with Naomi. The duo participated in a six-team Elimination Chamber match for the inaugural WWE Women’s Tag Team Championship at the namesake pay–per–view, where they were the first team eliminated.
At WrestleMania 35 on April 6, Carmella won the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, eliminating Sarah Logan in the last. In May, Carmella took part in the Money in the Bank ladder match at the namesake pay–per–view, where she once again displayed a knee injury and was ultimately unsuccessful in winning the match.
The “knee injury” was used to spark a feud between Carmella, and Fire and Desire (Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville). However, it ended soon as Carmella continued to manage R-Truth, who won the WWE 24/7 Championship and she helped him escape and defend it against various competitors.
On the September 23 episode of Raw, Carmella rolled–up Truth to capture the 24/7 Championship from him. Her title reign came to an end 11 days later, during SmackDown’s 20th Anniversary on October 4, when she was pinned by Marshmello backstage.
Later that night, Carmella regained the title from Marshmello in a segment that took place in the parking lot. During the Hell in a Cell, Tamina pinned Carmella to end her second reign with the title at only 2 days, but a few minutes later, Carmella helped Truth defeat Tamina to win the 24/7 Championship.
The alliance between Carmella and R-Truth was ended abruptly during the draft when Truth was drafted to the Raw brand and Carmella remained on the SmackDown brand.
Various storylines (2019–present)
On the November 8 episode of SmackDown, Carmella and Dana Brooke defeated Fire and Desire to qualify as part of Team SmackDown at Survivor Series, but they lost to Team NXT at the event. At the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2020, Carmella participated in the Royal Rumble match but was eliminated by Shayna Baszler.
On the April 24 episode of Smackdown, Carmella and Dana Brooke unsuccessfully challenged Alexa Bliss and Nikki Cross in a title match for the Women’s Tag Team title. On the May 1 episode of SmackDown, Carmella defeated Mandy Rose to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match.
Other Ventures
Carmella made her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K17, later appearing in WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19 and WWE 2K20.
Carmella joined Total Divas as a main cast member for the show’s seventh season in June 2017. Despite being a guest in the eighth season, Carmella returned to the show as a series regular in the ninth season that was premiered in October 2019. The season featured Carmella’s real-life relationship with Corey Graves.
Wrestling Moves
Finishing Moves
Code of Silence (Modified figure-four headscissors)
Mella Buster (Sitout facebuster) – 2016 (jibed from Nikki Bella)
Princess Kick (Superkick) – 2016 present
Carmella Signature Moves
Atomic drop
Backslide
Big boots
Bodyscissors
Bronco Buster
Crucifix pin
Diving crossbody
Forearm smash
Guillotine Choke
Monkey Flip
Oklahoma roll
Reverse STO
Rope aided hurricanrana
Schoolgirl
Sit-out rear mat slam
Single leg dropkick
Small Package
Suicide dive
Super frankensteiner
Threz press
Tilt a whirl headscissors takedown
Turnbuckle handstand into Frankensteiner
Vertical suplex
Wheelbarrow snapmare
Championships and Accomplishments
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 7 of the top 100 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2018
Ranked No. 24 of the top 100 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Women’s 100 in 2019
Sports Illustrated
Ranked No. 23 in the top 30 female wrestlers in 2018
WWE
WWE 24/7 Championship (2 times)
WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship (1 time)
Mixed Match Challenge (Season 2) – with R-Truth
Money in the Bank (Women’s 2017)
WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal (2019)
