Carmella on Triple H: “He’s the one that helped make my career”
In an interview with TalkSport, Carmella spoke about her career in WWE and credited Triple H with helping her career by keeping her on NXT instead of letting her go to the main roster with Enzo Amore and Big Cass. Here are highlights:
On how Triple H helped her career: “He’s the one that helped make my career. Because I would have maybe gone on with Enzo and Cass and been the manager, but he held me back in NXT and because of him I was able to branch out on my own. A few months ago he pulled me aside and he said ‘Remember when you was upset because I didn’t bring you up with the boys? Now you know.’ And I was like ‘Wow’ and that’s even cool for him to bring that back and recall that, so it meant a lot to me.”
On who helped her grow in WWE: “I will say when we had the original draft in 2016, the original six girls in that locker room [helped me grow]. It was myself, Alexa [Bliss], Natalya, Becky [Lynch], Nikki Bella and Naomi. And I feel like us girls had a chip on our shoulder because we felt like we were the red-headed step-child of the women. ‘No, we have to prove ourselves!’ And I think we all rallied together and we really made the SmackDown women’s division one to watch. Without Nikki Bella, without Natalya, they were there for me – Nattie and I text every single day, still! So I was super bummed when she got drafted to RAW a few years back, but they’ve shown me the way so much. I’ve also reach out to Nicole every now and again, or Brie too, and just ask them for advice or like check-in with them. That locker room was so amazing and we always wanted the best for each other.”
On the growth of the NXT brand: “I think as women, in general, we always rally together. SmackDown would say they have the best division and RAW would say they have the best division, but we really noticed at Survivor Series when we had the three different teams, the energy that was coming out of the NXT corner – they were like ‘No, we’re here. We’re not just this developmental brand anymore. We’re here, we’re going to hang and we belong.’ I think it’s really cool that every women’s division wants to be the best.”
On the end of her pairing with R-Truth: “No one told me. No one told us. When they did the draft on SmackDown, I saw that I was drafted to SmackDown and he was not and I’m like ‘wait, what?’ Like, no one told us ‘you’re going to be on RAW and you’re going to be on SmackDown’ – we found out just like everyone else. I feel like we had so much more we could have done. I don’t think I’d reach the point where I was like ‘Ok, I’m over this.’ I feel like it was still exciting and new things were happening all the time. But, at the same time, I think it’s exciting that I’m here now [SmackDown]. Once I can get on a roll and get some momentum, it’s going to be good to be on my own again because it’s been a while since I lost the title to Charlotte Flair. That was SummerSlam 2018 when The Man was born. I’ve been having a lot of fun and showing a lot of different sides to my character, but maybe the time is right to branch out on my own again. I feel I have a lot more to offer than just being this sidekick. It was fun, but I’m ready. It can’t always be your time, and I get that. Right now it’s Bayley’s time and Lacey’s time. Mandy Rose and Sonya Deville are finally getting this opportunity which I think is amazing. Not every girl can be on TV every single week, it is what it is. But, when my time comes, I’ll be ready for it.”
