Carmella (wrestler)
Leah Van Dale (born October 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, dancer and model. She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs on the SmackDown brand under the ring name Carmella.
In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental brand NXT in Orlando, Florida. In October 2014, she aligned herself with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady,[6] becoming their manager.[7] In July 2016, she made her main roster debut on SmackDown.[8][9][10] In June 2017, Carmella became the winner of the inaugural women’s Money in the Bank ladder match.[11][12] In April 2018, she became the first woman in WWE history to successfully cash-in her Money in the Bank opportunity, when she defeated Charlotte Flair to win the WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship.[13] In 2019, Carmella won both the WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal[14][15] and the WWE 24/7 Championship.[16]
Van Dale applied to be part of WWE Tough Enough in 2010, but withdrew from the selection process after being accepted as a Laker Girl and moving to Los Angeles.[17] In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE and she was assigned to the company’s developmental territory NXT in late September.[1] Later, she adopted the ring name Carmella.[5]
Carmella made her debut on the September 4, 2014 episode of NXT, portraying a hairdresser in a segment with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady.[18] Two weeks later on NXT, Carmella appeared in another segment with Amore and Cassady at the WWE Performance Center, announcing she had lost her job as a hairdresser due to Amore and Cassady’s actions and asked for a job at NXT.[19] She made her in-ring debut on the October 16 episode of NXT, wrestling an unnamed opponent whom Amore and Cassady dubbed Blue Pants.[6] 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.[20] 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.[21] On the May 13 episode of NXT, Carmella was defeated by Alexa Bliss after a distraction by Blake and Murphy.[22] 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.[7]
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, which Carmella lost.[23] In January 2016, Carmella won a battle royal to become the number one contender to Bayley’s NXT Women’s Championship.[24] Carmella unsuccessfully challenged Bayley for the title on February 10.[25] 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.[26] Carmella made her first appearance on WWE’s main roster on March 12 at Roadblock, accompanying Amore and Cassady for their match against The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship.[27] On the May 25 episode of NXT, Carmella 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.[28]
