Carmella (wrestler)

Carmella
Carmella in March 2015
Birth name	Leah Van Dale
Born	(1987-10-23) October 23, 1987[1] Worcester, Massachusetts, United States[1]
Residence	Orlando, Florida, United States
Alma mater	University of Massachusetts Dartmouth
Family	Paul Van Dale (father)[2]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Carmella[3]
Billed height	5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)
Billed weight	110 lb (50 kg)
Billed from	Staten Island, New York[3]
Trained by	Sara Amato WWE Performance Center
Debut	June 2013[2]

Leah Van Dale^[2] (born October 23, 1987)^[1] is an American cheerleader, dancer, fitness trainer, model, professional wrestler and professional wrestling manager currently signed to WWE under the ring name Carmella,^[3] performing on the SmackDown brand.

In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE, and was assigned to their Performance Center in Orlando, Florida. In October 2014, she aligned herself with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady,^[4][5] thus also becoming their manager.^[6]

Early life

Van Dale grew up in a small town outside of Worcester, Massachusetts. She attended the University of Rhode Island and later transferred to the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing. After graduating, she became a cheerleader for the New England Patriots for three seasons, ending in 2010.^[2] She successfully auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers dance team, appearing as a Los Angeles Laker Girl from 2010 to 2011.^[2]

Professional wrestling career

WWE

NXT (2013–2016)

In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE,^[2] and she was assigned to the company's developmental territory WWE NXT in late September.^[2] In December, she announced that her new ring name was Carmella.^[3]

Carmella made her debut on the September 4, 2014, episode of NXT, portraying a hairdresser in a segment with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady.^[7] Two weeks later on NXT, Carmella appeared in another segment with Amore and Cassady at the WWE Performance Center, announcing that she had lost her job as a hairdresser due to Amore and Cassady's actions, and asked for a job at NXT.^[8] She made her in-ring debut on the October 16 episode of NXT, fighting a local wrestler, whom Amore and Cassady dubbed Blue Pants.^[4][5] Carmella defeated Blue Pants on two occasions, while portraying a villainous character despite her alliance with Amore and Cassady, but lost to her on the January 1, 2015, episode of NXT after Amore accidentally caused a distraction.^[9] In March, Amore and Cassady began a rivalry with the NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy, while Blake and Murphy attempted to woo Carmella on several occasions, becoming a fan favorite in the process.^[10] On the May 13 episode of NXT, Blake and Murphy distracted Carmella during her match with Alexa Bliss, causing her to lose.^[11] A week later, at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Bliss attacked Carmella, during Amore and Cassady's title match, ensuring the win for Blake and Murphy.^[6] While continuing to manage Amore and Cassady, Carmella began feuding with Eva Marie,^[12][13] which led to a match between the two, on the August 26 episode of NXT (taped at the NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn event), which Carmella lost.^[14] On the September 23 episode of NXT, in a rematch, Carmella lost via count–out, and their rivalry quietly ended.^[15]

In the beginning of January 2016, Carmella received her first singles push as she won a battle royal to become the number one contender to Bayley's NXT Women's Championship.^[16][17][18] Carmella received her championship match against Bayley, on the February 10 episode of NXT, but she was unsuccessful in capturing the title. After the match, Eva Marie and Nia Jax attacked the two,^[19][20] which led to a tag team match, on the February 24 episode of NXT, where Carmella and Bayley were on the losing side.^[21] Carmella made her first appearance on WWE's main roster on March 12 at Roadblock, accompanying Amore and Cassady to their match against The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship.^[22] On the May 25 episode of NXT, Carmella competed in a triple–threat match against Nia Jax and Alexa Bliss to determine the number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: The End, which was won by Jax.^[23] On the August 17 episode of NXT, she competed in a six-woman tag team match along with Liv Morgan, and Nikki Glencross, in which they defeated Daria Berenato, Mandy Rose, and Alexa Bliss, which would be also her last match in NXT.^[24]

Feud with Nikki Bella (2016–present)

After being drafted from NXT to SmackDown as part of the 2016 WWE draft which took place on July 19,^[25][26] Carmella made her main roster debut for the brand on July 26, where she confronted the brand female talents before being interrupted by Eva Marie.^[27] Two weeks later, following an attack from Natalya on the August 5 episode of SmackDown Live,^[28] both women faced off on the August 9 episode of SmackDown Live, where Carmella achieved her first victory on the main roster by defeating her.^[29] The following week on the August 16 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella teamed with Becky Lynch in a successful victory against Natalya, and Alexa Bliss, after a distraction provided by Eva Marie, and Naomi,^[30] one day later, a six-woman tag team match was announced for SummerSlam between Carmella, Lynch, and Naomi against Natalya, Bliss, and Marie, but following Eva Marie's suspension on August 18,^[31] her place was taken by the returning Nikki Bella, and Carmella's team would ultimately lose the match at her pay-per-view debut.^[32] On the August 23 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella attacked a returning Nikki Bella while turning and re-establishing herself as a heel in the process and as part of the main roster.^[33] At Backlash, on September 11, Carmella competed in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural WWE SmackDown Women's Champion; Carmella would eliminate Nikki, but was eliminated by Becky Lynch, who ultimately won the title.^[34] Carmella would then start a feud with Nikki, attacking her from behind each week which would set up for a singles match between them at WWE No Mercy, in which Carmella was unsuccessful. The feud continued after the pay-per-view event, with Carmella stating the only reason Nikki got to where she is today is because of her boyfriend John Cena.^[35] On the November 1 episode of SmackDown, Carmella was revealed as a member of Team SmackDown for Survivor Series, which is captained by her rival Nikki. At Survivor Series, Team SmackDown was defeated by Team Raw.

Other media

Carmella made her video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K17.^[36]

Personal life

Van Dale is left-handed. She is a certified fitness instructor and personal trainer. She is the daughter of Paul Van Dale, a former professional wrestler who worked as a jobber for WWE in the 1990s and also wrestled independently.^[2] Her favorite wrestling personalities while growing up were Miss Elizabeth and Trish Stratus. Van Dale is dating fellow wrestler William Morrissey, better known by the ring name Big Cass.^[37]

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • Bella Buster (Sitout facebuster)^[38][39] – parodied from Nikki Bella
  • Code of Silence^[40][41] (Modified figure-four headscissors often proceeded by a reverse STO)^[42][43]
  • Superkick^[23][43][44]
• Signature moves
  • Atomic drop^[19][43]
  • Bodyscissors^[11][45]
  • Multiple big boot variations
    • Running, to a bent over opponent^[46][47]
    • Split-legged cornered^{[19][42][43][48]}
  • Multiple pinning variations
    • Backslide^[41][48]
    • Crucifix^[19][21]
    • Oklahoma roll^[15][41]
    • Schoolgirl^{[19][21][41][44]}
    • Small package^[15][19]
  • One-legged monkey flip^{[19][43][44][48]}
  • Reverse STO^{[19][41][42][43]}
  • Rope-aided hurricanrana^{[14][41][42][46]}
  • Running single leg dropkick^{[41][43][45][48]}
  • Suicide dive, sometimes done repeatedly in succession^[19][23]
  • Sitout rear mat slam^[41][46][47]
  • Staten Island Shuffle (Running turnbuckle thrust,^[14][14] or running bronco buster^{[19][42][43][48]} with theatrics)
  • Thesz press, followed by multiple punches/mat slams^{[42][46][47][48]}
  • Vertical suplex^[11][21]
• Nicknames
  • "The Princess of Staten Island"^[3]
• Wrestlers managed
  • Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady^[49]
• Entrance themes
  • "Fabulous" by CFO$^[50] (NXT/WWE; October 16, 2014–present)
  • "Sawft is a Sin" by CFO$ ft. Enzo Amore^[51] (NXT; May 20, 2015 – March 12, 2016; used while managing Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady)

Championships and accomplishments

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Ranked No. 44 of the top 50 female singles wrestlers in the PWI Female 50 in 2016^[52]

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Leah Van Dale.

• Carmella on WWE.com
• Carmella on Twitter
• Online World of Wrestling profile