Sporting News recently caught up with Carmella ahead of the Royal Rumble. She discussed not being on television much as of late, her many different roles in WWE, and R-Truth.
Check out highlights below:
On not being on TV:
It’s been a bit. I was on a few weeks ago and had a match against Sonya Deville and then Mandy Rose. You know, it’s so crazy, this business. There’s always ups and downs. You’re either in the spotlight for a long time or you’re kind of on the sidelines, but that’s the way this business works. You can’t always be at the top and I feel super fortunate to have been on TV regularly for my entire career on SmackDown. This is kind of the first time ever I’m taking a little bit of a break. And it’s OK. Sometimes, I’m like wait, I want to be out there. I want to be a part of the action. But other times it’s great because you can take a little break and you’re not forced down everyone’s throats and get a chance to soak everything in that happened over the last few years.
On her versatile roles:
One thing I pride myself on is making the most out of every opportunity I’ve ever been given. When I was a manager in NXT, no one expected me to break out and be a star on my own and I did that. And then having the Money in the Bank briefcase – I did that. As champion, I don’t anyone expected me to last as the champion and I did that and made the most of it. Then everything I’ve done with Truth, I made the most of it. So I feel very lucky because my character is so diverse. She’s been in so many different roles and anything I get and take and run with it. I’m proud of that because not every character could be in all those roles and make them work.
Getting to work with R-Truth:
It was never supposed to be anything. It really wasn’t. He was just going around backstage saying he needed to pin me for a title opportunity as a joke because that’s what Charlotte did in order to get into the SummerSlam match in 2018. He was just joking about it and then it just kind of turned into a thing. Then we got paired together for Mixed Match Challenge and then we were the only team from Mixed Match Challenge that continued to be a team beyond that competition. What you saw on TV was so real and genuine. We have a true friendship and we just had so much fun. He would crack me up. I’d be cracking up live on TV from the things he was doing in front of me and I couldn’t help myself. I was laughing because he’s so ridiculous. He’s been around forever and he continues to find a way to stay relevant and my hat is off to him because he’s such an incredible entertainer.
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