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.[18] In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with
WWE and she was assigned to the company's
developmental territoryNXT 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.[19] 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.[20] 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.[21] In March, Amore and Cassady began a rivalry with the
NXT Tag Team ChampionsBlake and Murphy while Carmella rejected Blake and Murphy's advances on several occasions.[22] On the May 13 episode of NXT, Carmella was defeated by
Alexa Bliss after a distraction by Blake and Murphy.[23] 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.[24] In January 2016, Carmella won a
battle royal to become the number one contender to
Bayley's
NXT Women's Championship.[25] Carmella unsuccessfully challenged Bayley for the title on February 10.[26] 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.[27] 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.[28] 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.[29]
SmackDown Women's Champion (2016–2018)
After being drafted to the
SmackDownbrand on July 19 as part of the
2016 WWE draft,[8][9] Carmella made her main roster debut for the brand a week later, confronting the brand female talents before being interrupted by Eva Marie.[10] On the August 9 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella achieved her first victory on the main roster by defeating
Natalya.[30][31] On August 20 at
SummerSlam, Carmella took part in a six-woman tag team match alongside
Becky Lynch and
Naomi that was won by their opponents Alexa Bliss, Natalya, and
Nikki Bella after Bella pinned Carmella.[32][33] Two days later on SmackDown Live, Carmella attacked Nikki Bella, turning
heel in the process and starting a
storyline feud between the two.[34][35][36][37] Simultaneously with her feud with Bella, Carmella took part in a
six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural
SmackDown Women's Champion on September 11 at
Backlash. She was the last woman eliminated by Becky Lynch.[38] She was also part of Team SmackDown in the traditional five-on-five
Survivor Series match on November 20 at
Survivor Series against Team Raw, where she was the first participant eliminated by
Alicia Fox.[39] On December 4 at
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, Carmella lost to Nikki Bella in a
no disqualification match to end their feud.[40]
Carmella then moved into a
storyline with
James Ellsworth, professing that she found him "uniquely attractive" and he later started accompanying her to her matches.[41][42][43][44] On April 2, 2017, Carmella made her
WrestleMania debut, competing in a six-pack challenge for the SmackDown Women's Championship, but was unsuccessful.[45] In late April, Carmella formed an
alliance, dubbed The Welcoming Committee, with Natalya and
Tamina, and the three started a feud with Becky Lynch,
Charlotte Flair, and Naomi.[46][47][48][49] The two teams faced off in a six-woman tag team match on May 21 at
Backlash, where The Welcoming Committee was victorious.[50][51]
On June 18 at
Money in the Bank, Carmella was declared the winner of the inaugural women's
Money in the Bank ladder match after Ellsworth obtained the briefcase and dropped it to her.[52] Two days later on SmackDown, Carmella was stripped of the briefcase and a second Money in the Bank ladder match was set by
SmackDown General ManagerDaniel Bryan.[53] On June 27, Carmella regained the Money in the Bank briefcase after she won the second match with the help of Ellsworth.[54] In November, Carmella ended her association with Ellsworth after he lost to Becky Lynch in an
intergender match.[55] On January 28, 2018, at the
Royal Rumble, Carmella participated in the first
women's Royal Rumble match, where she entered at number 17, lasting over 18 minutes before being eliminated by her former rival Nikki Bella.[56] 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.[57]
After 287 days (the longest period ever for a wrestler to hold the contract) and a few unsuccessful attempts to cash in her briefcase on Charlotte Flair,[58][59][60] Carmella officially cashed in her contract on the April 10 episode of SmackDown Live, after
The IIconics (
Billie Kay and
Peyton Royce) attacked Charlotte Flair, she defeated Flair to win the SmackDown Women's Championship for the first time in her career.[61][62] In her first title defense, Carmella defeated Charlotte Flair at
Backlash.[63] Shortly after, Carmella was placed in a feud with
Asuka that ultimately led to a title match between the two at
Money in the Bank,[64][65][66] which Carmella won after a distraction by the returning James Ellsworth.[67] In a rematch between the two, which took place at
Extreme Rules, Carmella again defeated Asuka to retain her title (with Ellsworth suspended in a
shark cage).[68] After losing to both Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair in non–title matches,[69][70] it was announced that Carmella would face both of them in a triple threat match at
SummerSlam on August 19.[71] At the event, Flair pinned Lynch to win the championship, ending Carmella's reign at 131 days.[72] Two weeks later, Carmella received her rematch against Flair but she was unsuccessful in regaining the championship.[73][74]
Alliance with R-Truth (2018–2019)
Towards the end of her title reign, Carmella was placed in a storyline with
R-Truth, after the latter implied that he wants a "title match by pinning her" (similar to Becky Lynch and Charlotte Flair's title opportunities).[75][76] 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.[77] Shortly after, Carmella started managing Truth and the two were also announced as tag team partners for the upcoming season two of
Mixed Match Challenge, calling themselves "The Fabulous Truth".[78][79][80][81] In November, Carmella once again took part of
Survivor Series as part Team SmackDown, where she went on to eliminate Tamina before being eliminated by Bayley.[82][83]
Carmella and Truth lost the first three matches of Mixed Match Challenge, before defeating
Rusev and
Lana to qualify for the playoffs, and the team went on to defeat
Jeff Hardy and Charlotte Flair in the quarter-finals[84] and previous winners The Miz and Asuka in the semi-finals.[85] In the final of the Mixed Match Challenge that took place at the
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view, on December 16, Carmella and Truth defeated
Jinder Mahal and Alicia Fox, earning both the number 30 spots for their respective Royal Rumble matches at
Royal Rumble.[86] At Royal Rumble, she participated in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Charlotte Flair.[87][88]
In February, Carmella started teaming up with Naomi[89][90] and the two took part of 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.[91] On the
WrestleMania 35 kickoff show Carmella won the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal, with lastly eliminating
Sarah Logan.[14][15] In May, Carmella took part in the Money in the Bank ladder match at the
namesake pay-per-view,[92][93][94] where she once again displayed a knee injury and was ultimately unsuccessful in winning the match.[95] The "knee injury" was used to spark a feud between Carmella, and Fire and Desire (
Mandy Rose and
Sonya Deville),[96] which ended quickly 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.[97][98][99][100][101][102] On the September 23 episode of Raw, Carmella rolled-up Truth to capture the 24/7 Championship from him.[16] 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.[103] Later that night, Carmella regained the title from Marshmello in a segment that took place in the
parking lot.[104] 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.[105] 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.[106] 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,[107] but they lost to Team NXT at the event.[108][109]
In September,
vignettes began airing on SmackDown hyping the arrival of a mystery woman.[120][121][122][123] Six weeks later, on the October 2 episode of SmackDown, Carmella revealed herself as the mystery woman and began using the new mantra of "Untouchable", along with a new theme song.[124] After a five month hiatus, she made her first appearance on the show on the November 6 episode, where she attacked
Sasha Banks following her title defense against Bayley, thus turning
heel for the first time since 2018.[125] Towards the end of the year, the two continued to cut
promos and attack each other, which eventually led to a match for the SmackDown Women's Championship at the
TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs event.[126][127][128][129][130] At the event, on December 20, Carmella faced Banks for the
title in a losing effort.[131]
Carmella would team up with
Billie Kay at
WrestleMania 37 to participate in a
Tag Team Turmoil match to determine the number one contenders against
Nia Jax and
Shayna Baszler for the
WWE Women's Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful in the match. Carmella then faced both members of the Riott Squad individually, and beat them both. She then proclaimed herself "The Most Beautiful Woman in All of WWE".[citation needed] She would then have 3 opportunities for the SmackDown Women's Championship against Bianca Belair, one on the July 16 episode of SmackDown, one on the July 23 episode, and one at a house show in Louisville, Kentucky, but during all three of them, she would be unsuccessful in capturing the title.[citation needed] Carmella was then scheduled to be Sasha Banks' replacement for SummerSlam against Bianca Belair, but was then attacked by a returning Becky Lynch.[132] Carmella lost to
Liv Morgan at the
Extreme Rules kickoff show.[133]
Carmella returned on the January 30, 2023, episode of Raw, with her previous gimmick which she used until 2020.[144] The following week on Raw, Carmella defeated
Candice LeRae,
Mia Yim, and
Piper Niven in a
fatal four-way match to qualify for the women's Elimination Chamber match at the
namesake pay-per-view.[145] At the event, Carmella failed to win the match after she was last pinned by Asuka.[146][147] Following the March 13 episode of Raw, Carmella went on hiatus from in-ring action due to her real-life pregnancy.[148]
Carmella joined Total Divas as a main cast member for the show's seventh season in June 2017.[152][153][154] Despite being a guest in the eighth season, Carmella returned to the show as a series regular in the ninth season, which premiered in October 2019.[155] The season featured Carmella's real-life relationship with Matthew Polinsky (better known as WWE commentator
Corey Graves).[156][157]
On June 11, 2020, Van Dale and Polinsky launched a weekly podcast called Bare With Us, where the two discuss different issues regarding relationships including issues within their own. It is Van Dale's first podcast as a host and Polinsky's second (along with WWE After the Bell, which he hosts as Corey Graves).[158]
Personal life
Van Dale was in a relationship with fellow wrestler William Morrissey, better known as
Big Cass in WWE.[159]
In 2019, she began a relationship with fellow WWE employee Matthew Polinsky, better known as
Corey Graves.[160] The two got married on April 7, 2022.[161] On October 31, 2022, she revealed on her Instagram account that she had an
ectopic pregnancy, which resulted in a
miscarriage.[162] On May 1, 2023, the couple announced they were expecting their first child.[163] Carmella later gave birth on November 8 to a son.[148][164]
^Carmella won the Money in the Bank ladder match for the first time at
Money in the Bank, but due to the controversial finish at the event she was stripped of the briefcase two days later. A rematch took place on the June 27 episode of SmackDown Live, where Carmella won, officially becoming the inaugural winner of the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. However, WWE recognizes Carmella as a two-time Money in the Bank winner.[12]