Carmella feels that despite what anyone says, she has earned what has come to her.
After holding on to the Money In The Bank briefcase for nearly a full year, Carmella finally cashed in on the post-WrestleMania edition of SmackDown Live as she capitalized on an already beaten Charlotte Flair to become the new SmackDown Live Women's Champion. Since Carmella's capturing of the title fans in the arena she comes out to chant a number of insults at her including: "You can't wrestle", or "you suck". As of late Carmella has responded to quite a few individuals on social media who critique her in-ring work or notes that she does not deserve to be champion. In an interview with WWE.com, Carmella addressed those who doubt and criticize her.
"At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks I deserve. I don’t deserve anything; I earned it. I worked hard and put in the effort." She says. "People say that I went off what The IIconics did, but that’s what every single Money In The Bank holder did — wait for the perfect opportunity. You don’t just wait for the champion to be up and then have a normal title opportunity. You have to be sneaky, you have to do it in the way that guarantees a title win. I didn’t want to cash in and lose it."
Someone who was a focal point in Carmella winning the Money In The Bank briefcase was the man who took the briefcase off of the rung for her in the first place; James Ellsworth. Ellsworth has stated in interviews that he and Carmella developed a great friendship while working together and the champ shared what James Ellsworth offered that made them a good pairing.
"He was in the main event picture, wrestling AJ Styles and Dean Ambrose. I knew no one would ever see that coming, me using him to get where I wanted to be. That made it fun because no one expected it, and because none of the women have a male manager, it presented a lot of cool opportunities like wrestling John Cena & Nikki Bella, and my victory in the Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match, which had everyone up in arms." She said.
Following her first title defense at the 'Backlash' PPV, Carmella got a bit of backlash herself for the match she had with Charlotte Flair that wrestling fans were not too pleased with. "The Princess of Staten Island" says that she pays the criticism no mind and whether people love her or hate her, they will still watch her.
"I pay it no mind. Everything I do is over the top. When I do something, I want everyone to be talking about it, and that’s what happened. I was trending on Twitter for like three days. I think my strategy worked just fine. I pay no mind to the haters and everyone that doubts me, everyone that was upset about it, I thrive off it. They’re still talking about me, whether they love me, hate me or love to hate me, I don’t care, I’m Carmella — the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder Match winner."
The current SmackDown Live Women's Champion also spoke on how she's improved since her days in NXT, her feud with Nikki Bella, and more. To read the remainder of Carmella's comments, click here.
