In 2017, WWE held the first-ever women's Money in the Bank ladder match at WWE Money in the Bank.
The bout was marred with controversy and James Ellsworth, who is not a woman, climbed the ladder and secured the briefcase for Carmella. Fans were upset as the historic moment was ruined by a man getting the briefcase and not a woman.
Speaking with Ryan Satin on Out of Character, Carmella reflected on the match and how she felt about Ellsworth getting the moment and the fallout.
"I was super excited. At that point in my career, I had never won a title and thought it was something that would solidify me as making history. Even though I wasn't the one grabbing the briefcase and I knew that would be very controversial, but I thought it's even better that it's controversial because people would be talking about it. It was trending on Twitter for a few days because people were so upset. To me, I loved the drama and controversy," she said.
Due the controversy, WWE ended up running the match back nine days later on WWE SmackDown. This time, Carmella was able to get the briefcase on her own, but she isn't sure that was the original plan.
"With that, we ended up having it again a week later and I was able to grab it myself that time. I remember thinking, 'this is big. I'm doing something big and I had been waiting for that opportunity and I wanted to prove myself and prove myself on the mic. I don't know if I was necessarily going to win the second match. I knew the first one was going to be controversial, but I don't think I was originally supposed to win it again. The SmackDown after winning, I cut a promo and I remember thinking, 'this is my opportunity to kill it.' I came back through the curtain and Vince was so complimentary to me about my promo and was like, 'some of my top guys can't cut a promo like that.' I was so excited and it ended up winning it again. It really propelled my career," she stated.
Carmella would hold the briefcase for 287 days before cashing it in on Charlotte Flair to win the SmackDown Women's Championship.
Elsewhere during the interview, Carmella provided more insight into her 2020 return after spending most of the summer and fall on the sidelines. You can find her full comments by clicking here.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.
