Despite not having a singles PPV match in almost a year and a half, Carmella has shocked everyone by rising to the top of the SmackDown women’s division.
Carmella was the inaugural women’s Money in the Bank winner and held on to that briefcase longer than any Money in the Bank winner ever before cashing it in. That cash in came two nights after WrestleMania 34, on SmackDown, when she defeated Charlotte Flair for the belt.
Videos by PopCulture.com
Despite now holding the title, Carmella continues to have many vocal critics. Mostly on social media, which the champ took notice of and began to fire back. One post centered on critics of her wrestling ability, where she noted how much she has improved since December 2016, while another post saw Carmella take off the gloves and bash a fan’s ability to entertain women. Ouch!
โCarmella canโt wrestle!โ – every single twitter troll. ๐คฃ๐คฃ I havenโt had a singles match on a PPV since Dec 2016. Iโve been putting in work since then. Canโt wait to prove yโall wrong at #WWEBacklash. Just donโt jump on the bandwagon bc I DONT need your support. ๐๐๐๐๐
โ Smackdown Womens Champion (@CarmellaWWE) April 25, 2018
And Iโd be surprised if you were able to hold on to a relationship for more than 2 weeks. ๐คท๐ผโโ๏ธ https://t.co/smVKR2NOfV
โ Smackdown Womens Champion (@CarmellaWWE) April 25, 2018
The fact that she hasn’t been spotlighted in a singles match for that long on a PPV broadcast is certainly eye opening. She has of course had television matches since that time, but WWE performers always tend to elevate their game at a PPV show so it will be interesting to watch her get into the ring with Charlotte Flair at WWE Backlash. There’s no doubt Carmella will be motivated to tear the house down with one of WWE’s best women performers and prove her critics wrong.
A good comparison Carmella could look to would be Alexa Bliss. Bliss was undervalued coming up from NXT, proved her critics wrong, and ended up becoming one of the top stars in the women’s division. Like Bliss, Carmella never won the NXT women’s championship and expectations have been lower for her among fans as an in-ring performer versus serving as a valet, which was her original primary focus.
Now is Carmella’s chance to prove everyone wrong, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see her do just that.