WWE SmackDown Live Women's Champion Carmella recently appeared as a guest on Lilian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast for an in-depth interview. Featured below are some of the highlights.
On her father, Paul Van Dale, wrestling for WWE in the 1990s: "A lot of people don't know that. I don't really put it out there that much, but he did a lot of enhancement work. He wrestled Razor Ramon, 'Superfly' Jimmy Snuka. There has been so many; Big Boss Man, Papa Shango, so, I really did grow up wrestling because my dad watched it every week, and I am making myself sound a little older, but we used to record Monday Night Raw on VHS every single Monday night because he would work nights so we would watch it the next day together after I would come home from school. Growing up, of course I was the coolest girl in the 3rd grade because I told everyone that my dad was a wrestler and I would bring in these wrestling magazines of him and, every Saturday morning he would be body slamming me on my bed. He would put on a big show whenever I would have my friends sleepover for sleepovers we would always do that. Now, I am here, and never did I think I would be in a wrestling ring after watching him do it."
On how excited her father is to see her succeeding in WWE: "He is so excited. He is over the moon, so proud, because he never really got to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish. He did it for a few years, just for enhancement work, and he had a family at the time so his primary focus was his family, so he wasn't really getting anywhere with the wrestling. I admire him for that for giving up his dream for his kids and his family to be able to provide a life for them. For me to be able to do this now, he is almost living vicariously with me for us to share this together."
Check out the complete Carmella interview at PodcastOne.com.