NXT announced via their official Twitter account on Thursday evening that NXT Women’s Champion Bayley now has her next challenger set, as she will be facing Carmella at the CFE Arena at the University of Central Florida for the set of television tapings scheduled in the venue for January 22nd.
Additionally, they announced a number one contenders match between Samoa Joe and Sami Zayn to decide who will challenge Finn Balor in the next NXT Championship match.
The event on 1/22 is part of an aggressive January calendar for the NXT brand, as they will be running a total of 15 shows, including multiple shows on the same night in two different locations.
NXT Diva Carmella recently appeared as a guest on the Sam Roberts Wrestling Podcast and spoke about her previous jobs as a New England Patriots and Los Angeles Lakers cheerleader, working in NXT with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, being friends with NXT Women’s Champion Bayley and more. Below are some of the highlights from the interview.
On her father being a pro wrestler and a WWE enhancement talent when she was a kid:
“I grew up watching wrestling and in wrestling because my dad wrestled when I was younger. He wrestled independently and in the WWE in the ’90s, so it’s just bringing everything full circle being here in the WWE.” Carmella added, “when [Van Dale] does get a chance to see me, he’s so proud. And he watches NXT every single week and he’s always calling me [and] telling me what I’m doing right and what I’m doing wrong, so it’s really cool.”
On managing Enzo and Cass and being a wrestler, and not having a preference between the two:
“I feel so lucky because I get the best of both worlds. I get to go out and wrestle on my own, but I still get to be a part of Enzo and Cass, [which] as you said, is one of the biggest and most popular acts here in NXT, so I can’t just chose one. I really enjoy both, especially with my background cheering. I’m out there cheering on my boys! But I just love performing in front of the cameras, so when I’m out there and wrestling on my own too, it’s such a cool feeling, just all eyes are on me.” Carmella continued, “I’m so grateful and I have so much fun either way, so when I’m with the boys, I feel like I’m a certain character, but when I’m by myself, I have to kind of amp it up because I’m just out there by myself.”
On being best friends with current NXT Women’s Champion Bayley:
“I don’t know if you know that, but we’re Baymella. And we’re just super silly and crazy and we mess with people, like, on our little road trips to our shows all the time and we’re just messing with people any opportunity we can get, pranking people. That’s just what we do!”
On the Divas Revolution in WWE:
“When I first started [at WWE], it was just beginning of the Divas Revolution. I am just so excited to be able to have an opportunity to show that we’re athletes and we’re here to work hard and we’re not just here to have these little five-minute matches that are about how we look. It’s more than that.”
On growing up idolizing Miss Elizabeth and how she was influenced by her:
“Watching [professional wrestling] when I was younger, I idolized Miss Elizabeth. For me, I was like, ‘okay, that is a diva. That’s what I want to be.’ She’s classy and she always looked the part. She looked fabulous. And that to me, that is what I want to portray, so to be here now in this time with the Divas Revolution, it’s perfect for me.”
– During Saturday’s WWE live event in Bangor, Maine there was a minor incident between a fan and Los Matadores. Shortly after The Lucha Dragons won the Triple Threat match over The Ascension and Los Matadores, one of the Matadores was seen speaking with WWE security and pointed out a fan that was sitting ringside. While it’s unclear exactly what happened, the fan was said to have possibly grabbed or pulled at one of the Matadores, resulting in the fan being ejected from the show. Others speculate it may have all just been a misunderstanding.
– Carmella chose not to wrestle following a stinger she suffered at the hands of Eva Marie at Friday’s WWE NXT live event in Nashville, TN. Carmella still appeared ringside for Colin Cassady and Enzo Amore at the NXT “Louder Than Life” live event/festival in Loisville, KY.
– The NXT matches at “Louder Than Life” this past Saturday were taped and will apparently appear on NXT TV some time later this month according to a reader at WrestlingFigs.com. The following matches took place:
Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady vs. Jason Jordan and Chad Gable
Alexa Bliss vs. NXT Women’s Champion Bayley
Samoa Joe vs. Baron Corbin
Bull Dempsy vs. Ellas Sampson
Tyler Breeze vs. NXT Champion Finn Balor
The Mechanics vs. NXT Tag Team Champions The Vaudevillians
At last night’s WWE NXT live event in Nashville, TN, Carmella sustained a stinger during her match with Eva Marie. Eva Marie got the pin, won the match and afterwards the doctor threw up the “X” sign signaling for the doctors backstage to make their way out to the ring.
Carmella was reportedly upset and crying in the ring and did leave the ring with some help meanwhile Eva Marie was met with “please retire” chants.
– As noted, Chris Jericho’s match with Kevin Owens at the upcoming WWE Network special from Madison Square Garden on October 3rd will be the 25th anniversary of Jericho’s pro wrestling debut. Jericho mentioned on his “Talk Is Jericho” podcast that he will be bringing Lance Storm, the man he wrestled in his debut 25 years ago, to the show to celebrate with him.
– NXT Diva Peyton Royce looks to have tweaked her knee during the NXT live event on Thursday night in Orlando, Florida. After she and Carmella lost to Nia Jax and Dana Brooke in a Divas tag-team match on the show, Peyton crashed to the floor, clutched her knee and took her knee pad off. She also had to be helped to the back.
– Below are the “Top 10 SmackDown Moments” for this week’s show.
– The following matches are scheduled for tonight’s NXT television tapings, which are scheduled to take place immediately before the NXT Takeover: Brooklyn event.
* Eva Marie vs. Carmella
* Enzo Amore, Big Cass, Zack Ryder and Mojo Rawley vs. Jason Jordan, Chad Gable, Dash Wilder and Scott Dawson
* Charlotte vs. Emma vs. Becky Lynch vs. Dana Brooke
* Bull Dempsey vs. Elias Samson
– The final episode of the WWE Tough Enough post-show “Tough Talk” on the WWE Network airs next Tuesday night with host Byron Saxton. The official description for the show reads as follows:
“Join Byron Saxton as he recaps the TOUGH ENOUGH highlights and sits down with the eliminated competitor whose WWE journey came to an end.”
– The latest edition of “Culture Shock with Corey Graves” airs on the WWE Network on Wednesday at 4pm EST. The official description for that one reads:
“Corey Graves heads to Baltimore, Maryland to experience BronyCon, the fan convention dedicated to all things ‘My Little Pony.'”
– Rapper Machine Gun Kelly, who performed in the main event of WrestleMania 28 in Miami, Florida, announced via social media that he will be appearing at the June 15th edition of WWE RAW at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.
– TheStreet.com has a new article up looking at WWE’s business model where the WWE Network is the focus. You can check that out at TheStreet.com.
– NXT Diva Carmella will be hosting a live Twitter Q&A today, fielding questions from WWE and NXT fans. You can take part in the Q&A, which begins at 4pm EST. today, @CarmellaWWE.
– WWE.com has issued a poll asking fans which NXT Diva should move to the main roster following AJ Lee’s retirement. The options are Sasha Banks, Charlotte, Bayley, Alex Bliss, Becky Lynch and Carmella. Charlotte is currently leading the poll with 41% of the vote.
WWE Diva Lana and NXT Diva Carmella have been exchanging some trash talk on Twitter, with the ‘Ravishing Russian’ striking the first blow.
Seemingly out of the blue, Lana called out Carmella for her theme music, her fake nails and her “ratchet weave” hairdo. Oh no she didn’t! Carmella fired back in kind, threatening to rip the bun off Lana’s head and send her back to Vladimir Putin. Here’s the full exchange:
– As noted recently, Randy Orton has been advertised locally to return at several of the past WWE television tapings, but was held back due to creative decisions made by the company. Orton is being advertised for the February 16th edition of RAW in Orlando, which is the Fast Lane “go-home” edition of the show. With Orton scheduled to return in time for a program at WrestleMania 31, one would assume that if he doesn’t return on the 2/16 RAW show, he will be returning either at the pay-per-view itself, or at RAW the following night.
– The following matches were taped at Full Sail University in Winter Park, Florida for tonight’s edition of NXT on the WWE Network:
– Emma vs. Carmella
– Adrian Neville vs. Baron Corbin (Semifinals of the No. 1 Contender’s Tournament)
– Bayley vs. Becky Lynch
– Hideo Itami vs. Finn Bálor (Semifinals of the No. 1 Contender Tournament)
– Sami Zayn and Adrian Neville vs. Kevin Owens and Tyson Kidd
Check out the official video promo for tonight’s NXT show below.
The following are highlights of a new WWE.com Q&A with NXT Diva Carmella:
On being a fan of Miss Elizabeth: “When I was a little girl, I loved Miss Elizabeth. I would dress up in my old dance costumes and my dad would carry me around on his shoulder. I thought I was a true Diva. Sometimes the craziest dreams actually turn into reality and I truly feel blessed for this opportunity.”
On her dream match: “My dream match would be with Trish Stratus. She was the epitome of a Diva and someone I looked up to as a little girl. Although she started as a fitness model, she didn’t let that hold her back. She was willing to work hard and wasn’t afraid to take risks, which is something I think we have in common. It would be an absolute honor and dream come true to step in the ring with her.”
On her plans to win the NXT Divas Championship in 2015: “I’m headed straight for the top of the NXT Divas division. Although my road to NXT might have been different than the other Divas, I’m here to work. I put 100 percent into everything I do, and I won’t quit until I reach the top. Plus, I think we can all agree that the NXT Women’s Championship will look much more fabulous around my waist.”