Carmella Talks Royal Rumble Plans, Corey Graves’ Twitter Beefs

WWE Superstar Carmella finds herself in uncharted territory as she heads into Sunday’s Royal Rumble event. From the first time she appeared on NXT up through late 2019, “The Princess of Staten Island” has always been up to something — whether it’s winning the Money in the Bank, holding on to the SmackDown Women’s Championship or running around with R-Truth trying to keep the 24/7 Championship. In 2019 alone she won the WrestleMania 35 Women’s Battle Royal, held the 24/7 title twice and appeared on television in some form or fashion almost every week. And yet after being separated from Truth via the WWE Draft in October, Carmella was given very little to do in the final two months of the year on the Blue Brand. But, as she explained in an interview with ComicBook.com this week, she hasn’t minded getting a little bit of down time.

“Right now I’m just enjoying this little down time that I’ve had on SmackDown,” she said. “When I stop and think about it, it’s crazy the amount of stories that I’ve been involved in since I first came up on SmackDown. I’ve never really had a break, and this is kind of my first time. So who knows what the future holds? And I also don’t want to be thrown into something that doesn’t make sense, I’m just waiting for the right time.”

When asked if she had any specific goals for 2020, she stated she wants to get her hands on the SmackDown Women’s Championship again at some point. Both she and Dana Brooke announced they’d be competing in the Women’s Rumble on this week’s edition of Friday Night SmackDown.

Elsewhere in the interview the topic of her boyfriend, SmackDown color commentator and After The Bell host Corey Graves, came up. Graves has found himself in the headlines a handful of times over the past few months for controversial things he’s said and written (most notably comments that were directed at NXT commentator Mauro Ranallo). Carmella said while she doesn’t mind Graves’ Twitter behavior, it can become a headache if his heat carries over to her.

“It so funny, I think he just gets a really bad rep because people don’t know him and he’s just obviously very opinionated,” she said. “He says what he says, sometimes I think he just doesn’t think before he says it because he doesn’t really have bad intentions or to hurt anyone’s feelings. He just saying what’s on his mind.

“I had to say something to him one time like, ‘Okay, you’re saying these things and now people are coming after me!’ And I have nothing to do it. And he’s like ‘I know, I know.’ But at the end of the day I love that about him, I love that he has his opinions,” she added. “Doesn’t mean that I agree with it, but I like anyone that has their opinion and says and does what they think. To each their own, right?”

One thing Graves often does on television is heap praise on the female wrestlers he finds particularly attractive, most notably Alexa Bliss (before she turned face) and Mandy Rose.

“He used to do that for me, when I was the champion,” Carmella said with a laugh. “It is what it is, I think it’s hilarious. Because obviously he’s a character, he’s the color commentator, the bad guy. So he has to do what he has to do, and I think it’s great. It doesn’t bother me.”

Other women confirmed for tonight’s Rumble match include Charlotte Flair, Nikki Cross, Alexa Bliss, Sarah Logan and Natalya. The Royal Rumble eventt kicks off 7 p.m. Eastern at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas.