Since the debut of NXT 2.0, the wrestling world has been hot and cold about the new vamped brand that’s now being run by Vince McMahon and Bruce Prichard. As a guest on the latest episode of the WWE After the Bell Podcast, Carmella joined the show to talk about her love for NXT 2.0.
“I love Tuesday nights, it’s my favorite thing to do,” Carmella said. “I just feel like this new revamp of NXT, not that I didn’t like watching it before, but I’m just so obsessed with NXT 2.0 that I look forward to watching it every single week.”
Carmella continued to talk about NXT 2.0 and one of the standout performers in her eyes on the new brand. She mentioned Mandy Rose as someone she is happy to see get a second chance in NXT 2.0.
“I think it’s really cool, I’m really happy for Mandy,” Carmella said. “I think it’s great to get this fresh coat of paint, and it’s an opportunity for her to show what she can do. I think sometimes we get lost in the shuffle when we’re on RAW and SmackDown because it’s whatever the storyline is, and if you’re not in the story, you’re just waiting for an opportunity. Sometimes opportunities don’t come, so for her to have this opportunity in NXT, I think it’s amazing. And she’s shown this whole other side of herself, especially with the girls she’s with. I think it’s just different, and it’s fresh, and I’m excited to see where it goes.”
Corey Graves asked Carmella about Mandy’s comments about wanting to be respected for what she does and not just being a pretty face, in which his girlfriend responded “good luck”. The newest addition of the RAW women’s division said the subject fires her up, and talked about a conversation she had with a coach in NXT about having to work harder than everyone else based on her looks.
“Good luck, because when you’re pretty, that doesn’t happen,” Carmella said. “That fires me up, it really does. I get so upset when I hear something like that because [Mandy] is pretty, and she’s a babe, and she has a great body then she can’t be good in the ring. She just can’t.
“When I got signed in NXT, I remember Bill Demott said, ‘You’re going to have to work twice as hard as everyone else because you’re pretty.’ I remember being like what? That’s crazy. You see all these girls from the past that were gorgeous and these models and all of that, so I was like, that’s crazy to hear from a coach. You’re going to have to work twice as hard because people aren’t going to respect you because of how you look? And it just blew my mind, and I remembered thinking, okay, noted and challenge accepted.
“That’s what I did. I was the last draft pick when I came to SmackDown and I busted my butt and made history left and right. I’ve done amazing things in this business and I’m not sorry for them, I’m not apologizing for that and I’m proud of myself for that. No matter what, I’m never going to get the respect that I deserve because of how I look and that’s just how it is. If I didn’t look like this and I had the same matches and same career, people would be like ‘Carmella is amazing, we love her.’ Because I look how I do, I’m not going to get the respect that I deserve.”
