Carmella

She is the daughter of Paul Van Dale, a former mixed martial artist and professional wrestler, who worked as a jobber for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now known as WWE) in the 1980s and 1990s, making the younger Van Dale a second generation wrestler.

Van Dale is of Italian and Dutch descent.

Leah Van Dale (born October 23, 1987) is an American professional wrestler, dancer and model.

She is currently signed to WWE, where she performs under the ring name Carmella.

She is a former WWE SmackDown Women's Champion, WWE Women's Tag Team Champion and WWE 24/7 Champion.

She is currently on parental leave.

Leah Van Dale was born on October 23, 1987, in Spencer, Massachusetts.

She grew up in Spencer, Massachusetts, where she graduated from David Prouty High School in 2006.

She graduated from University of Massachusetts Dartmouth in 2010.

Van Dale was a cheerleader for the New England Patriots for three seasons, ending in 2010.

She successfully auditioned for the Los Angeles Lakers dance team, appearing as a Laker Girl during the 2010–2011 season.

Van Dale applied to be part of WWE Tough Enough in 2010, but withdrew from the selection process after being accepted as a Laker Girl and moving to Los Angeles.

In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental brand NXT in Orlando, Florida.

In June 2013, Van Dale signed a contract with WWE and she was assigned to the company's developmental territory NXT in late September.

Later, she adopted the ring name Carmella.

In October 2014, she aligned herself with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady, becoming their manager.

Carmella made her debut on the September 4, 2014, episode of NXT, portraying a hairdresser in a segment with Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady.

Two weeks later on NXT, Carmella appeared in another segment with Amore and Cassady at the WWE Performance Center, announcing she had lost her job as a hairdresser due to Amore and Cassady's actions and asked for a job at NXT.

She made her in-ring debut on the October 16 episode of NXT, wrestling an unnamed opponent whom Amore and Cassady dubbed Blue Pants.

Carmella defeated Blue Pants on two occasions, but lost to her on the January 1, 2015, episode of NXT after Amore accidentally caused a distraction.

In March, Amore and Cassady began a rivalry with the NXT Tag Team Champions Blake and Murphy while Carmella rejected Blake and Murphy's advances on several occasions.

On the May 13 episode of NXT, Carmella was defeated by Alexa Bliss after a distraction by Blake and Murphy.

On May 20 at NXT TakeOver: Unstoppable, Bliss attacked Carmella during the NXT Tag Team Championship title match, ensuring the win for Blake and Murphy.

While continuing to manage Amore and Cassady, Carmella began feuding with Eva Marie, which led to a match between the two on the August 26 episode of NXT, which Carmella lost.

In July 2016, she made her main roster debut on SmackDown.

In January 2016, Carmella won a battle royal to become the number one contender to Bayley's NXT Women's Championship.

Carmella unsuccessfully challenged Bayley for the title on February 10.

After the match, Eva Marie and Nia Jax attacked the two, which led to a tag team match on the February 24 episode of NXT, which Carmella and Bayley lost.

Carmella made her first appearance on WWE's main roster on March 12 at Roadblock, accompanying Amore and Cassady for their match against The Revival for the NXT Tag Team Championship.

On the May 25 episode of NXT, Carmella competed in a triple threat match against Alexa Bliss and Nia Jax to determine the number one contender to Asuka's NXT Women's Championship at NXT TakeOver: The End, but she was pinned by Jax.

After being drafted to the SmackDown brand on July 19 as part of the 2016 WWE draft, Carmella made her main roster debut for the brand a week later, confronting the brand female talents before being interrupted by Eva Marie.

On the August 9 episode of SmackDown Live, Carmella achieved her first victory on the main roster by defeating Natalya.

On August 20 at SummerSlam, Carmella took part in a six-woman tag team match alongside Becky Lynch and Naomi that was won by their opponents Alexa Bliss, Natalya, and Nikki Bella after Bella pinned Carmella.

Two days later on SmackDown Live, Carmella attacked Nikki Bella, turning heel in the process and starting a storyline feud between the two.

Simultaneously with her feud with Bella, Carmella took part in a six-pack elimination challenge to determine the inaugural SmackDown Women's Champion on September 11 at Backlash.

She was the last woman eliminated by Becky Lynch.

In June 2017, Carmella became the winner of the inaugural women's Money in the Bank ladder match.

In April 2018, she became the first woman in WWE history to successfully cash-in her Money in the Bank opportunity, when she defeated Charlotte Flair to win the WWE SmackDown Women's Championship.

In 2019, Carmella won both the WrestleMania Women's Battle Royal and the WWE 24/7 Championship.

In November 2021, after being drafted to Raw as part of the 2021 Draft, Carmella formed an alliance with Queen Zelina and the two went on to win the WWE Women's Tag Team Championship.