Carmella Calls Out WWE for Not Giving Her the Same Opportunities as Injured Male Superstars

Carmella isn’t just upset about WWE cutting her after 12 years—she’s frustrated that she wasn’t given the same chances as others who suffered injuries.

Speaking with Kail Lowry on Barely Famous, Carmella opened up about how WWE “ghosted” her after she pitched ideas to return in a non-wrestling role. But what stings even more is seeing how other injured superstars were treated differently.

“That’s also what bothers me,” Carmella said when asked about her husband, WWE commentator Corey Graves, still working for the company. “It doesn’t bother me that he’s still with the company—I’m so glad he has a job and he’s still there—but he still has a job. We had a kid, and he has a job, but I don’t. How is that fair? It’s wild.”

She made it clear that she wasn’t trying to sit at home collecting a paycheck. “It’s so hurtful. The fact that I went above and beyond and tried to go back. It’s not like I was, ‘Let me sit at home and collect my paycheck and screw you guys.’ I tried to go back.”

Carmella pointed out that Graves and Big E were both given opportunities to contribute in other roles while they recovered from injuries, something she was never offered.

“Why wasn’t I afforded those same opportunities? That’s what I keep asking myself because I feel like I have a lot to offer. I have a fanbase, I represent the company well, why wasn’t I given an opportunity somewhere else when I’ve shown interest and shown that I wanted to contribute in any way that I could?”

She then raised a bigger question about gender equality in WWE. “Is it because I’m a woman? I don’t want to keep saying these things, but it is 2025, and we still have a long way to go with equality. I think the women there are extremely underpaid compared to the men. That’s just a fact. Everyone there knows it. The women working there know it. They maybe can’t say it because they’re working there. Let me say it. I’m going to say it and speak up for them because it’s important. There is some work to do, I feel like.”

Carmella also suggested she could have done backstage interviews or other roles, but WWE never even gave her that option. “When you’re paying somebody and they’re not able to do their job, let’s find something else. If there was some communication—’We know you’re injured and you can’t wrestle right now, why don’t you come back in a few months or when you feel better. Let’s revisit the conversation.’—I wasn’t even given a conversation. Just, ‘We’re not renewing your contract.’ You have 12 days to figure out how to make money and support my family? I was so shocked that I didn’t even really know what was happening. I was so confused by all of it.”

She also stood by her belief that her contract was frozen due to injury but learned the hard way that WWE could change their stance at any time.

“What it comes back to with legal is, at any point, WWE can change their mind. They can decide to extend your contract when you’re injured or not extend it. In my case, for whatever reason, they decided to not extend it. I don’t know why. There is no rhyme or reason. It just is what it is.”

With everything she’s revealed, Carmella’s WWE exit isn’t just about being released—it’s about feeling like she never even got a fair shot.