Why does WWE RAW Superstar Carmella wear a mask?

By Adam D Anglo On Feb 2, 2022

Carmella has been a part of WWE since she signed with the company in 2013. Since then, she has become SmackDown Women’s Champion and WWE Women’s Tag Team Champion with Queen Zelina.

When “The Most Beautiful Woman in all of WWE” joined the company, she was initially assigned to the Performance Center to hone her craft before eventually debuting on NXT. Her first appearance came as the valet of tag team Enzo Amore and Big Cass.

The Queen of Staten Island got her big break in June 2016 when she was called up to the main roster and assigned to SmackDown. She became a singles performer on the blue brand and went on to capture the Money in the Bank briefcase a year later in the first-ever Women’s Money in the Bank Ladder match.

But it wasn’t Carmella who retrieved the briefcase, it was James Ellsworth who was assisting her at the time. It forced a rematch on SmackDown. However, she was able to capture the lucrative briefcase herself this time around. The former Laker Girl cashed-in her briefcase in April 2017 defeating Charlotte Flair to capture the SmackDown Women’s Championship.

Her reign lasted 131 days and eventually moved onto a storyline with R-Truth as they aligned together on-screen. After the steam had run out on that story, Carmella disappeared from television and returned as the glamorous character that she currently plays as “The Most Beautiful Woman in all of WWE” on RAW.

So why does WWE RAW Superstar Carmella wear a mask?

She has been wearing a protective mask to protect her face during matches, as part of her gimmick. Initially, she got hit in the face during a match in October 2021 against Liv Morgan and made a big deal out of it thinking her face was damaged. It was from here that she would wear the mask during matches, provided by assistants at ringside.

What did Carmella have to say about wearing a mask in WWE?

Carmella spoke with Corey Graves on WWE’s After The Bell podcast about wearing her mask on television. She mentions that she will always make the best of what she is given:

“I try to always take whatever they give me and turn it into something. I won Money in the Bank through a guy, so that was a big controversy. Then I’m paired with James Ellsworth for however long and I made that work. Then I was one of the most hated people in the business when I was champion. People hated me. Three weeks later they paired me with R-Truth and I’m one of the most loved people. To me, I’m like, ok, you want me to do that? I’ll do that.”

She continued:

“After that you want me to get a new character. Then you want me to have a sommelier. You want me to wear a mask. Whatever it is that I’m given, I take pride in that I’m going to make this work. There’s no way I’m not going to make it work, that’s what I’ve done my entire career, and I’m very proud of that.” (h/t Wrestling.NewsCo)

Do you enjoy Carmella’s gimmick and when she pulls out her mask to wear in the ring? Let us know in the comments below!

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Edited by Brandon Nell