James Ellsworth Was The First To Tell Carmella About Controversial WWE MITB Plan
WWE's first women's Money In The Bank ladder match in 2017 ended with controversy, and the man who grabbed the briefcase to win on Carmella's behalf recently revealed that he was actually the first person to tell her she would be winning.
Speaking with PWMania.com's Ari Barkan, James Ellsworth explained that not only was his grabbing the case rehearsed, but the follow-up ladder match on an episode of "WWE SmackDown" two weeks later was already planned.
"When we did the rehearsal, they had every girl climb the ladder and grab the briefcase, right?" Ellsworth explained. "And then before we left, they're like 'Hey, James, climb up the ladder, grab the briefcase real quick in case we have you, like, teasin', you know, climbing the ladder at the show.'"
Ellsworth said he pulled Carmella aside after rehearing the spot and told her he believed it was the plan for her to win the match. Ellsworth felt there was a bigger reason behind the rehearsal.
"I was like, 'I'm gonna help you win the match.' And she goes, 'James, it's the first-ever women's Money in the Bank ... they're not going to have a guy grabbing the briefcase,'" Ellsworth said. "And I said, 'That's probably why they're going to do [it] ... they like that controversy.'"
'Grab it, throw it down to Carmella'
On the day of the show, Ellsworth was informed his prediction was coming true. He told Carmella he had spoken to then-WWE executive John Laurinaitis.
"[Laurinaitis] was like, 'Hey, you're gonna climb up there as quick as you can, grab it, throw it down to Carmella,'" Ellsworth said. "And I told her, she's like, 'Really? Like, I'm winning it?' I'm like, 'Yeah, I told you, I'm gonna grab it and give it to you, it's gonna be great.'"
Ellsworth also revealed it was always the plan to do a second women's Money in the Bank match on an episode of "SmackDown." He claimed they were told they were doing it to help "pop a rating" for the show, and that the controversy would be beneficial. Carmella went on to win the second women's Money in the Bank ladder match – this time without Ellsworth's help — before winning the title by cashing in her contract over 200 days later.