Carmella On Her Father Being A Wrestler, How He Feels About Her Being In The Business
WWE SmackDown Women's Champion Carmella was recently a guest on Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia. The former Ms. Money In The Bank discussed her father Paul Van Dale, who wrestled in WWE in the 1990's.
Van Dale worked mainly as a jobber in the WWE and also worked for independent promotions. Carmella hasn't really talked about her father being a wrestler in the past, but it's not something she tries to hide. She said she felt a lot of pride growing up because of her father's career and he would watch wrestling shows with her regularly. She said she never expected to be a wrestler herself.
"A lot of people don't know that. I don't really put it out there that much, but he did a lot of enhancement work. He wrestled Razor Ramon, 'Superfly' Jimmy Snuka. There has been so many; Big Boss Man, Papa Shango, so, I really did grow up wrestling because my dad watched it every week, and I am making myself sound a little older, but we used to record Monday Night Raw on VHS every single Monday night because he would work nights so we would watch it the next day together after I would come home from school," Carmella said. "Growing up, of course I was the coolest girl in the 3rd grade because I told everyone that my dad was a wrestler and I would bring in these wrestling magazines of him and, every Saturday morning he would be body slamming me on my bed. He would put on a big show whenever I would have my friends sleepover for sleepovers we would always do that. Now, I am here, and never did I think I would be in a wrestling ring after watching him do it."
Carmella said her father is immensely proud of her for her career in the professional wrestling industry. She said he gave up on his dream of being a wrestler in order to raise a family and he is able to now enjoy the success she has achieved so far in her career.
"He is so excited. He is over the moon, so proud, because he never really got to accomplish what he wanted to accomplish. He did it for a few years, just for enhancement work, and he had a family at the time so his primary focus was his family, so he wasn't really getting anywhere with the wrestling," she said. "I admire him for that for giving up his dream for his kids and his family to be able to provide a life for them. For me to be able to do this now, he is almost living vicariously with me for us to share this together."
If you use any of the quotes from this article, please credit Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia
Peter Bahi contributed to this article.