Carmella Relives Winning First-Ever Women's MITB Match, Being Happy To Get Rid Of The Briefcase

In 2017, Carmella etched her name in the WWE history books, when she became the first-ever Women's MITB winner. Though there was some controversy surrounding her and her win, she says that night will go down in history for her and her career.

"I mean, I was nervous, I'm not going to lie," Carmella stated on WWE's The Bump. "They took all of us aside – the five of us – and told us about it before they announced it on TV, just to make sure that we were ok with it. I'm not going to lie, I was nervous. I was the smallest girl in the match, the ladders are huge and heavy, and I've never done any big crazy moves off the ropes, let alone a ladder. I was scared, but I knew what I had to do.

"I wanted to make history because no matter how many more Women's MITB matches there are going to be in the future, everyone is going to remember the first 'Miss Money In The Bank,' and here I am."

After holding the briefcase for nearly 287 days (the longest anyone has held on to the briefcase in history), Carmella finally cashed it in on Charolette on the SmackDown afterWrestleMania 34. That night, she became the new SmackDown Women's Champion. Carmella jokingly mentioned how great it was to get rid of the briefcase, but also how rewarding it was to walk out of New Orleans as the new champion.

"I was so glad to get rid of that thing [the briefcase]," Carmella joked. "The story that I told the old people that would ask me at baggage claim at airports, they'd say, 'Oh, what is that? Are you a banker?' I'd be like, 'No," and I would make things up because they would never understand the significance of the briefcase and the contract inside. I'd say, 'There's a contract in there,' and they'd say, 'A contract for what?' [Then I would reply], 'Nevermind, I work at Bank of America, it's part of my uniform.' It was ridiculous.

"I really think that it worked in my favor to hold on to that for that long because I cashed it in successfully. Man, that's something that I'll never forget; the crowd, my parents were there, it was the SmackDown after WrestleMania. That goes down in history books, everyone hopes for that [day] in their career, and I'm so grateful that I had that opportunity."

You can view Carmella's full interview here. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit WWE's The Bump with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.