In June, WWE had its first women’s Money in the Bank ladder match, and it ended quite controversially. The conclusion of the match saw former WWE talent James Ellsworth, who accompanied Carmella at the time, grab the briefcase and drop it down to her for the win.
This decision caused wide criticism, as even WWE Hall of Famer Steve Austin voiced his dissatisfaction on an episode of his podcast.
“With all due respect to [James] Ellsworth, I mean he’s done what he was told, I thought one of the women were gonna push the ladder [in the] match. Maybe he was gonna split the top rope with some kind of epic nut shot, or just take a bump, nonetheless. Or something safe where he’s the one eliminated but not grabbing the briefcase.
“The kid grabs the briefcase, Carmella, allegedly, wins, and I’m like, for trying to be an epic, first-ever, Money in the Bank match, and some guy climbs up there and wins it, what if they had a Money in the Bank match with the guys, and one of the guys had a female valet.
“And during the course of the match, she climbs up, and then drops the briefcase down to the guy? I don’t think you would [ever] see that, you never have seen it, you’ve never seen anything close to that. So, all of a sudden for this to happen in that match, it rubbed me the wrong way.”
General Manager Daniel Bryan would schedule another MITB match the following week on SmackDown Live, which Carmella would win again.
After months of taunting, Carmella has kept quiet having the briefcase for a number of weeks. According to a recent episode of the Wrestling Observer Radio, this is intentional by WWE.
However, during the Lumberjack Match between Charlotte Flair and Natalya at Clash of Champions, Carmella teased a cash-in, but was quickly thwarted by the Riott Squad. Carmella would comment after the match about the tease.
Psyche!! Y’all stay watching my every move. I wasn’t REALLY trying to cash in… I’m not ready to part with Frankie, just yet! ??? #WWEClash
— Mella Is Money ? (@CarmellaWWE) December 18, 2017