It seems that Carmella suffered a head injury during a WWE live event, being unable to wrestle in her scheduled Triple Threat match.
The one-time SmackDown Women’s Champion was slated to wrestle Asuka and Bianca Belair during a house show in North Charleston, South Carolina, but an apparent head injury early on turned it into a singles outing between Asuka and Belair.
Per fans who were in attendance, the referee threw up the X signal to indicate an injury to Carmella. It’s reported that she was able to walk backstage on her own two feet, though officials were “shielding her eyes from the bright lights“.
The injury is believed to have occurred when Bianca Belair attempted a sunset flip, with Carmella’s head hitting the corner of the ring. She was allegedly unable to reenter the match.
OH NO!! they threw up the x for carmella, she got hit in the head in the corner when bianca tried to back flip over her 🙁 #WWENorthCharleston
— b. (@sashasliv) August 7, 2022
The real-life Leah Van Dale is one of the company’s most successful female Superstars. As well as holding the SmackDown Women’s Championship, ‘Mella is a former Women’s Tag Team and 24/7 Champion, alongside wins in the Money in the Bank match, WrestleMania Women’s Battle Royal, and Mixed Match Challenge competition.
Her victory in the inaugural women’s Money in the Bank ladder match in June 2017 also provided Carmella with a spot in the Guinness World Records; she held the briefcase for the longest period of time before officially cashing in the following April.