Below are a couple of top WWE news stories of the day, featuring Carmella and The Rock.
• Carmella is no longer under WWE contract after her deal expired. The former SmackDown Women’s Champion has been sidelined due to drop foot and two herniated discs since giving birth to her son.
She last wrestled in March 2023 but was only back for six weeks after a previous absence since 2022.
Carmella broke her silence and said the following about her departure on her Instagram story:
“Some news broke last week and I just wanted to let you know that I’ve seen all of your texts and tweets and messages and DMs. And like, oh my god, you guys are just the best, and I’m so grateful for you and everything that you’ve been saying about Carmella and my career, and I’m so blessed. So thank you.
I know there’s a lot of questions and uncertainty around everything. I will be going on a podcast later this week, answering some of those questions and telling my side, because I have a lot to say about the situation.”
You can watch it below:
Carmella addresses her WWE departurepic.twitter.com/2xhtXZMH4r
— WrestleFeed (@WrestleFeedApp) February 25, 2025
• The Rock’s return to WWE has sparked mixed reactions backstage. While many understand he’s a major attraction and enjoy his presence, others are frustrated by the screen time cuts and shifting WrestleMania plans.
According to Fightful Select, most in WWE admire The Rock, but some involved in creative and production are skeptical about the direction, with reactions ranging from mild concern to hoping the storyline makes sense. However, no one has outright expressed resentment over his return.
“I don’t mean this in a negative connotation, but most people are marks for The Rock in some capacity—not in a bad way, but they just love seeing him there at all. For a lot of people, it’s not going to get old seeing him. They grew up on him, they watch his movies, they aspire to have success like his.
I know there are some people that are not thrilled that their time is cut, but also, there’s a lot of people that know that when he is involved, more eyeballs are on the show.
I haven’t heard anybody outright be like, ‘God, this motherf**er’s back’ or anything like that. I just haven’t heard that.
I have heard some people involved with creative and production say, ‘Hope it makes sense.’ That’s about it.”
