James Ellsworth was the guest this week on Jerry Lawler’s podcast, Dinner With the King. Ellsworth told the story of how he and Carmella were paired with each other, saying that Carmella came up with the idea and pitched it to Vince McMahon.
“I think it was last year at the European tour in November, she came to me and said, ‘Hey, I have this idea about putting you with me whenever you’re done with the Dean Ambrose and AJ stuff comes to an end, I have this idea to pitch to them. They put you with me, you fall in love with me, and I use that to my advantage to win matches and get me to the women’s title.’
I said yeah, that would be a great idea. I didn’t know her much back then. She went to Vince, and she pitched right to Vince, and Vince loved it. It’s ten, going on eleven months that we’ve been on TV together.
We are good friends. We text all the time. She’s a very, very smart girl, and she’s easy to talk to. We get along great.”
Here’s an un-aired backstage segment from SmackDown where Carmella makes Ellsworth drink from a dog bowl.
WWE’s Night of Champions 2026 Event Reportedly Scheduled for This June in Saudi Arabia In Doubt Over Iran War Issues
Oba Femi on Learning From Shawn Michaels in NXT, Drawing Inspiration From Bray Wyatt, Main Goal for His WWE Career, & His “Oba Strut” for His Entrances for His Matches Being Inspired By Ric Flair
Backstage Update on Josh Alexander’s Injury at 3/18 AEW Collision Slam Dunk 2026 Tapings




