Leah Van Dale (former WWE wrestler Carmella) and Corey Graves are celebrating some big personal news.
The couple announced today that Van Dale is pregnant with their second child together and is expected to give birth this fall. Their son Dimitri was born in November 2023, and Van Dale is also a stepmother to Graves’ three kids from a previous marriage.
“All in perfect time,” They wrote on Instagram. “Our new chapter begins this fall.”
Graves (Matthew Polinsky) is a commentator for WWE currently working on the NXT broadcast team with Vic Joseph & Booker T. Van Dale spent more than a decade with the company before departing WWE earlier this year when her contract was not renewed.
It’s been more than two years now since Van Dale last wrestled. Since giving birth to Dimitri, she’s been dealing with drop foot, a post-pregnancy complication that makes it difficult for her to lift her foot. Van Dale is able to live a mostly normal life but has issues with things like running. While it’s taking longer than she or her doctors expected, Van Dale has expressed optimism that she’ll be able to wrestle again someday.
If Carmella is able to wrestle again, she hopes that it will be in a WWE ring.
Carmella (Leah Van Dale) departed WWE earlier this year when her contract with the company was not renewed. She has been out of action since March 2023. After giving birth to her son Dimitri in November of that year, she’s been dealing with drop foot, a post-pregnancy complication that makes it difficult for Carmella to lift her foot.
Day-to-day life is mostly normal for Carmella, but there are still some challenges that she has to battle.
“My day-to-day life is very normal,” she told the New York Post. “It’s just the thought of — even if I try to run, my foot sometimes gets caught on, like, whether it’s the pavement or dirt because it’s difficult to lift. Like, if I’m lifting my feet, I can lift this one up and then this one doesn’t go quite as high. So it’s just, you can’t control it as much.”
Carmella said the issue isn’t just making sure that she’s healthy, she needs to be able to protect her opponent and make sure they don’t get hurt. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself if something were to happen to an opponent during a match. But Carmella is confident that an in-ring return will be possible someday, even if things are taking longer than she or her doctors anticipated.
The New York Post asked Carmella if she would be open to wrestling for other companies given the way her WWE run ended.
“So I’m not like a ‘never say never’ person. To me, I do feel such loyalty to WWE. I loved my time working there. If I ever went back, I would hope it would be for WWE,” she responded. “I would want to go back as Carmella and moonwalk my way out there and be in a WWE ring. I do feel like that would be my home, but I’m not going to say never, right? Like, who knows what the future holds. I don’t want to become a hypocrite [laughs].”
Carmella said she was blindsided by her WWE departure and wasn’t given an explanation for it. That left a little bit of a sour taste in her mouth, but she respects WWE’s decision and has nothing but great things to say about the time she spent with the company. She wanted to return and was coming up with ideas for a non-wrestling role, including pitching the idea of her working with Pretty Deadly.
Before her departure, Carmella had been with WWE since joining developmental in 2013. She met her husband — WWE commentator Corey Graves — while with the promotion.
