When Carmella returned to the ring on the February 6 episode of WWE Raw, she did so sporting new gear that paid homage to Lita.
Unbeknownst to Carmella, Lita was making her return that same night to help Becky Lynch in her feud against Damage CTRL (Bayley, Dakota Kai, & IYO SKY).
Speaking on WWE After The Bell, Carmella discussed her tribute to Lita and being worried that her new gear would upset the WWE Hall of Famer.
"Coming back and knowing that I was going to do a new version of my old character, I wanted to kind of marry my look with the bra top that I've been wearing, but also...when Carmella debuted, she was wearing the joggers and the boxers showing," Carmella said. "I kind of wanted to take that and put a new twist on it. I thought, 'what better way to do that than pay homage to Lita?' She had such iconic gear. I figured, 'let me take that and put my twist on it.' Little did I know, the night I'm debuting this gear, Lita is backstage and I am freaking out. 'Oh Gosh, is she going to be mad at me? Is she going to say what are you doing? Take that off. I have nothing back up to wear, what am I going to do?' She was in makeup, I walk by, I'm wearing the gear. 'Hey Lita, how are you?' 'Oh my gosh.' 'I hope you're not mad.' 'Are you kidding? Not at all, that's amazing.' 'I really wanted to pay tribute to you.' She loved it. I'm not going to lie, I was a little scared for a minute, is she going to be pissed at me?"
Carmella was victorious in her return to the ring, defeating Candice LeRae, Michin, and Piper Niven to earn a spot in the Elimination Chamber match at WWE Elimination Chamber.
Carmella and Lita will be in action on Monday's WWE Raw as Carmella will face Asuka while Lita will team with Lynch to challenge IYO SKY & Dakota Kai for the WWE Women's Tag Team Titles.
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit the original source with a h/t and link back to Fightful for the transcription.