Bianca Sophia Carelli (born June 29, 1997) is a Canadian professional wrestler and beauty pageant competitor. She current signed to WWE, where she performs under the ring name Arianna Grace on the NXT brand. She also appears in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), where she is the liaison between NXT and TNA.

Arianna Grace
Birth nameBianca Sophia Carelli[1]
Born (1997-06-29) June 29, 1997 (age 27)
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada[2]
Parent(s)Santino Marella (father)
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Arianna Grace[3]
Bianca Carelli[4]
Billed height5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Billed weight138 lb (63 kg)
Trained byTyson Dux[5]
Debut2018[6]

Carelli is the daughter of Anthony Carelli, better known as Santino Marella, making her a second-generation professional wrestler.

Early life

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Bianca Carelli was born in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada to Petrina and professional wrestler Anthony Carelli, who is best known for his time in WWE as Santino Marella, and currently works for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA). At a young age, Carelli took part in live theater performances, improvisation competitions, competitive dance and beauty pageants. She won the Miss Teen Ontario-World pageant in 2013 at age 17 and she graduated from Western University in London, Ontario, Canada with a Bachelor's degree in biology. Carelli also has extensive training in MMA fighting with a focus on Judo, Jiu Jitsu and Boxing.[7][8][9][10]

Professional wrestling career

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National Wrestling Alliance (2018–2022)

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Carelli began training in 2018 under independent wrestler Tyson Dux in Canada and she made her debut on June 9, 2018. At NWA EmPowerrr in 2021, Carelli competed in the NWA Women's Invitational Cup Gauntlet, which was won by Chelsea Green. She went on to compete on several independent shows in Florida before being signed by WWE in March 2022.[11][12]

WWE (2022–present)

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On March 17, 2022, it was announced that Carelli had signed with WWE where she would report to the NXT brand.[13] On the April 29 episode of NXT Level Up, she made her debut under the ring name Arianna Grace where she defeated Amari Miller.[14] She was soon announced as a participant in the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament where she was defeated by Nikkita Lyons in the first round on the May 10 episode of NXT.[15] On the August 10 episode of NXT, Grace earned her first televised win by defeating Thea Hail. In October, Grace suffered a torn ACL injury which sidelined her for a year.[16][17]

Grace made her in-ring return on the September 29, 2023, episode of NXT Level Up losing to Fallon Henley. Now portraying a beauty pageant gimmick calling herself "Miss NXT", Grace made her televised return in the NXT Women's Breakout Tournament in October where she defeated Brinley Reece in the first round but lost to Kelani Jordan in the semi-finals.[18][19][20] On the January 16, 2024, episode of NXT, Grace participated in an NXT Women's Championship #1 Contender's Battle Royal which was won by Roxanne Perez.[21] On the March 12 episode of NXT, Grace defeated Gigi Dolin by disqualification with the stipulation that if Dolin lost, Grace had to give her a makeover. However, this storyline was dropped after Dolin suffered a knee injury.[22][23] On the June 25 episode of NXT, Grace fought Sol Ruca for an opportunity at the NXT Women's North American Championship at NXT Heatwave against Kelani Jordan but was defeated. The following week on NXT, after Karmen Petrovic challenged Jacy Jayne and Jazmyn Nyx to a tag team match at NXT Heatwave, NXT General Manager Ava assigned Grace as Petrovic's partner much to Petrovic's dismay. At the NXT Heatwave pre-show, Grace and Petrovic defeated Jayne and Nyx. After the match, Grace and Petrovic had a disagreement on who contributed to the match victory, to which Ava booked a match between them on that week's NXT, where Grace was defeated.[24][25][26][27][28] In August, Grace has reportedly suffered an undisclosed injury.[29]

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (2024)

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On the September 5, 2024, episode of Impact!, Carelli, as Arianna Grace, made her Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) debut and announced that she will be the new liaison between NXT and TNA.[30] At Victory Road on September 13, Grace appeared on-screen with her father, TNA's Director of Authority Santino Marella, for the first time in their career.[31]

Personal life

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Carelli is of Italian, Pakistani, Métis and Finnish descent.[32] Carelli is in a relationship with American professional wrestler Mitchell Lavalley, better known by the ring name Channing "Stacks" Lorenzo.[citation needed] In 2023, she competed in the Miss Universe Canada beauty pageant where she finished in the top 20.[citation needed]

References

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  1. ^ "Bianca Sophia Carelli Profile". Miss Universe Canada. August 20, 2023. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  2. ^ "Arianna Grace Cagematch". Cagematch. January 30, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  3. ^ "Arianna Grace". WWE. April 30, 2024. Archived from the original on June 17, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  4. ^ "Arianna Grace Cagematch". Cagematch. January 30, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  5. ^ "Arianna Grace Cagematch". Cagematch. January 30, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  6. ^ "Arianna Grace Cagematch". Cagematch. January 30, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  7. ^ "Hello from Bianca Carelli, Miss Teen Ontario–World 2013". Archived from the original on June 16, 2016. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  8. ^ "Miss Teen Ontario World 2013!". Miss Teenage Canada. January 25, 2013. Archived from the original on June 10, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2023. I would like to congratulate 17 year old Bianca Carelli from Toronto for obtaining the title of Miss Teen Ontario!
  9. ^ "WWE welcomes newest class of recruits to the WWE Performance Center". WWE.com. March 17, 2022. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  10. ^ "Bianca Sophia Carelli Profile". Miss Universe Canada. August 20, 2023. Archived from the original on February 26, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  11. ^ "Arianna Grace Cagematch". Cagematch. January 30, 2020. Archived from the original on May 24, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  12. ^ "NWA Empowerrr 2021 Results". Cagematch. August 28, 2021. Archived from the original on November 5, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  13. ^ "WWE welcomes newest class of recruits to the WWE Performance Center". WWE.com. March 17, 2022. Archived from the original on March 17, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  14. ^ "WWE NXT Level Up Results: April 29, 2022". WWE.com. April 29, 2022. Archived from the original on May 22, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  15. ^ "WWE NXT results: May 10, 2022". WWE.com. May 10, 2022. Archived from the original on May 11, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  16. ^ "WWE NXT Results: August 9, 2022". WWE.com. August 9, 2022. Archived from the original on March 5, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  17. ^ "Day 28 post ACL surgery! Finally get to sleep with my knee brace off & Can walk without crutches. Still get sore very easily and my knee is not 100% of course but every day is better than the one before it and for that, I am grateful! #aclrecovery #comeback #wwenxt #selfie". Instagram. November 16, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  18. ^ "WWE NXT Level Up Results: September 29, 2023". WWE.com. September 29, 2023. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  19. ^ "WWE NXT Results: October 17, 2023". WWE.com. October 17, 2023. Archived from the original on March 26, 2024. Retrieved October 17, 2023.
  20. ^ "Halloween Havoc Week One results, October 24, 2023". WWE.com. October 24, 2023. Archived from the original on November 15, 2023. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  21. ^ "WWE NXT Results: January 16, 2024 Results". WWE.com. January 16, 2024. Archived from the original on March 16, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  22. ^ "WWE NXT Results: March 12, 2024". WWE.com. March 12, 2024. Archived from the original on May 19, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  23. ^ Currier, Joseph (June 21, 2024). "WWE NXT wrestler Gigi Dolin believed to have suffered torn ACL". F4W Online. Archived from the original on June 21, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  24. ^ "WWE NXT results: June 25, 2024". WWE.com. June 25, 2024. Archived from the original on June 26, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  25. ^ "WWE NXT Results: July 2, 2024". WWE.com. July 2, 2024. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  26. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (July 2, 2024). "Arianna Grace And Karmen Petrovic vs. Jacy Jayne And Jazmyn Nyx Added To NXT Heatwave". Fightful. Archived from the original on July 3, 2024. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
  27. ^ Powell, Jason (July 7, 2024). "NXT Heatwave results: Moore's live review of Trick Williams vs. Ethan Page vs. Je'Von Evans vs. Shawn Spears for the NXT Championship, Roxanne Perez vs. Lola Vice for the NXT Women's Championship". Pro Wrestling Dot Net. Archived from the original on July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  28. ^ "WWE NXT results: July 9, 2024". WWE.com. July 9, 2024. Retrieved July 16, 2024.
  29. ^ SP3 (August 16, 2024). "WWE Star Seemingly Injured Amid Television Absence". WrestleTalk. Retrieved November 29, 2024.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  30. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (September 5, 2024). "Arianna Grace Says She's The New Liaison Between TNA And NXT, Karmen Petrovic Answers Open Challenge On 9/5 TNA iMPACT! | Fightful News". Fightful. Archived from the original on September 6, 2024. Retrieved September 6, 2024.
  31. ^ Lambert, Jeremy (September 13, 2024). "Santino Marella And Arianna Grace Reunite At TNA Victory Road | Fightful News". Fightful. Archived from the original on September 14, 2024. Retrieved September 14, 2024.
  32. ^ "Arianna Grace Bio". Instagram. Archived from the original on July 25, 2022. Retrieved July 3, 2024. 🧬Italian, Pakistani, Métis & Finnish
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