Eva Marie joined Chris Van Vliet for an in-depth interview on the latest episode of his INSIGHT podcast.
The following are some of the highlights.
So how long were you on Total Divas before you actually worked a match: “So my first match? Not long at all. That’s why I was f*cking terrible, which played in my favor character-wise. But it was so horrifying because I hadn’t had a real match in practice or anything. I barely even knew how to take kind of a back bump. So I think, what happened, because things were happening so quickly that Total Divas started to air, and then immediately they were like, Oh my gosh, we need to put these girls on and kind of coincide with them on Monday Night Raw. But you have to remember too, when Total Divas started airing, women did not have the time they have now on WWE TV. So it was even more difficult to kind of paint a picture and paint a story. Because, I mean, the first year or first season, you get to watch the disappointment and then you have to think The [Bella] Twins and the Funkadactyls, they were just valets for the guys at the time for WrestleMania, and they got cut. Their match got cut during that first season. But that’s kind of how it was for women at that time too.”
How long do you think it took you to really start to figure out the moves in the ring, to really start to feel confident with putting together a match? “I don’t think until I decided when I went to Vince and asked him to go back down to NXT. I was probably already on the road for like a year and a half or two before I went. I made a rocky decision by going and asking him. No one steps down, but we were on the road so much, and we were filming so much that I didn’t really have the time to put energy into training because our time was really limited at that moment. Then you can work on the road at house shows and stuff, but it’s really a big ask to ask some of the other Superstars to kind of get to the arena early and try to roll around with you, and it’s not the same either, and they have a show that night. Trust me, there was a ton that wanted to, Nattie was great, Fit was also awesome, because he would always get there early. But usually people are getting there early to try things, and they already know how to wrestle. They already know how to put together a very basic match. So it’s a little bit different than what I really needed.”
When you were filming Total Divas, was there legit beef? “Oh, that sh*t was real. I mean, we’re all good now, but that’s why I can laugh and talk about it, because that sh*t was [real].”
Why did your first run with WWE come to an end? “It was actually odd. I still don’t know exactly. The timing of it was, I mean, I got my first movie, so that’s also kind of what happened, is I stepped away to do that. Inconceivable, you can still watch it on Netflix. Had an amazing time on that film. So when I left for that, I kind of still have a feeling of if I didn’t leave for that movie, maybe I would still be in the company, because I think that probably was as much as they gave me their blessing, I’m sure it hurt me internally in some capacity.”
What led you to go back to WWE in 2021? “I love the business. I love it. There’s nothing like it. I owe everything to WWE. I’ve learned so much. I’ve grown as an individual. I feel like I have a love-hate relationship too, because I feel like I never really got a solid shot, a solid storyline. I never did. I never even had a title run. I went for the NXT title. But when you really look at the grand scheme of things, of storylines, and me on the main roster.”
So why did the most recent run with WWE come to an end? “That one is actually f*cking a little bit odd, because it was supposed to be longer than that, and it wasn’t. But I think there is going to be changing of hands in management, and that’s kind of what happened with my contract. So it kind of got messed up within kind of that communication.”
