By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)
Insight With Chris Van Vliet with guest Eva Marie
Host: Chris Van Vliet
Podcast available via Podcasts.Apple.com
So how long after you started training did you have your first match? “No one will ever walk into WWE the way that I did, I can almost guarantee it, because it’s insane, in a good way, though, for me. Because it’s like I’m so blessed that I was able to have that opportunity. Because if I didn’t, I don’t know what I would be doing. So that’s why I’m so thankful. So after those four weeks, I get my developmental contract. Me and JoJo actually got it together. They told us together. I was so excited. I was like, Oh my gosh. And they’re like, Okay, well, you guys have a couple months to get your things together, because you’re gonna have to move to Tampa. No problem. I ain’t got shit out here, I was sharing a bed with a girlfriend of mine, because I had too much pride to move back in with mommy and daddy. So I was just like sharing a bit with her, because that’s how bad my life was, or my decisions, I guess you could say had put me. But then I get a call because I was in LA and they go, ‘How do you feel about going in for this audition? We can’t really tell you much about it. We don’t know about this project if we were gonna green light it, or whatever it is, but they want to see you.’ I was like, Yeah, sure, no problem. I don’t care.
“So I sit down, green screen, shout out to Russell, the producer of the reality show Total Divas. I had no idea that’s what the casting was for. But cameras kind of like this, and you’re sitting in front of a camera, he’s drilling you a million questions, just like who you are, where you’re from, family, this, that and the other. Three hours later, interview is done, and he goes, ‘Just so you know, this project is moving really, really fast, and if you do get it, your life will be changing pretty quickly.’ So it’s only happened to me probably twice in my life, this being one of them. When I walked out of that interview, I was like, I motherf—ing murdered that! I just had that feeling of wow, I think I just killed it, for sure. So I ended up leaving that interview and drove back up to the Bay Area. It was a Friday night. Drove up to where I’m from, was with my parents, got a call on Saturday. It’s Russell saying, congratulations, you got the job, and they mentioned something about my hair. Totally go deaf, because I don’t care, because now I’m like, you have to think I’m a chick that had all these hopes and dreams of being a soccer player, then that kind of shattered. Got heavy into my addiction, went to rehab, just got out maybe five weeks or so ago, and now I’m getting a call saying that I just got this opportunity to not only be in the WWE, but now I’m going to be on this reality show that showcases what that looks like on the road. So I get the call Saturday. So that’s 24 hours after my interview, saying that, ‘Congratulations, you got the job. First day on the job is going to be New York WrestleMania. You’ll be on a flight on Monday morning.’ So my life changed within 48 hours, just like that.”
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—ing 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 shit was real. I mean, we’re all good now, but that’s why I can laugh and talk about it, because that shit was [real].”
Was it the idea that you don’t belong here, you’re an outsider coming into our world? “For sure, and I totally get it. ‘Pay your dues. Who is this b*tch? We’ve been going hard for the last X amount of years…’ You have to think too. Not only were there two-minute matches, there is one storyline for the girls, so it’s a dog-eat-dog world. When you’re on TV, that’s also how you get paid, and also how you get known, how you get [fans], which the WWE has the best fans in the world, and when you’re on TV, you get the love or the hate from the Universe. So you want to be on television, and that’s the whole point of being in the WWE and on a show, so that you can go perform. So now all of a sudden, they have two new girls stepping into the locker room. They know that they don’t know how to wrestle. So there’s one ping against us is that they’ve been putting in their blood, sweat, and tears for years to get up on the main roster now that they think they have the opportunity for their time to shine. Now we have these two new girls that know nothing about the business. Don’t even barely know how to do a back bump or a suplex or run the ropes, and you expect us to, one, help them, and two, ‘I’ll be damned if they think they’re going to take my spotlight.’ So you already had that, which I completely understand, that like, how could you not? But at the same time, when opportunity knocks, you better be ready to f—ing take it, because nobody else is going to do it.”
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—ing 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.”
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