Eva Marie (@natalieevamarie) is a professional wrestler and podcaster best known for her time in WWE. She sits down with Chris Van Vliet in Orange County, CA to discuss how she was fast-tracked to the main roster after signing her contract and the resulting backlash, being on Total Divas and how much of the resentment was real, her signature red hair, why her 2 runs with WWE came to an end, helping others battling with addiction, and more!
What keeps you busy these days?
“I mean, one, we’re sitting in the studio, so, I mean, we just had you as a guest on the Hopeaholics podcast. So I think that really has kind of transitioned my life, it has drastically shifted since July 28 2023 because that’s when I originally first came as a guest on this podcast, the Hopeaholics podcast, or the studio that we’re in. And then that’s really where everything kind of changed the trajectory of my life, because I was living in Texas, and then all of a sudden, after being on the podcast and seeing what the guys were doing out here with the treatment facilities, from helping our veterans to having other facilities for people to come and detox and get well from drug and substance abuse. I really put all my chips into this bucket over here to open up my own treatment facility and to be on the podcast and just kind of go all in with everything, breaking the stigma with addiction.”
So if somebody’s watching this and they want to reach out and they’re seeking treatment, what’s the best way for them to do that?
“There’s so many ways. You can go to the Hopeaholics on Instagram. You can go to nemrecovery on Instagram. You can go to a website. You can go to nemrecoverycenters.com. We have numbers everywhere for anyone, like on any social network. We have our very own AI tool as well of both Chad and myself. It’s amazing, and you can text that number anywhere you go on my personal socials, you can contact a number or go to a website and find help.”
What does your life look like without recovery?
“It doesn’t. There’s no way. If I wasn’t sober, I wouldn’t have WWE. WWE was literally a monumental moment in my life, because it was the setup, I came public with my sobriety on Season One of Total Divas without me knowing what I was really doing by coming public with it, it was just I came public to hurry up with my story so that I didn’t walk into the locker rooms and have like Nikki or Brie holding up my mug shot. Me trying to skirt around something that I was so shameful of. So that’s really why I kind of put that out there myself. Because I think if you own all of your own stories or your own transgressions, how are you gonna tell me anything I’ve already told you? “
Like that scene in 8 Mile?
“That’s my go-to, that’s my analogy that I always use and I always reference, because I feel like everyone’s seen that movie, and they kind of understand what I’m talking about. When it’s like, you own your own story, you own your own narrative, it gives you so much power, because nobody can say anything to you then, because you’ve already owned it. So that’s really what I was doing at that moment, without really knowing how powerful it was going to be for me, not only to be so open and honest about me working a 12-step program or struggling with alcohol and drug addiction, but it really did set up my life fast forward 10 years later to what I’m doing now. Because when I got out of treatment, because I don’t know if people really understand that not only was WWE such a life-changing experience for me, on a magnitude of reasons, from the fact of like me always wanting to be a professional athlete. Soccer was really my sport, but the fact that God gave me that element back into my life, because, as you know, having to handle the physicality inside the ring and being able to perform and travel and do all the things within that company is something that my soul was yearning for from not being able to pursue soccer, my dream, but also I was fresh out of treatment five weeks so I had gotten originally, my first audition, because we don’t do them anymore, but they were diva searches at the time. I had gone to my first one a couple of months before, and I was still kind of in my addiction. I mean, I was able to show up to the first call, but then I ended up going into treatment, and when I got out, that was when I got the call back, and it was like five weeks after I had just left treatment. So my life changed really quickly and really fast.”
How quickly did your life change after signing with WWE?
“So, how it went down was actually really wild, because we had the in-ring physicality tryout, and that’s obviously where I met and totally hit it off with JoJo and a couple of the other girls from our camp, CJ was in there as well. So it was a four-week tryout. I fell in love with it because I was missing that competitive edge in my life, too. So the fact of doing something and getting into a ring, it’s like, especially if you don’t have that type of physicality background. I feel like dancers, gymnasts, they kind of pick it up a little bit easier. I’ll never forget my body. I couldn’t even pick up my legs. I was so sore. It was insane. So how it went with that is, after the four weeks, if they thought that they saw some type of potential in you, you would end up getting a developmental contract move to Tampa at the time, because that’s where the facility was, not in Orlando yet. So it was just a developmental contract, and then you would go out there, learn how to wrestle, learn whichever character you’re going to try to work on and learn about the business, and then hope to get called up to the main roster on Monday night Raw or Friday night SmackDown. I always refer to it as AAA baseball, but even at AAA, you know how to play the game. But when you’re going in, how we got the developmental contract, none of all of us knew how to kind of run the ropes and kind of take a back bump by then, and we’re doing, forward backward rolls. It’s not like we’re really knowing how to wrestle. We’re knowing little basics, and that’s about it.”
So how long after you started training did you have your first match?
“Well, it gets better. So that’s why my whole sh*t is like, 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 get your things together, because you’re gonna have to move to Tampa. No problem. I ain’t got sh*t out here, I was saying 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 mother f*cking 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*cking terrible, which played in my favour 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 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.”
What was the story behind your red hair?
“So best business decision I have ever made without me knowing it. My mom’s a hairdresser, so I’ve been dyeing my hair since I was stealing all her stuff since I was like, 15. So I had black, dark hair. That’s my natural hair color. You see my eyebrows? That’s the natural color. When I got a call on Saturday saying that I got the job, they mentioned a lot of the girls that have left were platinum blonde. Because the twins are Mexican-Italian too, so we don’t want you to look like one of The Bella Twins. Are you okay with changing your hair to platinum blonde? I didn’t care. I was like, Yeah, sure, whatever. I’ll dye my hair freaking purple, whatever. So I get to New York for WrestleMania. That was my first day on the job, also, which is unheard of, and they had set this appointment and everything with this really nice salon in New York to dye my hair blonde, we’re going platinum. Well, I’ve been blonde, not like a really cute blonde, whatsoever, in high school, and it was horrible. It was so bad. So in the show, season one, or I think it’s like the first episode. That was real sh*t That was literally like, I’m in the chair, and they’re stripping my hair color from previous colors and stuff, and it starts to kind of look orangey. I literally look at JoJo and I was like, I can’t do it. I literally say in the chair, I look like Mufasa from The Lion King. I look insane. It looks terrible. It’s orange. There is no way. Well, I was listening to Rihanna’s album at the time, it was when she had that crazy fire-red hair. I think her album was called Loud at the time. I was like, dude, her hair is sick. It was just such a fire engine red. I was like, f*ck it. Let’s go red. I don’t know exactly what really sparked me to kind of go against the grain, because it was a big gamble, because the Vince and the higher ups were the ones that were requesting this to happen, but deep down, I knew if I were to really go platinum blonde, like Maryse or Kelly Kelly, like that type of blonde, I would be bald, and there’s no way that I would be able to maintain that type of white color for very long without it just ruining [my hair]. I literally would be bald to have that colour hair, because my hair is so dark. So I just really took a gamble, and at the time, because we were called Divas, my saving grace, because I got in trouble, and the girls thought that I was gonna get fired, and I’m sure, looking back, they probably hope that I did. But my saving grace, why I went red and went against the grain was because being a WWE Diva, being a WWE superstar, even to this day, is all about your inner confidence and showcasing that and feeling good about yourself, and then being able to hopefully radiate that from inward to outward. I said that if I went blonde, there’s no way I would be able to put forth the most confident individual, because I would be insecure and self-conscious from the very jump, and that’s not what a Diva embodies.”
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 with 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 do, 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].”
Was it the idea that, like, Hey, 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 bitch? 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*cking take it, because nobody else is going to do it.”
The segment of you having the wardrobe malfunction has 47 million views on the WWE YouTube channel. What was the whole pitch for that segment?
“So that whole kind of storyline was fun. There’s always going to be an excuse for me not to get in the ring. One I got stuck in traffic. The other one I hurt my knee, and then the wardrobe malfunction. I can’t remember who exactly thought of that idea, but it was pitched to me. I’m obviously easy, I’m really am, especially because I’m a bad guy as is, so I have removed really quickly being the hero or being like, the one that doesn’t look silly. Because I think that also is a big component in going into WWE. Sometimes some superstars have a really hard time with [being the butt of the joke], or not being the man. I kind of let that sh*t go, because it was like, it’s fine, here we are, and it worked. People really did hate me. There’s a sign, and I can’t remember what city it was, it was like, if Eva Marie’s here, we riot. Or just this crazy little section of this is Eva Marie’s section or something so obnoxious, but it was fun, because they couldn’t wait to just talk sh*t to me when I came out. But the wardrobe one was gnarly, because it’s live television, so to make it realistic, we had to do like we did a run through with it, because the last thing that we needed me actually dropping my top. So cameramen were paranoid, freaking out, so I was securely taped, but it came off pretty good.”
So what actually happens, because you actually do have a wardrobe malfunction:
“I do, yeah. But the way that I’m holding it looks like, Oh, my God, it’s really happening, but I’m taped up. So if I literally let my hands go, it’s just flapping in the wind.”
What happens to your straps?
“It basically just clips off and it just falls forward. And how it kind of came off on TV looked great. It liked how it just really did look like this is happening, like her top is literally falling off, and Becky played off it great.”
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 like, 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.”
What is Eva Marie grateful for?
“My family, my health, my relationship with God, and endless opportunities.”
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