Former WWE star Eva Marie recalls what made her decide to pursue professional wrestling compared to other career goals like acting and soccer.
Former WWE star Eva Marie believes that people can truly enjoy the results of their journeys once they experience them. For eight years, on and off, Marie refused to let the stars in her eyes cloud her performance in the WWE women's division. It all started in 2013, after a casting call, for which she had no idea what the audition was for until later.
"I never wanted to be a wrestler," the former "Total Divas" co-star said right off the bat on "Daria & Toni Unwrapped.""I wanted to be a professional soccer player. That was my real dream. So, the Diva Search was just on a whim...I was with this little, like, casting agency, and they just gave me this kind of open audition, and I had no idea what it was. And by that time, I was 28, so at that time, I'd been on a ton of little auditions... I remember getting the email, and I was like, 'Yeah, whatever,' and I rolled to the L.A. headquarters, and I walked in. I was like, 'Wait, what?' I saw Hulk Hogan on the walls. I was like, 'Whoa, whoa, this is crazy.'"
Never having "professional wrestler" on her bingo card of life pursuits, the former wrestler recalls what encouraged her to learn, train, and refine her skills in the industry, which included opportunities to travel the world, perform in front of live audiences, enhance her acting skills, affiliate herself with a locker room full of other go-getters like herself, and WWE's community work with the military.
"With WWE, obviously, they do so much community work, and the military is huge to me because of my dad being a veteran. So, I was like, d**n, this has everything combined into one, if I get this," Marie noted.
During her first run (2013 – 2017), Marie's physicality and attitude aligned well with "WWE NXT" and the main roster before she announced that she had parted ways with the company to pursue other non-wrestling interests. In October 2020, Marie returned; however, it was to kick-start her "Eva-Lution" mentorship. That run was short-lived, and by November 14, 2021, she was part of the seventh round of layoffs by WWE that involved both administrative staff and on-air talent.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Daria & Toni Unwrapped" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Read more: Every WWE Star Departure In 2025 So Far
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Read the original article on Wrestling Inc.
Category: General Sports
