Eva Marie may be the most beautiful woman on the WWE Roster, but one thing she has never been mistaken for is a skilled in-ring competitor. The story of Eva reads like this:
A former fitness and fashion model, Eva Marie was signed alongside JoJo at a California Diva’s Search tryout for the WWE. After just four short weeks of training, Eva was thrust into the limelight as one of the stars of the reality tv show, Total Divas. Eva’s in-ring skills, or lack thereof, have been used as cannon fodder by wrestling fans all over the world, most notably by the NXT crowd who led a chant of “You Can’t Wrestle!” when she had a match against fan favorite, Bayley.
After a surgery put her on the shelf for 6 months, Eva Marie reached out to Vince McMahon and Triple H and requested time away from television to train.
” I’ve been out for six months because I had to get surgery. That bummed me out, because I really wanted to perfect my craft. When I come back, I really want to show the WWE Universe how much Eva Marie wants to be here. So, I reached out to Triple H and Mr. McMahon and said I would love the opportunity to just train, so that I could learn the craft. Hunter put me in contact with Brian Kendrick, which is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
-Eva Marie, Interview with WWE.com, 2015
When Brian Kendrick was presented with the opportunity to train Eva, he was told, “Best of luck.” by WWE employee and mat technician, William Regal.
” The thing was, I didn’t know what to expect. When I talked to Mr. Regal, he said, “Best of luck.” I didn’t know if he was being sarcastic. I said, “Is she bad?” He told me, “Honestly, we don’t know. She just hasn’t done enough in wrestling to tell if she’s good, bad or anything. She’s inexperienced.”
-Brian Kendrick, Interview with WWE.com, 2015
Flash forward to present day and instagram is buzzing with videos of Eva Marie working on everything from the basics to advanced, Lucha Libre style moves. The videos have sparked a renewed interest in Eva Marie, and are helping to silence some of those who thought she would only ever be a model who lucked into a career in the WWE. Brian Kendrick had this to say about training with Eva Marie:
“I knew I was going to have to take her from the ground up. I didn’t know how much effort she’d put into it. I thought she’d put in one or two days a week, based on other people that I’ve trained, but she’s insisting on going at least five days a week. We’re going for our sixth day tomorrow. She’s the most driven person I’ve ever dealt with.”
-Brian Kendrick, Interview with WWE.com, 2015
For me, I cannot help but be reminded of another WWE Diva who started her career as a fitness model and fan who had a long way to go in-ring. Trish Stratus. While she is now renowned as possibly the most decorated WWE Diva of all time and one of the best in-ring competitors of all time, Trish Stratus did not have the indie background that most members of the WWE community believe all competitors should have before making it. If anything, Trish was a lackluster performer in the ring until an injury sidelined her and she began watching tapes of her past matches. From there, Trish was paired with ring veteran Fit Finnely, the man responsible for the outstanding caliber of women’s wrestling during the attitude Era. Through training, opportunity to be involved in high caliber storylines and matches, and determination, Trish was able to condition herself to become the outstanding wrestler we associate her with today.
This is where I hope we see Eva Marie heading. She has a long road ahead of her and still many people she needs to prove wrong. It will be imperative for the WWE to book believable wins for Eva in the future and to not try the theory of “booking them to the top.” Wrestling fans now will only take to someone if they see the Superstar put in the work, which Eva Marie seems more than willing to do.
This is an opinion piece by:
http://www.mswrestleblog.blogspot.com
