Former WWE Star Eva Marie Recalls Creative Decision That Led To Drama On Total Divas
· Yahoo Sports
During the first few seasons of "Total Divas," Natalie Marie Nelson, formerly known as WWE's Eva Marie, was one of the biggest stars on the show, having been a wrestler that was often involved in controversy, arguments, and the central conflict. However, there was nothing random about all the heat directed towards Marie, as she recently explained in an interview with Chris Van Vliet on "Insight" that WWE decided to feature her on the show before she became a full-time wrestler to purposely anger her co-stars.
"Originally, what they were going to do was have two people from 'NXT,' from developmental already to be on the show and then showcase that. But I guess whoever, I'm not sure to this day exactly who made that call. I'm assuming it was probably a Vince [McMahon] call, that they decided to flip it and add more, I guess, drama to the show and have two girls that knew nothing about the business and did not even know how to wrestle yet come into the show ... it was going to cause some type of controversy with the girls that were in the locker room."
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Marie explains how Total Divas affected her in-ring training and reflects on her difficulties working on the show
Eva Marie attends the WWE SummerSlam - Bryan Steffy/Getty ImagesMarie also explained that WWE choosing to prioritize her talents on "Total Divas" rather than her training was the reason she struggled in the ring. That said, she admitted that her inability to perform on a high-level did worked well with her gimmick to avoid wrestling, and the show did result in many of the women getting booked on TV.
"That's why I was f*****g terrible. Which played in my favor for me character-wise, but it was so horrifying because I hadn't had a real match in practice or anything. It was like I barely even knew how to take a back bump ... 'Total Divas' started to air and then immediately they were like, 'Oh my gosh, we need to put these girls on and kind coincide to have it them on 'Monday Night Raw.' But you have to remember too, where the time that 'Total Divas' started airing, women did not have the time that they have now either on WWE TV."
The 41-year-old continued by sharing that it was disappointing to watch most of the women's roster get one-minute matches during the first season, explaining it was hard to tell a story with such limited time. However, despite past frustrations with her co-stars and management, Marie claims she has no ill will towards any of the women she worked with today.
"That s**t was real. I mean, we're all good now, but that's why I can laugh and talk about it." she explained. "I totally get it. It's like, pay your dues. Who is this b***h? She's going to come in here. We've been going hard for the last X amount of years."
Marie reiterated that there's no existing tension between any of the girls on the show, but admitted that she despised many of the "Total Divas" stars at one point, especially when she felt disliked both on and off screen.
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit "Insight" with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
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Read the original article on Wrestling Inc.