Eva Marie keeps door open for WWE return, reflects on 2021 run

Eva Marie said she still keeps the door open to returning to WWE and described how early skepticism, veteran advice and shifting creative plans shaped her most recent run with the company. Speaking this month on the Daria Toni Unwrapped podcast, the former WWE performer recounted her rapid entry into the business in 2013, the guidance she received from trainers and colleagues, and the unexpected course of her 2021 comeback.

Marie recalled debuting on television after only two weeks of formal training and encountering a hostile response from some fans. She credited veteran trainer Norman Smiley with a key lesson about audience reaction, saying he told her that a silent crowd is a warning sign and that performers need to provoke some response, positive or negative. She also named Tyler Breeze and Bayley as colleagues who helped her loosen anxiety about proving herself to peers and fans.

On her 2021 return, Marie said she spoke with company leadership about a planned role as a nonwrestling mouthpiece for Doudrop, then billed as Piper Niven, intended to highlight Niven’s in-ring strengths. “I was just supposed to be a mouthpiece, period,” she told the podcast, adding that the plan...