Eva Marie isn’t dodging the criticism from her WWE run — she’s leaning into it and admitting fans had a point when they let her have it.
Speaking on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast, Eva opened up about the brutal crowd reactions she dealt with early in her career, including constant chants of “you can’t wrestle.” Instead of fighting it, she said she understood exactly where fans were coming from.
“At first, it affected me so much, ’cause I’m like, yeah, no sht I can’t f**ing wrestle. Like, I just started this. I’m like, I just learned — and I’m learning.”
Eva was thrown onto WWE television fast, and she knew she was still figuring things out while doing it in front of millions of viewers. That pressure eventually pushed her to make a move most wouldn’t risk — stepping back to get better.
“That’s also why I ended up asking Vince to go back to NXT because I wanted to learn how to wrestle and really have that confidence within myself.”
That decision didn’t just help her improve in the ring — it also shifted how she was viewed behind the scenes.
“I think me doing that also gained respect from my peers… they got to see a different side of me.”
While the chants and backlash hit hard at first, Eva said the real turning point came when she started to understand what those reactions actually meant in wrestling.
“I had a really hard time at first… I would walk out of arenas and my ass would be booed out of that place like crazy.”
Veterans helped her realize that getting a strong reaction — even a negative one — is exactly what performers are supposed to do.
“They would always check me and be like, ‘No, that is everything.’ Do you realize any heel character would die for that?”
That’s when everything clicked. What once felt like rejection became part of the job.
“You have a whole arena literally wishing that you did not exist in that arena… that’s the type of heat that you want.”
Looking back, Eva Marie isn’t denying the criticism — she’s owning it. And in her eyes, those loud boos were proof that people were reacting, which in wrestling is half the battle.
Do you think Eva Marie deserves credit for embracing the backlash, or were fans justified in calling her out at the time? Please share your thoughts and feedback in the comment section below.