Eva Marie made a move during her WWE run that most talent wouldn’t even think about — she asked to step away from the main roster and go back to NXT, knowing it could end her career.
During her appearance on Chris Van Vliet’s podcast, Eva explained how the grind of WWE life — mixed with filming Total Divas — left her without the time she needed to actually learn how to wrestle.
“We were on the road so much and we were filming Total Divas so much that I didn’t really have the time to put energy into training because our time was really limited at that moment.”
She admitted that being on that stage without a full grasp of the fundamentals started to catch up with her.
“I needed the basics. I needed all of the things. I needed just like a full-on… like anybody, you know? You can’t just walk in somewhere, especially on that magnitude of a level, and expect to understand.”
Instead of staying put and trying to survive, Eva went straight to Vince McMahon with a request that rarely happens in WWE.
“I think it was probably like a year and a bit into being in WWE… that’s when I went up to Vince and I was like, ‘Hey, can I go back down to NXT?’”
Even she knew how unusual that sounded in a company where everyone is trying to move up, not down. “No one steps down,” Eva admitted. Vince didn’t block the idea, but he made the risk crystal clear before giving the green light.
“He told me no problem, but he also said there’s no guarantee of you coming back.”
That warning wasn’t lost on her. Walking away from the main roster meant putting her entire WWE future on the line. Still, Eva was willing to bet on herself rather than stay in a spot where she felt unprepared.
“But I said there’s no one that’s me.”
Looking back, it’s a rare call in WWE — choosing to step back instead of holding onto a main roster spot. Eva Marie rolled the dice, knowing full well it could have ended everything.
Do you think Eva Marie made the right move by taking that risk, or should she have stayed on the main roster and figured it out under the spotlight? Drop your thoughts below.
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