Former WWE star Eva Marie recently appeared on the “Daria & Toni Unwrapped” podcast, where she opened up about her 2021 return to the company – and why it didn’t unfold the way it was originally planned.
According to Eva, her comeback storyline was completely reworked at the last minute, turning what was meant to be a managerial role into an unexpectedly active in-ring run.
Eva explained that before returning, she flew to WWE headquarters in Connecticut to meet directly with Vince McMahon and discuss her creative direction. The initial plan was for her to serve as a mouthpiece and mentor for Piper Niven (aka Doudrop), allowing Eva to focus on her strengths in character work and storytelling while helping establish a new star.
“The trajectory of my comeback was supposed to look a certain way,” Eva said. “I was just supposed to be a mouthpiece – which was perfect. Piper is a stud, she can wrestle, and I’d be her mouthpiece. That was the plan.”
However, those plans changed abruptly once she reported for television.
“Even my first night coming back, I thought things were going one way, and when I got there, it was completely changed,” she recalled. “I was waiting to talk to Vince – but getting face time with him at that point was damn near impossible. Everything was flipped on a dime.”
Instead of a slow-burn reintroduction, Eva found herself wrestling far more than expected – including an unplanned match at SummerSlam 2021, where she lost to Alexa Bliss.
“I wrestled more in that short run than I ever thought I would,” she said, noting that she had initially trained at the Performance Center to polish her fundamentals before returning to TV.
Despite the chaos, Eva described the experience as liberating, saying she fully leaned into her on-screen persona and learned to enjoy being the villain again. “I really leaned into being that character and having people not like me – it was freeing,” she said.
Looking ahead, Eva hasn’t ruled out another WWE run. She said that the WWE and the wrestling fans still hold a special place in her heart.
“I always keep the door open,” Eva said. “I’d be silly not to. There’s nothing like performing in front of that crowd. It’s the biggest high – you can’t find that anywhere else.”
Eva added that she respects the intensity of the business, calling WWE “a cutthroat industry” but also one that shaped her personally and professionally.
“WWE was just always a setup for my life,” she reflected. “It gave me the platform and the lessons that led me to where I am now.”
