The end of this month will mark my one year anniversary with SLTD Wrestling, having written about professional wrestling on a weekly basis. Suffice to say that I’ve written a number of articles for this website, discussing the pushes or lack of pushes of a number of wrestlers in the last year. From Naomi to Big Cass, I try my hardest to root for the successes of everyone in WWE. It’d break my heart if certain wrestlers weren’t given their just desserts. There’s always one article I remember writing, about a red-haired bombshell that was struggling to get over as a top star…
I also remember the week and the month I wrote this article. It was in October 2015 and it had been a busy week for me as a wrestling writer. I’d written detailed reviews on WWE’s Madison Square Garden event shown on the WWE Network, TNA Bound For Glory and NXT TakeOver: Respect. Out of all those events, NXT TakeOver: Respect was the highlight of the week by leaps and bounds. Main-eventing this special night, featuring the in-ring debut of Asuka, was the incredible thirty minute iron woman match between Sasha Banks and Bayley. I was so blown away by how great this was.
So imagine my shock when I learned what future plans WWE had in store for NXT’s women’s division. Eva Marie was reportedly pencilled in for a big women’s program with Bayley, with a potential title change in the works. As it turns out, this program only amounted to a NXT Women’s title match on NXT as well as Bayley feuding with Nia Jax. However, I was still devasted at the possibility of WWE pushing Eva this way. Don’t get me wrong. I’m never one to get in the way of anyone getting a push in wrestling, provided that they work hard to get those pushes. However, I also want these pushes to work. Promoting a wrestler a certain way could just spell disaster for their future.
With this report in mind, I wrote one of my favourite pieces I’ve ever written for SLTD. It was called the Eva Marie Dilemma. I discussed why Eva would not get over being pushed in this manner. I begged and pleaded with WWE to do this right. I had a great scenario in my head which could elevate Eva’s career, as well as getting her cheered as a babyface. I told WWE to make Eva “pay her dues” on television, in order for her to gain respect from the fans and her peers.
Fastforward almost one year, and nothing’s changed. I logged onto my Twitter account, with @SLTDWrestling tweeting about NEW reports of “All-Red” Eva Marie becoming the new top female on SmackDown! Deja Vu struck once again and this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. I’m sure there will be defenders of Eva Marie, claiming that there’s nothing wrong with WWE wanting to push Eva. She has worked hard and she can generate heat. Well, let’s all actually journey back to what’s happened in the last year in the life of Eva Marie…
I would not say that Eva was “getting over” in NXT, but she was fortunate enough to be able to bump herself up the very short-stacked NXT women’s division. Charlotte, Sasha Banks and Becky Lynch left a sizeable whole in their women’s talent pool. Eva seized on the opportunity, which is not a bad thing, and she at least became the top heel in the division almost by default. Fine. Where she was up until the week before WrestleMania was better than where she was before. Whatever. Then, on the RAW before WrestleMania, Eva makes her grand return to the main roster.
The heroes of the E! reality TV show Total Divas were being pummelled by a group of evil women led by a Russian symphizer. It was a five on four disadvantage for our beloved heroes and they needed a saviour. Coming out would be none other than Eva Marie, for the big save to even things up. Her music plays, and the fans start insanely booing her.
Meanwhile, Vince McMahon was planning on having a huge grin on his face backstage watching this. He believed that all the work that Eva Marie had done at NXT would pay off and she would return to the main roster to a hero’s welcome. The fans can’t possibly boo a NXT wrestler right? Not only was she booed, but she was the most booed person in the arena that night. Her competition even included a hugely dispised and hugely pushed Roman Reigns.
Let’s actually think about that for a minute, because Roman Reigns also suffered from a hugely disappointing return a few weeks before Eva’s returned. A hero’s welcome turned into a booker’s nightmare. Roman was hugely pushed and the fans rejected him. Eva was booked to be the returning hero and she was rejected even worse.
So Eva floats around in WWE for a while until they announce the return of the brand extension. Eva is drafted to SmackDown! and is one of six women drafted to the blue brand. On the first SmackDown! of the “new era” of WWE, they have all of these women come out and say their piece. Eva comes out last, says nothing and was supposedly supposed to come off as the top star in the SmackDown! women’s division.
I was not really bothered about that segment but I was bothered with last week’s “match” involving Eva and Becky Lynch. Eva makes her entrance, jumps off the middle rope and “sprained” her ankle. This was clearly part of some goofy angle but this was actually designed to help Eva’s career. Following this “match” involving Eva, reports suggested that she could be pushed as the top female on SmackDown!
In that one year, they did nothing at all to convince me that I should give more of a damn about Eva Marie than I did a year ago, and she’s supposed to be the “top female” on a SmackDown! women’s division featuring six women?
Let’s actually discuss the seemingly only woman in discussion of being considered for being the top dog in the SmackDown! women’s division… Becky Lynch. She’s one of the most over women in all of WWE right now, including NXT. Why is she over? Well, let’s break it down. She’s got a great look, she has a very likeable personality, she’s one of the best female workers in all of WWE and she’s worked hard to get to where she is. Becky is seen as a role model for women, very attractive to men and a very cool chick by just about everyone. That’s everything you should want in your top female in WWE. Now look at Eva…
She’s improved in the last year as a worker. Nobody’s questioning that, at least not me. Great look? I’d say so. Red hair gives Eva that distinct look that makes her stand out. Perfect for a wrestling and creative environment. Likeable is where things fall apart for Eva. I’m sure that Eva is a wonderful girl in real life but to a television audience and a wrestling audience, she comes off so poorly. Her on-screen wrestling persona and her appearances on Total Divas portrays her as a mischievous, no-good woman who uses looks to advance her career. After three years with WWE, she still comes off as the most un-liked woman in WWE. Some will argue that this heat will help her be a good heel. Good heels should at least have somewhat of a connection to their audience. Even the Bella Twins, while unpopular to male wrestling fans, are beloved by little girls. Eva doesn’t have that in her favour so when the day comes when WWE want to try to get her over as a babyface, which they tried earlier this year, it’s going to fall flat on their faces.
Eva worked hard for a couple of months with Brian Kendrick to get better. That’s well documentated. Becky has been working hard for nearly fifteen years, even overcoming a serious injury to keep doing what she loved. Paige was wrestling when she was 13 years old. That commitment to their craft was one of MANY things that got those girls over. 2016 isn’t like 2000, when women like Trish Stratus could get over just by leaving men with their jaws dropped to the floor. People from the year 2016 can see right through it.
Even Trish Stratus knew that she needed to do more than look pretty to be able to maintain her spot as the top female in WWE. She worked her backside off to get better and eventually became possibly the greatest female wrestler of all time, as well as staying as the top diva in WWE up until she retired in 2006. It’s an incredible feat for a female to stay on top for so long in wrestling.
If Eva Marie wants to be a top WWE superstar, she should be showing more of a commitment to being a wrestler. She should not be showing the commitment of a few months of training in NXT, to “show” you how much she wants this. No. ON TELEVISION, YOU NEED TO PAY YOUR DUES.
That’s the only chance this girl has of being anywhere near the top of the female ladder in WWE. As I stated earlier, a forced push isn’t going to get the right results. Showing the WWE fans her toughness and her abillity can get results. Showing the fans that she is more than a pretty face can get results. Heck, showing the fans more of an ACTUAL human side to Eva can get results. Not to trash Total Divas or anything, but there is barely anything on that show that allows people to relate to Eva Marie.
It’s almost astonishing that WWE are still contiuning their Eva Marie pet project, after all of these years. I say almost because Roman Reigns being pushed for so long is a constant reminder that I should stop getting my hopes up. God bless Eva Marie, but they’re doing the exact same thing with this girl that they were doing in 2013. In a women’s roster as a whole that is as developed as WWE’s roster is right now, the idea that WWE are still going for eye candy as a means to get women over is embarrassing and worrying. If they continue down this road, there is no hope for Eva Marie.
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