Eva Marie On WWE Release, Dating Life, & Secret Netflix Project

Was it just, like, a phone call? Like, they just called you out of the blue? Yep. How'd that phone call go? Um, exactly like, uh, we're releasing you. It was super cold? Very much. Mm. By Johnny. Oh, by Johnny? Mm-hmm. Did you, did you fight back? Um, I actually really didn't. I had a really good relationship with Vince, and then I was actually supposed to come back. And that's where it gets like so bizarre because but that's when everything was going down too within the company. So it was like worst timing ever and I was supposed to come back. I actually got another contract and then It just went kaput. Welcome to TMZ's Inside the Ring. I'm Branson Quirk. I'm Roger Corral. And joining us today is a former WWE superstar. I grew up with her. I feel like people that I bring in are the ones that I grew up with. Yeah. And then you're like, you're Mr. Like DDP. Okay. Yeah, calling me old is what you're doing. JBL. I like the cool people. Oh, yeah. Obviously. Yeah. The with it people. I grew up. I know all of her career. Okay, because you looked it up yesterday. Yeah, I looked it up. No, that's so ridiculous. No, no, I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Joining us today is a former WWE superstar, one of the original stars of the hit reality show Total Divas, one of your favorite shows. Yeah, yeah, yeah. She's doing a lot. She's doing exclusive content. She owns NEM Recovery Centers, founding that. We've got a lot to catch up on from wrestling to reality TV. She has something really exciting coming up that she wants to talk about as well and everything she's been up to since. Please welcome to Inside the Room. the ring and TMZ Eva Marie. Yeah. How you doing? Um, love the intro. Thank you. Really excited to be here. I'm a fan of yours as well. And then of course, I think everybody's a fan of TMZ too. So yeah, you changed the weather too. Cause it's been raining, but it's been hotter ever since you got here. Yeah, there you go. I do. You're coming from Orange County. So it's a little bit different than what we got going on in here. She drives You guys have a massive truck. Did you see that? Insane. Hey, man, you're exposing what she drives? I'm sorry, yeah, yeah, yeah. It's okay, it's a Ford Raptor. I ain't got no shame. It's a Ford Raptor. Those are big trucks. They are. You know, I had an ex-girlfriend that really wanted me to buy a Ford Raptor. Oh, huh? And I was like 18 years old. I'm like, you think I can afford a Ford Raptor? They're nice trucks, right? They're big, they're very safe. Very safe. Right? Wait, why do you like riding a big truck? I just think, um, I mean, I was grown, like I was raised on Ford, so I come from like a truck family, but also I've done the whole kind of like sedan. I think my first car ever that I was like not embarrassed by was a BMW, um, 535i. It was awesome. It was like, I, where you weren't embarrassed to like drive up to a friend's house or it was like my first big girl car, but I fucked those rims up like nobody's business. So I do curbs with a truck. Isn't there a stereotype about that? Women driving? Oh, boy. I'm not saying this is true. With a truck, it's like, here she comes. Yeah, it is what it is, right? And the tires are so big that the curb doesn't get scraped because it's just the rubber. Rims are no problem because I'm going over curbs. Oh, yeah. They're good. Yeah, you could crush our vehicles. Hey, what was your first car? It was a Ford Aerostar van, and I'm owning that bitch. Yes, a van. Talk about... I gotta look this up. Wait, my family had an aero van. You guys, it's so crazy. So I was back home for my dad's 80th birthday, so shout out to him. And one of my girlfriends from high school, she had texted me and she was talking about how she was driving past like on our, it's called Ignacio Valley Road and there's a hospital to the right. And of course, my parents were crazy. Like even my senior year, my curfew was like 11:18. I pushed for minutes. Minutes. Minutes. Really? Okay. And so she was like, the light was turning red and she was like, just go, gas it, go. I went and guess what? Whoa, whoa. Got pulled over. The reminiscing of it, the nostalgia of it was like, I mobbed in that Aerostar van. I'm sorry, I'm looking at this thing and I don't see someone that mobbed. That's it! That's it! That is it, except it was white. It was white. Oh, that's pretty creepy. That's even creepier, dude. No, no, that is kind of creepy. That's creepy, yeah. If you roll up, I'd be running away. Yeah, that's what I'm saying is that like, that was the kind of car that I would like park. blocks away and like walk into places, you know what I'm saying? But then again, at six, now looking back, I'm like 16, I got to drive, you know? Yeah, that's true. You'll drive anything at that age. What was high school like for you? Um... High school was awesome. I loved high school. I mean, I was very much friends with everybody, but I was very, didn't step into like glam girl era yet. I was, my senior year, I was still wearing a sports bra and a wife beater. But I'm the youngest of all boys, so I was very much like just really tomboy at heart. And I always kind of wanted to be like the cheerleaders were my friends, but I was playing sports. So I would kind of like try to merge the girls with the guys, you know. They would always be like, oh, can you talk to so-and-so for me? Because I was cool with the dudes. Wow. But... I was cool with like everyone. So I had a good high school experience. Yeah. Cool. Wait, so what sports did you do in high school? Um, I played, so my freshman year, um, I made varsity for soccer. So that's when I really started to take soccer like super serious is my freshman year, but I played basketball, volleyball, track while I was. Up to my sophomore year and then I started to focus on soccer. Wow, that's a lot. Yeah, I was very busy. I think that's what helped me like not wow out and be like super crazy or like dive into something that I shouldn't have dived into. That was later on after I moved out of my parents house. That's crazy. Well obviously your hair is iconic. Did you have this cool hair since high school? Um in eighth grade I got voted um most likely to never wear her hair down because I have like crazy- so I'm Mexican-Italian. I have like really crazy, kinky, curly hair, like a ton of it. So I never I was like so embarrassed by my hair because all my girlfriends at the time, they had just long, straight. Nice hair and I did not have that so I would like slick it back like it is now and just wear it in a tight ponytail like on top of my head and that was literally it like you would never I would never have it down where on TV too you didn't really see like what you see now we're just like textured hair and big hair and all the curls and stuff like that so I always was messing with my hair because I wanted it straight like there is an era of time. My hair era is needs its own like documentary, but there's times where like I remember for like soccer pictures I literally tried to gel my hair straight and now there's like so many amazing products where you can like flat iron your hair, blow it out, but anytime that I would try to blow my hair out to be straight it was just like the Chia Pet poof. Well, when you joined WWE, it was, it was something that people hadn't really seen before. And it wasn't, no one had colored hair and you came in. It was like you told us before it was blonde and, and brunettes and everything, platinum blonde. Um, tell me this. What did Vince McMahon think of that when you were coming into the company? Did he want to change it originally or was he all for it? Gunning for it. So kind of the story, how it goes down is it all happened really fast. Like I first, I don't think anyone will ever go into WWE the way that I ended up going into WWE. Like I don't think that'll ever happen again. And I can say that because they don't even do diva searches anymore. Obviously now we're all called superstars. So that's originally how I even got into the door was I was trying out to be the next WWE diva for a developmental contract. But fast forward with like Total Divas and everything. I had auditioned for Total Divas after I had gotten my developmental contract, like the four-week tryout to see if you could handle the physicality, all the things. And CJ was actually in that tryout too. CJ Perry, yeah. Yes. So like we go way back. Um That's crazy. So then I get a phone call saying like, You got the job, meaning Total Divas, so everything is going to basically accelerate, like, be times a million, because originally the plan was developmental deal, right you're going to go to Tampa, you're going to learn how to wrestle, and then in hopes to make it to the big leagues, Monday Night Raw, Friday Night Smackdown. I was, like, so set on that, and then Total Divas came in the picture. back. This is why I'm like, thank you, God, because it just, like, accelerated what takes people. years to get up to the main roster and on that phone call it was a Saturday they had mentioned my hair color because I had black hair at the time that's my original hair color and they said congratulations you got the job also would you be willing to dye your hair platinum blonde because at the time um like Kelly Kelly had left Maryse had left um so a lot of like the girls that had I had the platinum blonde hair. Had gone, you know, and so I was like, I didn't care. I was like, not even thinking about hair at the time because I was just like, oh, my God, I'm like, here we go. Like, I got the job. This is insane. And my first day on the job was WrestleMania. So they said, would you be good with dying hair? And I said, absolutely. So I go to the salon and they're like doing the first process. And I remember looking at myself and they had documented it on Total Divas. And I literally was like. I legit look like Mustafa from the Lion King like straight up I'm like there is no way I am going to be able to like even maintain this platinum blonde because of just like I know bleach I know to get down um and I was like I don't even think I can I've tried to be blonde in high school and it was not a good look for me it was like it just didn't go with my skin tone so I was listening to The album Loud by Rihanna, when she had on the cover, she had this like sick red hair, like it was so dope. And I was like, I just made a game time decision when I was in the chair. Jojo was there with me. And I'm like, I'm gonna go Rihanna red. And so best business decision that I made, but it also could have backfired because I went against Everyone that said, dye your hair blonde, meaning Vince and the executive team. And so I got basic, like all the girls thought I was going to get fired. I thought I was going to get fired. It was really like touch and go, like bad. But then, kind of smart too, because the embodiment of a WWE diva, what does that really truly mean? And that means like inner confidence that exudes out so that you can perform and feel the best in your skin and all this. So that, you know, kind of why I did it and my reasonings behind, they were like, okay, we'll never go against this again. That's crazy. Wow. Wait, so Rihanna inspired this? That's so crazy. So I would love, yeah, like Rihanna, like shout out to her because she inspired the red. And then that's how I got my first ever sponsorship was with Bellamy hair extensions. And for all my ladies, you know, that hair extensions are expensive. So that was like a dream of mine, too, because it was when Bellamy was really like taking off and they had a lot of different influencers as well, like have their own little lines. So not only did I get free hair, but they ended up matching my exact red color and they called it Testarossa. And like Kylie Jenner had her line because she had like the blue tips at the time. So Lily Galici, too. So that was like... A major wow moment because it was my first major sponsorship and then two it was like the red hair created this kind of Own character. Yeah. It's like own buzz. And then people started dyeing their hair red. It was like the craziest thing ever. That's cool. That's crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Looking back, you know, at that time, uh, it was, maybe you can attest to this. Did it feel like WWE was kind of in like a transitional period at the time? Um, things were changing. Um, I mean, it's so different now than it was back then. Do you think Eva Marie today would be a lot different? in her career on Monday Night Raw than it would be back then. If you came into the company present day. I mean, for sure. They were definitely going through a massive transition like with where social media was even going because you have to think Instagram just came out, I think in like 2011, I think. And I got, I started WWE in 2013. And so they were making that kind of transition. Plus it was really like the era of like Ronda Rousey doing that movement where women were like main eventing and things like that. So that's why the... Even the reality show was very much looked down upon initially at first. Everybody jumped on board after like season one. But when we would be filming backstage, a lot of the other superstars kind of didn't really want a piece of it because it kind of went against the whole like we were showing behind the curtain, you know. Breaking kayfabe. Exactly. And you don't really do that in wrestling. And then obviously now with like where the era and everything has kind of transitioned. It's very different because we have social media, so you're showing backstage, you're showing all of these things, and then you also realize that like these are characters, not so much like these are, because people really believe, like Paul Heyman was a great, because he never broke a face. Yeah. Like he was just himself when he would see people outside of wrestling, and so then I think Total Divas really like magnified this character. And then these girls trying to navigate relationships, trying to get on TV, trying to be all of these things that you're required to do to become a WWE superstar. Now, would I think the Eva Marie character would be completely different now? Yes and no. To an extreme, I think there would be a lot more wrestling for sure like I didn't know how to wrestle a lick when I first got into the company and so I don't think that they would do that same thing bringing someone in that has never taken like a clothesline you know where the the progression of the sport has just totally elevated and the girls are killing it with just Main eventing matches, cage matches, and killing it in that area, as opposed to before when I came in, it was very much, we had like two minutes, we had like a minute and 30 seconds, it was just like, give divas a chance, it came trending online, because it's very difficult to tell a story if you only get a minute and 30 seconds, it's like, basically, you jump someone, or you slap someone, and then it's like, okay, we're done, they're mad at their, like, that's the bad guy, that's the good guy, you know? Um, so It's a hard question because I don't know because I think that also everyone loves a bad guy and I play a hell of a Good one. Yeah, do you think fans ever understood Eva Marie because I feel like you're right They do like to hate a bad guy But I don't know if fans ever truly understood how good you were your personality was always fire You always got a reaction every time you went out there. Even when you went to NXT you got big reactions there as well Do you think fans ever got that? I think some did. I think when I went back and chose to go back, that was another crazy business choice that I made because I didn't know how to wrestle. And so obviously, I'm a perfectionist and I want to be good at whatever it is that I'm doing. And so I had asked Vince to go back to NXT and that's when I think... Storyline-wise, especially when I was up against Bailey, which I love. I love Pam. She is the ----. She is amazing. Is that her real name? That's her real name, yeah. I didn't know that. Yeah. Breaking kayfabe. We're breaking kayfabe. Yeah, we are. We are. Um, She is literally amazing from like someone with her caliber and then also having wrestling like in her bones since she was a kid opened arms to me by teaching me the business, helping me tell a storyline, teaching me how to do certain movesets and things of that nature. But I was able to really tell a story because if you really look at my career, I never really had like. A massive storyline like for fans to really get behind they just really didn't which I think also helped me too is that Total Divas and the fact of how I came in just created this heel persona without me really having to like. Work on that heel persona. It just was kind of there because of how quickly I came into the business. So it was like, who's this girl? Why is she out there? Like all of these things. And at first I was like, why do they hate me? Like they literally like booed out of arenas where I'm just like, I'm so confused. But then shout out to Norman Smiley. I love him. I remember coming back into like Gorilla and like, I don't get it. Like they really, he's a kid. This is the business. Like if you go out there and you hear nothing, then you got to find a new job. Yeah. And I'm like, oh damn, it really shifted my perspective of like what this is. Like you need a heel, you need a face to really make a storyline, make people feel something. And when I went out, you know, people definitely felt something. They wanted like my face to get smashed in. I really embraced it when I went back in 21. I had the best time of just like egging. But when it comes to your question, I don't know if they had enough of my storyline to really understand the character to the fullest, you know, and that's just. Lack of television time. Yeah, you know, yeah, that's interesting. Yeah. Wow Have you had recently or in the last 10 years or so other wrestling companies reach out to you trying to get you back? Other wrestling companies constantly trying to pull you back in at some level like I know there's AEW now There's a lot more opportunity now. Yeah, and it's a lot more mainstream and other companies Mm-hmm Has that been a thing for you? It was initially at the very beginning and I kind of like teeter-tottered and thought about it But it's also like it would have to be done so good and then not trying to recreate an Eva Marie. And I feel like it was very much WWE was my home. And so if I were to do something like that, one, the offer would have to be incredibly good. Mm-hmm. That'd be a lot of zeros. It would gotta be a lot of zeros and it would have to make sense where I would have some type of creative control because that's what I have learned in doing the business is That helps a lot if you're able to kind of have a lot more input because a lot of us that are in WWE don't, you know, you're basically hoping that the writers like help you to the fullest and make a storyline that's like something that is so juicy and good and then you get a payoff. And if you don't get that, then it kind of it kind of kind of sucks for your character, too. Um, so I never really took it any further with other companies. Wow. Bringing all that together. Would you make your case to be a WWE Hall of Famer? Like, how do you view your WWE legacy in this way? I mean, I definitely couldn't take myself that far. Like, I have so much respect for the business, and I don't feel like I've done enough body of work to consider myself a Hall of Famer. Do I think that I made an impact? Sure. Especially because nothing like Total Divas was able to. I feel like it merged a different demographic. There's been so many people that I had... I had met in person that were like, oh, my God, I love Total Divas because now my girlfriend actually watches Monday Night Raw or Friday Night SmackDown. And it really, like, showcased what a WWE Diva is, like, embodies, you know, from managing, trying to create this character, trying to be on the road, trying to have a family life, trying to create businesses. This is, And that wasn't shown before. You have the Attitude Era and it highlighted the Divas in a different light where it also transitioned that kind of era as well in real time, giving like the girls a lot more credibility and like, now, these girls can ******* bang, you know, and I think like having an impact, sure, but like actually being inducted into the Hall of Fame, that's a bit of a stretch. Don't be so humble. Of course, you're a Hall of Famer. What are you doing? I know it, yeah. But I'm being dead serious. Like, that is my one thing that I wish that I could have. Like, I'm so grateful for WWE. It gave me, like, the platform that I have today. And I enjoyed my entire time there. And if I go back, of course, Of course. But also... Being super self-aware of, like, the people that came before me, the people that are there after me, and what I did while I was there, and having, like, an impact, yes, to a degree, but when it comes to the magnitude of what I consider, like, Hall of Famer, especially when I, like, I love sports, so when I think of, like, NFL, NBA, MLB, it's, like, my body of work is only so, so small, and it didn't get to the point that I would have been proud of to be like, hell yeah, I'm a Hall of Famer because I don't have enough work to show for it. She's too hard on herself, dude. Yeah, I mean, that's the thing. I mean, I grew up watching you and like to me, like, you know, I was younger and like those years felt longer. So it felt like you were very prominent in a big chunk of that time growing up and watching. If you did go back and you're always asked that question, if you go back to WWE, gosh, it's got to be annoying, right? All right. I'm going to ask it in a different way. If you did go back to WWE, Would you be more interested in like a managerial role? Because like Daria, she always gets mad at me for this. Daria, there it is, Daria. She's killing it in TNA doing that exact thing. Is it that something you'd be more interested in or would it be the full package? No, I definitely would do managerial role. That's actually really what Eva Maria was supposed to do in '21. And then things got all... Just jumbled and too many cooks in the kitchen and then things just did not pan out that way. So I wrestled way more in '21 to my SummerSlam than originally what was going to go down. I was supposed to really just be the mouthpiece for Piper, who I love. Right. And then it just kind of didn't really like the healthy story wasn't As healthy as it was supposed to be, you know, or as long as it was supposed to be. And yes, absolutely. Like, I really was looking at it more so like a Vicky type where it's like you are constantly talking ----, basically. And then eventually, like, you'll get the payoff. But, yeah, going back as a managerial role of some capacity, for sure. I'd eat that up. Sorry. Um, yeah. Gosh, sorry. I lost my train of thought. Go for it. Go for it. Well, that era was crazy. Like I didn't know that was supposed to be switched off. I was watching a clip earlier. You slapped the crap out of Piper a few times. Does she take that well? Like, are you, how does that feel for you? Like, was that a easy thing for you? I feel like no one has a better slap than you. Oh my God. I love that because if you really go back and this is why I brought it with Piper. First of all, I love her. It was so amazing to work with her. She's fantastic. She's so good. If you roll it back to, I want to say, it had to be season one. It was one of the first times ever that they brought Total Divas out, and we had a Jerry Lawler moment. And then, how WWE is, you boys know, it's so quick. It changes on a dime. It's live television, and so, like, you'll get your script. You'll think you're doing something, and then all of a sudden, it's like. Right before you're going out of gorilla and they're like, yeah, no, we're scratching that you're doing this. And that's kind of what had happened where it was the Bellas. It was the cast was out getting interviewed and all of a sudden it got switched. And it was like, Eva Marie, you're going to slap Jerry Lawler. But like, nobody told me how to do that. And it's Jerry Lawler, by the way, you guys. So it's like, here's this like older man and I'm supposed to slap him. But like, no one told me how. To make it like a work, you know, so they let me basically just die out there because it was it goes down as the worst slap in WWE history because I got like dragged as soon as that segment was over because people were laughing at me because it's like you see me like go like this, but then let up. You know, because I'm like, I don't... How do we do this? Yeah, you didn't want to kill the guy out there. Yeah, exactly. I'm like, you know, I don't need him falling down or having any type of issues or anything like that. So when my time came back where I now had to slap Piper, I'm like, it's on. We know how to do it. You know, clench your jaw. And she took it. You slapped her twice. I know. She took it. I gave it to her. I'm going to go back and watch that. I gave it to her. Yeah, dude, it's brutal. Yeah, I'm like, that's why I'm saying, like, Out of my time, like I loved 21, like I loved going back in 21 because I just I ate it up. I didn't care. I was like, this is the true blue Eva Marie, like I'm coming with it. I don't care. Like I didn't have the lack of self-esteem or confidence from I kind of put in my time. So the. Other superstars by then knew that I wanted, like I understood the business and I respected the business and I put in like the work and the time. And so I didn't have that feeling where my coworkers hated me, you know? It was like very much a great- You weren't fighting for their approval. Right, exactly, which is very difficult and doesn't feel the best. But then like with everything, you know, respect is earned. You can't just say it. I didn't expect it when walking in there and they didn't know who I was. And if I was in their shoes, **** yeah, I'd be like, who's this chick? Like, I've been working my ass off for X amount of years and it's taken me so long to even get on television. And then you have this this girl from I mean, I'm not from Los Angeles, but coming in from Los Angeles who doesn't wrestle, never had wrestled. And it wasn't this like diehard super fan. Like, I remember watching WWF with my brothers and like loving it and Hulk Hogan in that era. Not having that like even wrestling knowledge, I would be hot too, you know, like for sure where it's like until you can see what this chick is all about, then then we'll see. And so when I came back in 21, I had already like put in that time. And so I was able to like, really embrace my character and like, not give a **** and like bait the bait the WWE Universe like I'm back, bitchin'. I mean, and it presented that way to us on TV. Yeah, it came off great. It came off that way. We've talked to a few wrestlers who say that they knew kind of the specific moment when their release was coming or like when Vince was done with them. For example, Big Show told us that he knew when Vince called him Paul, it was like, oh. He knew it was over. He knew Vince at least was seeing him as like, you know, differently. Was there a specific moment? Towards the end where you knew it's over or like, was it a several, several moments in 21? Not at all. That was just like, um, super out of the blue. There's so much happening too with like changing of hands. Um, Lawsuits and stuff like that. And so that one I was supposed to, my contract was definitely not over and it was supposed to be a lot longer and it was supposed to go into like WrestleMania and stuff like that. So that one for me for sure took me by surprise because that's not what we had talked about. But then at the end of the day, like that's how WWE rolls. Was it just like a phone call? Like they just called you out of the blue? Yep. How'd that phone call go? Um exactly like uh we're releasing you. It was super cold. Very much. By Johnny. Oh by Johnny? Did you did you fight back? Um I actually really didn't. I had a really good relationship with Vince and then I was actually supposed to come back. And that's where it gets like so bizarre because, but that's when everything was going down too within the company. So it was like worst timing ever. And, um, I was supposed to come back. I actually got another contract and then, um, it just went kaput. Yeah. And we've heard similar stories, same type out of the blue. Yep. Super insensitive. Yeah. Cold. Yeah. So, wow, that's crazy. I know. I'm going to make a massive shift here and I'm going to do this in the most insensitive way possible. Thank you. You're single now. I am. We've been listening to a lot of Nikki talk on her podcast about dating and how she's not trying to find a man right now at all. Are you dating? I mean, I would say like, what does that really look like? You know, it's so difficult. Like, I don't even know. I don't even know how to do that. Like, it's so weird because like, I. I mean, I'm not dating, meaning because I could say that I am, but like, that means that I would have to go out on a date. Right. Like, you're not going on dates all week long. Aw, man. There's none scheduled. Right. It's unscheduled. I don't even know if I have game, you know, like I don't. Riz? Huh? Riz? You have Riz? I don't know. I feel like I kind of should have Riz. Well, it's not, it's not on you to have Riz though. It's on, you know, I mean, we're in a different time. Yeah. I don't know. The dating thing right now. It's hard. Right. Because it's like, I don't drink, so I don't go to like bars to like have a cocktail and try to like meet up with somebody. So I don't know what that looks like. And then the dating apps, I've never been on a dating app. I've heard horror stories about dating apps, but then I've also heard really, really good ones. Uh, so, um, yeah. terrible like question or answer because it's like not it's like so hard and plus I'm 42 so anybody that I would date majority probably has children yeah yeah but you look phenomenal for 42 thank you insane yeah I love you for that I didn't even know you were 42 oh I thought you were like 29 stop it stop it I got WWE at 28 really was it 28 oh I didn't know that I know right No, you look great. Thank you. Possibly you could find someone at Costco. I've been seeing videos of you at Costco. Any good men to find there? What are you doing at Costco? So Costco, every single week we go and we shop for our houses. So I have num recovery centers in Laguna Beach, which is a detox residential. And because you guys are familiar with Total Divas, I came public with my own sobriety on season one. And that was just like amazing for me personally, just because I had been so ashamed of battling with my own alcoholism and addiction that I lived a double life. You know, I didn't want people to know this part of me. And when Total Divas came around and obviously like we go to trips and we're doing these things like girls are drinking. So I was like, oh, this is a game time decision. I called my parents, made sure that they were OK with it. And I just jumped ahead of that narrative because I didn't want, and because we're on reality TV, so you never know how ----'s going to go, you know, whether it's going to look bad or look, you know, good. So I wanted to get ahead of that narrative and I didn't want to walk into the locker room and there's my mugshot and be like, Eva Marie, like, what's this about? And then all of a sudden I'm backpedaling and trying to make excuses and stuff. So I hit it like front and center and I was able to tell the girls like, this is where I'm at. And I was like newly sober because I got sober originally at 23 and then I did well. Thought that I got it and all this stuff and then relapsed and went down faster than I had ever anticipated. You hear it like Alcoholics Anonymous and like all these other twelve step rooms. But I'm the type of person that you tell me not to put my hand on the stove. I'm putting it on 12 times because I think that I can like get away like somehow I can do better or like somehow I can not get burned. I'm So I came back at 28. So my sobriety and my WWE, like. starting Stint happened at the same time. That's why I'm like, God, thank you. Because it's like definitely a gift from him. Mm-hmm. So when I came out with that publicly. And I think it's so empowering when you own your own narrative. I always use the reference, 8 Mile, because at the very, very end, to Eminem raps all the stuff the guy's going to say about him, you know? learn. Spoiler. Have you seen the movie? No. There you go. What? I know. I've been meaning to. I cannot believe you have not. I feel like with 8 Mile, I can only say it because everyone's seen it. Yeah, you would think. It's my fault. Sorry. Have you seen Little Divas? I wasn't allowed to watch it. I'm giving you the spoiler. At the very, very end, they have a rap battle. Eminem tells him all the dirt that the guy is going to rap about him, right? Like white trash, trailer park, all this stuff. He owns it. And so when the time for the other guy to like spit back at him and basically drag him, he can't because he already said all his ----. He can't attack someone that already attacked himself. Exactly. So it's like when you own your own story and when you're like, this is me, this is who I am. How are you going to, like... I've already, I've already said it all. How are you going to come at me? So, uh, that was very like empowering for me because then all of a sudden, like I wasn't ashamed and embarrassed by this like little secret that I was keeping fast forward to now I have my own recovery center, which is detox and residential. And so every Wednesday we go to Costco and we try to make little like funny reels because also. I thought at the very beginning of my sobriety journey, I was like, what am I going to do? Life is going to suck. This is going to be so boring. Like, I didn't know how life was going to be. So we just try to bring kind of light to something that is so dark because the disease at the end of the day will kill you. Yeah. Yeah. That's incredible. Amazing. Yeah. And that's in Laguna Beach. It is. It's in Laguna Beach. Oh, you go to one Costco? Well, we got a shout out to the San Juan Capistrano Costco because that's where we go. I mean, I'm trying to holler at Costco being like, yo, do you want to do a sponsorship? Because Because your girl has been going there and putting it on blast for a long time. I love San Juan. So every week we do something like kind of fun, you know. Wait, do you do the deals? Do you get a pizza? Do you get a hot dog? Dollar hot dog? Yeah, what's your go-to for the food court? Food court is either the pizza, but you can't go wrong with like the hot dog and a soda because there's nothing cheaper around. Don't get the chicken tenders. They're horrible. Have you had the chocolate chip cookie? No. Oh, the cookie's good. The double chunk chocolate cookie? Yeah. It's bomb. Yeah. Wow. No, it's... Where were we talking about again? I don't know. I can't imagine you eating, like, junk food. I do. I have my moments. Okay. I do. It's just, like, with everything in moderation. You know, I work my ass off. I worked out this morning. Like, but working out is so different for me now. I relaunched my Nemfit app. So if anybody is out there looking for how to work out, my workouts have definitely shifted, too. Because I used to think, like, oh, my God, I need to sweat and be, like, crazy girl in the gym needing to, like, get after it to feel like. Either one I got a workout in or two I'm making any progress and that's definitely not the case like just getting to the gym and moving your body lifting especially anybody that is like women over the age of 35 like the emphasis on us having to strength train is imperative just so that we aren't breaking hips or like osteoporosis and all those all of those things that will sneak up on us. It comes at you fast. It does. And then all of a sudden you're trying to like. Oh man, I should have started this a long time ago. Dude, I can't even touch my toes. Me neither. Me either. Boys, you need to download the Nemfit app. I know I need to. Hey, can you still lift someone above your shoulders? I can, I think so. You can? Really? Oh wow. Just not Roger. He's not going to lift that. I'm not going to pick you up dude. I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding, I'm just kidding. And then you've got some exciting things coming up as well. Reality TV. I know, it's really exciting. So this year I got to... Obviously, I can't say too, too much, but what I can say is this year I got to film another show. It's on Netflix. It's coming out at the top 2027. I've been. And the host is Alan Richardson, so I'm pretty sure everybody knows who that is. Yeah, he's been in the news a lot. Yeah, he's massive. He's a big dude. And in person, he totally is. Like, he could be a WWE superstar. He does feel like it. What was it like interacting with Alan? Can you tell us? He was cool. His personality is so interesting because you see him on, like, how he is on social. And then seeing him trying to, like, doing the show, you see different sides of people. He very much is, like, trying to nail his lines and get that part situated and squared away, you know? True, yeah. So, but it was cool. I had a blast. It was a really fun experience. I didn't know how I was going to handle it because it's, I was the oldest girl. Wow, really? Really? Mm-hmm. And I was able to, you know, still hang and stay in the game, you know, for a little while. So I'm excited for that to come out because it really actually sparked another love for being on television. Like I love, put a mic in front of me and I'm like. Let's go, you know, and so I hadn't done anything like that for a little bit because I was so focused on, you know, relaunching the NEMFIT app to the recovery centers and then doing a podcast and stuff like that, that I really put the back burner for on TV and film. And so to bring me back this year for television, I was like, oh, ****, I love this. I forget sometimes. I feel like my hand is. very much in so many pots that um which earlier on in my career I was told to only like pick one thing to focus on but that's just not who I am I mean I have pink hair I like you know I like I like makeup I like hair I like fashion I like to get down in the gym like there's Don't put me in a box. It just ain't happening. Are you going to be nice on this reality show? She's always been nice. No, no, I don't know. Because I mean, once the cameras are on, like full blown Eva Marie comes out and I just want to know, like, are you going to be a villain? Like there's villains on these reality shows. There are. I don't think so, but you never know how things get edited. Put it in. Can you tell us, did anybody annoy you on this show? Was there annoying moments with some people? You might be spoiling too much. I know. Yeah. Like, people irritate you, you know? Like, that might answer the question. There was only one. There was only one that was, like, quite irritating, and I couldn't read him for the life of me. But, um... He got eliminated. I didn't know. We're getting deep into spoilers now. No, he's not talking anymore. Well, we're really excited to see what that is. And you said, when is this coming out? It should hopefully either the January or February. So top of 2027 is what I've been told. Okay. Wow. Is there something left that you want to do? You've done everything. Film, TV, wrestling, owning an addiction center, like everything. Like anything else that you want to do? There's so much. There's so many things. I mean, like I want to get into sports entertainment. I would love to host something regarding like whether it's football, baseball, basketball. I mean, for Halloween this year, I was Will Clark. You know, so really, OK, OK, he's my favorite ballplayer. I got to throw out the first pitch. OK, 2021. Yes. Cool. OK. Yeah. Anything like television wise, like I want to get back into doing something Um, on the like, you know, I feel like I'm meant to be in front of a camera. I think so, too. You know what I'm saying? But I mean, of course, I want to create more businesses and build like an actual empire as well, make money while I'm sleeping. I think that's all of our goals. Yeah, that would be great. I don't even make money when I'm awake. Thank you, Mike. Well, there's that. Jeez, man. So it's like really like putting my energy into those things that can make that happen, you know? Yeah, which could be exclusive content that you've been doing. Yes, definitely. How's that going? It's awesome. Do you enjoy it? I do. I think it's really fun because it totally takes another form of like being able to do things and perform like lives that you wouldn't normally put on like Instagram. I feel like Instagram is like more polished platform. I feel like I'm even getting more raw with my TikTok of just like talking to the camera and then doing like exclusive content. You're able to like do whatever you want. And so it's like for your like diehard fans, you can even sell different types of merch that you wouldn't normally do in your stores. Let's, for instance, WWE gear or something like that. Which you just auctioned off, right? I did. I did. So it's like, it's fun. It's kind of like a cool interaction and you get to interact with people that love you and support you. And I think that's cool. How do you decide what's too personal or what makes exclusive content? It's really like a, it's difficult because I started in Total Divas. So I feel like people just know so much about my personal life that I probably don't know if I would share, if I would have shared that originally, like opening up a social media account. But because Total Divas just, like, showcased everything, like, people love my parents. Like, my parents are huge. Like, I wish that they lived next door to me because I would monetize the **** out of them, you know? Because people love my dad. Like, because they got to see his total, like, his health throughout the whole, like, seasons of Total Divas. And so, to this day, like, people are DMing, like, how's your dad doing? I keep them up to date when I go up to my parents' house and stuff like that. Um, and like his birthday was just last, uh, or on the 20th of October and the amount of people that just like, they just love him, you know, is so fascinating to me where it's like, people know a lot about my personal life. Um, and then when it comes to like exclusive content, it's just more of a area where I can do live workouts. I can do Q and A's and not feel like, um, I'm being like super annoying because on Instagram, I'm trying to like hurry up or try to like snip it in one minute or something like that, where like your paywall is like people love you. So they're going to be you could be on there for 30 minutes or however long doing whatever it is that you want, because they literally want to consume this where I don't feel the pressure of on Instagram or something like that, where I'm like trying to hurry or trying to like get a hook or trying to like get people to stay. It's like you already have this curated. Uh, fan base that like loves you and they just want you to talk to them. They're already there. They're already there. Yeah. So it's like a kind of a cool area for, for me to like kind of lean into, you know, this might take a couple of seconds to think, but I don't know if you want to answer this, but what is the most odd request that you have gotten? Doing exclusive content. We talked to a few people about this who do this. We've gotten some weird answers. And like, you know, some people ask weird stuff. Like someone told us that they wanted like them like stepping on grapes. Yeah, yeah. I think that's the one that's weird is like. So many odd ones about feet. People like feet. People really like feet where I wish that I have created like a feet account because I'm like, this is wild. Like people really, truly are fascinated with anything that revolves around feet. Like I think I got one of just wanting a picture of like my toes. I'm like, what? Like this is nuts. And like, that's the thing too, where having like paywall extra. Uh, extra. A different site or something like that exclusive content. It sounds so crazy. We're like online like i'm breaking the news Like there's no nudity like you're not getting any of that You know what i'm saying? Like it's I I hate to break it to people like are we getting feet? You're not getting, I mean, maybe, maybe from like, you know, maybe if I'm, my feet are in the sand or something like that, but like, um, yeah, it's, it's none of that craziness. Yeah. So yeah, you have limits. So for sure. You know what I think about? I think about would my parents or like my brothers or my brother's friends, if they were to log on to this, um, would I be Literally. Dragged I I respect that so much. Oh, I do we rarely get that answer. Yeah, we don't get that rarely get that answer We've spoken to a lot of people and they've never said like, you know Would my parents be okay with seeing or my brothers or things like that's a pastor? Sorry, my dad's a pastor Okay, see, you know, but that's what I'm saying like I really think that God gave me the platform that I have today because I am in no way shape or form like worthy of it and so it would be a shame for me not to bring glory to him and to show like the bring my testimony of like what he has done in my life and transform me from who i was to where i am now because i was in such a dark place prior to WWE and he gave me that like there's not me in that whatsoever and it's very clear so i would i would feel shameful if i didn't utilize my platform in such a positive way highlighting what he can do because i feel like a lot of people are alone And they're lonely and they don't think that they can Change or make a pivot in their life, but you can nobody is ever too far gone and you are never alone. Yeah, that's cool That's also why it's very important for me to stress the fact that like You're okay go for it a little and we'll wrap in here just like okay I'm like, bitch, get out of here. No, no, no, no. I would keep you for another hour, to be honest. We're keeping him over there, too. Sorry, Sam. I am. Are you worried about Jamie? I was worried about Jamie. Oh, Jamie's fine. Yeah. She's worried about Sam. Yeah, I was worried about Sam. But that's why, like, the exclusive content thing is a big one, because... I do think about that. I do think about, like, what am I aligned with, like, morally, and what would I be okay with if my parents did see or if ultimately the one above saw. Yeah. So it's, like, as crazy as that might sound, that's really kind of where... How I move these days. Yeah. And it's become so normalized that like 10 years ago doing OnlyFans to everybody else was like, or any, I'm not saying you do that, but I'm just thought in general, people would be like, oh, that's, that's porn. Right. You know? Right. And now it's more like, oh, you're just doing you. Right. That's a little different. Right. So we're in a different time. We are in a different time. So you're able to balance your faith and doing everything else. So yeah, I just, I really respect that. Thank you. Yeah. Yeah, and I don't knock anybody that does whatever they want to on their platform. I think we all have, that's the whole point of being in America. We have the freedom to do those things. You can do whatever you want, Branson. Exactly. Exactly. Well, anything else you'd like to talk about before you head out? Anything else coming up? You're excited about what Christmas is coming up? I know. It was funny. I was driving up here. I was thinking about like little gifts because I always wait until the last minute to do anything. Are you going to buy a tree? Um, wait, you're not going to have a tree in your house. I will have a tree. Okay. Just make sure. Well, she goes to Costco. How could you walk out without a tree? See, that's where I got my, that's where I got my tree last year. Oh yeah. It's a great place. Fake tree though. So yeah. Yeah. No, I had a real one last year. Oh, you did? No, actually my real one, my fake one was from Costco and then my real one, it was from, um, Home Depot. Wow. Roger, it's hard for you to understand someone who has money. Money? Money. Multiple trees. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Have a kid. It's all my money. Yeah. Well, I don't have any, so thank God. Ah, okay. That helped my divorce out. Oh, yeah. You know what I'm saying? Do you want kids? I'm too old. Well, no, my wife had a baby at 35, 36. And by that, I mean, once you get 35, they tell you it's risky. Yeah, right. But you're never too old. You think she wants to talk to two dudes about this? What do we know? Just ask. No, but I think the kids is not in the cards for me. Yeah. I get that. I don't really want kids either. Okay, there you go. So, yeah. Yeah. All right, well. I'll keep having them. I guess we'll just end it on that. I guess we'll just end it on that. Yeah, we'll end it on that. Well, thank you so much for coming into TMZ. Thank you guys so much. Yeah. It was fun. Yeah, thank you. It was super fun. And good luck with everything you're doing. And then Nem, as well, is going well, I assume. And keep an eye on her social media. If you could help me with my stretching, that would be great. Yes, go to my natalieevenmarie.com and I'll get you dialed. For your workouts, all of the things. Sounds good. And then, of course, your reality show, potentially early next year. Yes. That's going to be really fun to see. Alan Ritchson. Oh, man, I'm very excited. Yeah. All right. Come back. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good, please do. Let me drag the whole show. Yeah. All right, thanks, everybody, and we'll see you back here later this week.