Eva Marie

Natalie Eva Marie Nelson (born September 19, 1984) is an American actress, fashion designer, model, and professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenures in WWE, from 2013–2017 and 2020–2021, where she performed under the ring name Eva Marie.

She wanted to become a professional soccer player, although her plans were put on hold when she suffered an ankle injury in her senior year of high school in 2002.

Eva Marie, who played as a striker, recovered and continued playing at Diablo Valley College in Pleasant Hill, California, where she received her associate degree in art.

She received Junior College All-American honors and transferred to Arizona State University, although a lack of self-confidence led her to stop playing.

She transferred to California State University, Fullerton where the soccer coach persuaded her to play again.

However, her National Collegiate Athletic Association eligibility had expired due to their "five-year clock" rule.

Eva Marie later said that "I wouldn't have run into that problem if I just believed in myself from the start. Now that I'm older, I know it's so much better to have tried and maybe you fail, then to have never tried at all."

She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business management and a minor in human resource and moved to Los Angeles to pursue a career in modeling, acting and promotional work.

Eva Marie has said that she came across a casting call for WWE "by chance" and, after impressing talent scouts, won a four-week tryout.

She then signed a developmental contract and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida, to begin her training.

In 2013, she signed a contract with WWE and was assigned to the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Florida to begin her training.

In July 2013, she made her main roster debut and became the manager of The Bella Twins later that month.

She also began starring in WWE's reality television series Total Divas as part of the main cast.

In May 2013, she joined WWE and E!'s new reality show entitled Total Divas, that would show behind-the-scenes footage of select WWE Divas and a look into their personal lives.

She was also promoted to the main roster, having had just two weeks of formal training, which Eva Marie called a "whirlwind experience" which "changed my life immediately."

She dyed her natural brown hair bright red and adopted her ring name.

Eva Marie made her main roster debut on the July 1 episode of Raw, in a backstage segment along with her fellow Total Divas co-stars.

Eva Marie accompanied Natalya to the ring on the July 4 episode of Superstars, where she defeated Naomi.

Eva Marie, along with the cast of Total Divas appeared on MizTV on the July 22 episode of Raw, where she slapped Jerry Lawler, claiming to make a name for herself and establishing herself as a heel in the process.

Upon the debut of Total Divas program in July 2013, The Bella Twins began feuding with their co-star on the show, Natalya, with Eva Marie becoming Brie's valet.

She also was her partner at Summerslam Axxess in a tag team match against Natalya and Maria Menounos.

The cast of Total Divas then transitioned into a scripted feud with WWE Divas Champion AJ Lee, who mocked the show and cast, turning both The Bellas and Eva Marie faces in the process.

Eva Marie competed in six-woman tag team matches, including when Eva Marie gained an upset victory over Tamina Snuka by pinning her, garnering her first pinfall victory.

Continuing their feud into November, the Total Divas defeated the "True Divas" (Alicia Fox, Aksana, AJ Lee, Kaitlyn, Rosa Mendes, Tamina Snuka and Summer Rae) in a traditional elimination tag team match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, and again on the subsequent Raw.

Eva Marie made her return to WWE after a nearly three-month absence on the February 14, 2014 episode of SmackDown, defeating Alicia Fox in her first singles match on WWE television.

The match, however, was cut from the broadcast.

After returning in early 2014, Marie began regularly participating in tag team matches, including getting a win over AJ Lee and Tamina Snuka.

On April 6, Eva Marie made her WrestleMania debut, competing at WrestleMania XXX in the 14–Diva "Vickie Guerrero Invitational match" for the WWE Divas Championship, which was won by the defending champion AJ Lee.

In late May, Eva Marie was placed in a feud with the returning Summer Rae, who had cost Eva Marie a tag team match, leading to Eva Marie defeating Summer Rae in her in-ring return after an interference by Fandango and Layla on the May 26 episode of Raw.

Eva Marie was then placed in a feud with Divas Champion AJ Lee, facing AJ in two non-title matches on SmackDown and Raw, which AJ won.

In mid-2015, she started to wrestle on WWE's developmental brand, NXT.

In April 2016, Marie returned to the main roster, officially becoming a part of the SmackDown brand in July 2016.

She left WWE in August 2017.

That same year, Marie made her film debut in Inconceivable.

The following years saw her taking on several other projects, which included appearances in multiple television shows and launching a fitness program, in addition to a fashion line, under her NEM brand.

After signing a new contract with WWE in late 2020, Marie returned to the promotion in June 2021 on the Raw brand.

In November, it was reported she had been released during a mass layoff, just as she had been written off TV to resume and focus on her acting career, similarly to her previous exit from the company.

Natalie Eva Marie Nelson was born in the San Francisco Bay Area suburb of Walnut Creek, California, the youngest child of Barry and Josie Nelson.

Her mother is Mexican, while her father is Italian.

She has three older brothers (Nathan, Neal and Nick) and was raised in Concord, California.