Eva Marie Recalls Getting Advice From Norman Smiley On Dealing With Hate Early On

Eva Marie had to deal with a lot of skepticism about her WWE career early on, and she recently talked about the advice she got regarding it. Marie got her start in WWE in 2013, making her debut for the company on Total Divas. She joined the main roster after just two weeks of formal training.

The way she came into the company was controversial among fans, and she talked about the matter on the former Sonya Deville’s Daria & Toni Unwrapped. You can see highlights below:

On Getting Advice From Norman Smiley

“It took me a long time to figure that out and I have to give like a shout out to Norman [Smiley]. I love him, he’s a gangster. I remember, he pulled me aside because I think that he could see how much I wanted to prove to — obviously, like my peers too — that like my intentions were pure of really wanting to be there. And I didn’t want to have like any disrespect by any means.

“But also the fact I was like, ‘Dude, why does everyone hate me?’ Not really understanding the nature of the business yet. And he was like, ‘Look, the biggest thing in this business is, if you walk out there and nobody says like, you don’t hear a thing and you hear a pin drop, be in trouble.” Like, that’s when you’re in trouble. You need and you want the the fans to experience something good, or bad. And so, kind of that.”

On Learning To Let Go Of Those Anxieties:

“And then [Tyler] Breeze was really great and so was [Bayley]. Really, kind of putting that into my brain to like, let this s**t go. Like, who cares? Because I was so consumed with, ‘But I want — I’m trying!'”

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Daria & Toni Unwrapped with a h/t to 411mania.com for the transcription.