Eva Marie Says She Initially Questioned If Her WWE Wellness Policy Violation Was A Work

During a recent interview on Ring The Belle with DS Shin (per Fightful), Eva Marie revealed that her initial reaction to her 2016 suspension for a Wellness Policy violation was disbelief. She thought it might be part of a planned storyline. This confusion stemmed from the fact that, at the time, her character was intentionally finding ways to avoid wrestling matches, blurring the lines between reality and scripted drama.

The suspension in August 2016 resulted in her removal from a SummerSlam match, where Nikki Bella replaced her. This real-life consequence added to the confusion as Eva tried to determine if it was a genuine punishment or a continuation of her on-screen narrative.

“I mean, what was crazy about that to this day is still bizarre because, I mean, the fact that WWE allowed me to put out my statement the way that I did because it was all paperwork because they totally knew for sure everything was documented from my doctor. That’s why I thought it was a gimmick. I thought I was, it was like that moment devastated me. That was a moment that I think that I will never, I would never want anyone to experience because I had come back and I remember it was like such a huge match and it was like getting promoted and it was six man and it was like almost, basically me coming back onto the scene. Then that happened and then I was like taking a flight back to the West. It was just a horrendous. Then what was crazy about that, Nikki is who replaced me. So I was like, is this a storyline? Like what is going on? Like this does not even seem like real.”