WWE Diva Eva Marie is interviewed about her San Francisco Giants and her WWE run
WWE ‘Total Divas’ star, San Francisco Giants fan Eva Marie hoping to get the call
Tops on the bucket list of “Total Divas” star Eva Marie is getting the call to the show, the major leagues.
A former standout soccer player, the diverse Marie is a beautiful WWE Diva, E! personality, actress and model, with pro baseball aspirations...sort of.
“I would love to throw out the first pitch at AT&T Park at a San Francisco Giants’ game,” said a hopeful Marie as she recently promoted the July 7th return of ‘Total Divas’ on E!.
“Total Divas” continues to give the exclusive, outside-the-ring look at many of WWE’s top Divas, and the lovely and talented Marie is one to watch.
Marie not only excelled in soccer at the youth, high school and college levels, but she loved watching baseball while growing up in the Bay area. Her father, Barry, took her and her brothers to Giants’ games at Candlestick Park. Her allegiance then and now is to the hometown team, the Giants, as she follows them closely.
As a youth, she became a huge Will Clark fan, and it’s been all Giants ever since. Nicknamed ‘The Natural,’ the ultra-focused Clark was an all-star first baseman for the Giants from 1986-1993.
Marie, like Clark, is an all-star, ultra-focused on her sports entertainment career, building her brand with her husband and manager, Jonathan Coyle.
“[Recently] at Wizard World [in Sacramento], a fan presented me my own action figure, but it was in a Giants’ jersey,” she excitedly noted. “How cool was that.”
Also cool, when she started her WWE career, Marie met Giants’ closer Sergio Romo during spring training in Scottsdale, Ariz. He’s the only Giants’ player she’s ever met.
Wearing her Giants’ garb proudly, whenever she can, she would love to meet the team.
That said, Marie must have been a little jealous of WWE superstar Daniel Bryan last season.
The Giants, led by WWE fan Hunter Pence, embraced the Daniel Bryan ‘Yes’ movement throughout last year’s season, making it a staple during home run celebrations. Bryan even appeared at a Giants’ home playoff game to lead the ‘Yes’ chants with the crowd and team, pre-game, on the field. After the Giants won the World Series, Bryan, via WWE, presented an ecstatic Pence a replica WWE World title belt at the Giants’ World Series Victory Parade
Where the Giants are stars in Marie’s eyes, she has become a star, too.
And she isn’t the only star sparkling in her family.
During Marie’s appearance at WrestleMania 31 Axxess in March in San Jose, fans also spotted her parents, Barry and Josie, who attended to support their daughter. Fans posed for photos with them as well. For “Total Divas,” her parents have appeared occasionally on episodes.
Asked if her parents are celebrities, Marie chuckles and says, “It’s quite funny. They’re at WrestleMania, and fans are taking photos with them. I think it’s very cool, and it makes me feel really good and proud.”
She continued: “My parents are amazing. They support me with whatever I’m doing. I’m such a family oriented person, and they’re so involved in my life, and that’s why they’re on ‘Total Divas.’ I talk to them so much and ask for their advice on anything that I’m doing.”
Since Marie’s been in the spotlight longer, and this is something new to her mom and dad, has Marie turned the tables, given them any advice to keep them grounded?
She laughs and says, “Not at all. Not at all. I’m like, ‘You know what. Enjoy it. Enjoy it.’”
Through “Total Divas,” Marie’s star power continues to strengthen, and people enjoy watching her interacting with her parents, her husband/manager and her brothers in good times and struggles. If all goes well, maybe there’s a family spin off of “Total Divas” in the future.
“I love the fact that ‘Total Divas’ reaches a different demographic than the normal fan base or audience that typically watches ‘WWE Monday Night Raw’ or ‘SmackDown,’” she said. “It’s a wider audience, so I absolutely love that.”
‘Total Divas’ allows viewers to attain that up-close-and-personal view of each diva’s life inside and outside the ring, mostly outside.
“I still don’t think I’ve gotten used to it,” said Marie, featured on the show since its inception. “I was in the Bay area where I’m from, and I was able to do Wizard World in Sacramento, and I got to see my family. I was in the grocery store, and a woman approaches me and starts talking about the show. Even though this is our fourth season, I forget sometimes that people definitely have a little window into my personal life, but it’s actually really cool.
“People are able to relate and get through some of their issues that they’re dealing with; so it’s kind of awesome.”
One episode dealt with Marie’s lack of self esteem, how she viewed her body, herself. The 30-year-old is athletic and very attractive, but insecurities weighed heavy in her mind; she did not see her outer beauty or her self worth. Eye opening and heart wrenching, watching someone feeling blah about their physical appearance, about themselves.
“It’s definitely one of those things that was hard for me to put out there, just because it is so personal and raw,” she said, “but at the end of the day, the feedback that I got from the audience that watched was amazing.
“I’m human just like everybody else. I have good days, and I have bad days. Some days I’m on top of the world, and nothing can stop me, and I’m Super Woman, but I have trials and tribulations, too. So, for me, it definitely was hard to show both sides, but after I did, I embraced the fact that I’m human, and I’m not perfect, and that’s OK.”
It’s about feeling good about yourself.
“Being able to put one foot in front of the other and keep on going, that’s why I like the show as well,” she added. “You’re able to touch people’s lives that you wouldn’t normally be able to. Having the reaction and the response that I got from that particular episode, not only did it help me, but it inspired me.”
That reaction, response quickly made its way to Marie via social media.
“Social media is an amazing tool,” she said. “There’s obviously good and bad, but in this aspect, there were so many little girls and teenage girls and moms and even men who reached out to me and said thank you so much for opening up that part of my life. If it wasn’t for [Total Divas], they would have no idea.
“...if you just see me on WWE, you would think, ‘No way.’
“For me to open up and show them [on Total Divas] that I do have this issue is great, because so do they, and them sharing their stories with me has helped me out, too. To have that kind of interaction is something that I wouldn’t be able to get any other way.”
After earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Business Management and a minor in Human Resources from Cal State Fullerton University in Orange County, Marie attended a WWE Divas Search in 2013 in Los Angeles.
“I always wanted to be a professional athlete,” she said. “Soccer was my thing. I played soccer through college, and I was yearning for something.”
Born in Walnut Creek, Calif., Marie starred in soccer in high school, on the club level and in college. A forward, she excelled for the Walnut Creek club team and at Northgate High School, graduating in 2002. She was an All-American at Diablo Valley College where she received her Associate’s degree in Art, before attending Cal State Fullerton. She loved the game and still loves the game. She followed, watched the recent Women’s World Cup. Go USA!
“After college, I was lacking that competitiveness, and thank God WWE came around,” Marie said. “I went, and call back, call back, call back, and then the last portion of it was a four-week tryout inside the ring. The first day of my tryout I fell in love with it, and by the end of the fourth week, I got my developmental contract to go to Orlando for NXT.”
In one episode of “Total Divas” season four, Marie resurrects that passion for soccer...almost. Her and her hubby play FootGolf.
“It’s pretty fun,” she said. “Imagine playing golf, but you’re using a soccer ball. You’re on a green, and you have par 4, par 5, just like golf, but you’re kicking a soccer ball on the golf course, onto the green.
“I’m not the best golfer, and you’ll see me get a little frustrated, because it’s clearly not soccer, but it was a good time. You’re going to have to try it, if you haven’t.”
Add another dimension to Marie’s skill set. She is a television star, model, sports entertainer and now FootGolf enthusiast. With a busy WWE schedule and several projects, it’s a tough balancing act.
“It is a little bit difficult, and you’re going to see that, too, in ‘Total Divas,’” she said. “Jonathan [her husband and manager] is my best friend and a great support system, but the time is definitely crucial. There’s not much time to kick back and relax and enjoy little things, because we’re constantly on the road or constantly training or constantly working.
“So you’re going to see that, too, this season, trying to keep that balance, because everything in life -- whether it’s your diet or anything else -- is all about balance...so you can enjoy life to the fullest.”
Marie’s life is full, and she is enjoying that.
Eva Marie appeared in HBO’s “Entourage,” CBS’s “CSI: NY,” NBC’s “America’s Got Talent,” CW’s “90210” and a national Sketcher commercial. She participated in the 2012 Powertec Model & Fitness competition (her first ever) and won the fitness model division. She graced the cover of Iron Man Magazine April 2013 as well as the covers of Import Tuner, Glamfit and Ruckus.
Twitter [MENTION=69646]nat[/MENTION]alieevamarie
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