Former WWE star Eva Marie once claimed she was the company's highest-paid female star but these days she's ditched wrestling for a completely different career – as well as a raunchy side gig.
The 39-year-old, whose real name is Natalie Eva Marie Nelson, quickly became a divisive figure when she first joined WWE back in 2013. The red-headed wrestler, who now sports long pink locks, flaunted a stunning figure that left young wrestling fans dubbing her the "hottest ever WWE woman".
But she struggled to win over other fans who accused her of having substandard skills in the ring. Despite this, Eva spent several years making a name for herself in the wrestling world but after being let go from her contract twice the former pro left the ring for Hollywood and now supplements her acting income with a racy OnlyFans account.
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Growing up, Eva actually wanted to be a professional football player but had her dreams dashed when she sustained ligament injuries. Instead, she went to college and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in business management before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in modelling and acting.
But Eva's career took a different trajectory when WWE was carrying out a Diva Search in the city and she decided to try out after coming across the casing call "by chance". After a four-week tryout, Eva, who was 28 at the time, signed with WWE and made her debut on the wrestling organisation's reality show Total Divas in May 2013.
Over the next four years, Eva spent time switching between competing on the main roster and WWE's NXT brand but in 2016 she was banned for 30 days for breaching WWE's Wellness Policy. Eva said she'd tested positive for Adderall and claimed she had a prescription for the medication but submitted the paperwork to WWE too late.
After making no appearances for more than a year she was released from her contract in 2017. During a few years away from WWE Eva returned to pursuing an acting career.
She was cast in the 2017 thriller Inconceivable, which stars Nicholas Cage and in 2020 she also starred alongside Bruce Willis in Hard Kill. Appearing on an episode of WWE's Where Are They Now? while filming the action movie, Eva claimed her wrestling experience meant the transition to acting was "super natural" for her.
She explained: "It just comes kinda natural, anybody that is in WWE you kind of already embody everything doing that. You're performing live, which is much harder than being able to say 'Cut, give me the line, what? Let's do it again or a different angle', Monday Night Raw you don't have another take."
In 2021, Eva signed with WWE again and made a surprise comeback on a spring episode of Raw. However, her return was short-lived as just a few months later Eva was released from her WWE contract for the second time as part of the company's seventh round of budget cut layoffs.
Since then, Eva has continued to act. In 2021 she starred in the Amazon Prime series Paradise City and last year she played the lead in the action film Phoenix.
Eva, who has never been shy to show off her toned figure in skimpy outfits, also launched an OnlyFans account in 2021 and continues to post regularly on the racy adult subscription platform, where she charges $25 a month for access to her exclusive content. Back in June, she treated her Twitter followers to a sneak peek at some of her OnlyFans content as she promoted her account with a steamy sauna selfie.
As well as acting and OnlyFans, Eva also co-hosts The Hopeaholics Podcast, where the former wrestler, who has been sober for 11 years, interviews others who've combatted addiction. On top of this, she's launched several of her own businesses, including a fitness app called NEM which stands for Natalie Eva Marie and sunglasses brand NEM Fashion.
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