Eva Marie never held gold during her tenure with WWE, but that nearly wasn’t the case. Speaking to Ring The Belle, Marie was asked about a long-standing rumor that she was set to win the SmackDown Women’s Championship.
“I had heard that too. I had heard that I was actually going to get the title at SummerSlam [2016]… so many things were going on.”
Not only did Marie not win the gold at SummerSlam but she was cut from the event and replaced by the returning Nikki Bella. Marie was cut from the show for violating WWE’s Wellness Policy. At the time, she claimed that she’d tested positive for Adderall, a medication she had a prescription for, but submitted the paperwork after a WWE deadline.
“They totally knew, for sure, that everything was documented from my doctor. I thought it was a gimmick [by WWE.] That moment devastated me.”
Instead of SummerSlam, the first SmackDown Women’s Champion was crowned at the following month’s Backlash Premium Live Event. In a six-woman match that featured Natalya, Alexa Bliss, Naomi, Carmella, and Nikki Bella, it was Becky Lynch who etched her name in the history books as the inaugural champion.
Marie would part ways with WWE in 2017 and returned to the promo three years later. While Eva never held the SmackDown Women’s Championship, there’s no shortage of fans who recall her impact in the ring and as part of WWE Total Divas on E!
