With the return of Total Divas, we are once again privy to all of the backstage catfighting and inebriated babbling that we have come to expect from the WWE Divas. Is it real? Is it all fake? Who knows (who are we kidding 95% of it is probably staged but let's just go with it), but anyone watching the show would be hard pressed to say it isn’t entertaining. As with any reality TV show, the friendships between those involved are often tested by many factors. Some of which are legitimate, others are so nonsensical that it’s hard not to question the sanity of everyone involved. The current (almost) everyone against Eva Marie plot point should be considered the latter. Seriously, why does everyone hate Eva Marie?

The Eva Marie hate train has essentially been boarded by the, ahem, “leaders” of the Divas locker room and seemingly every member of the IWC. This writer will be the first to admit that when Eva first burst onto the scene three years ago (give or take), it was extremely easy to hate her. It was perplexing that Eva was added to the first season of Total Divas having not been trained or on WWE TV in any capacity previously. That said, you would be hard-pressed to fault her for that. She didn’t hire herself. WWE has made a habit of hiring women (and in some cases men) solely based on looks and not wrestling ability. Using that to knock her is asinine.

From the start, Eva seemed to not really have her heart into becoming a wrestler. It was seemingly more about creating a brand and rocketing to superstardom. To put it bluntly, she came off as a bit of a tool on Total Divas. Whether it was dismissing then 19-year-old JoJo as a child (“If I wanted my own kids, I would have them myself”) or not applying herself while Summer Rae took the time out of her schedule to train with her.

As seasons passed, the producers of Total Divas did something extremely intelligent: they stop focusing on Eva’s wrestling and turned to her personal life. Season three of Total Divas did an excellent job humanizing Eva. Not only did she seems more likable as we watched her struggle with her health and trying to get her family to respect her decision to marry, she even became friends with the rest of the cast. No more stupid arguments with The Bellas about hair color or bickering over who stays awake during car trips. Though this move was great for the show, it did very little to endear Eva to wrestling fans.

On the wrestling side of things, it was evident that Eva was extremely green in the ring. It was hard not to notice. Even with her lack of training, WWE brass thought it was a good idea for her first match to be on Monday Night Raw. This was a huge mistake. She clearly was out of her depths and wrestling fans have never let her forget it. Greeting her with you can’t wrestle chants at every turn; Eva finally decided it was time to finally do something about her lack of skill.

What happens next is a bit murky, but Eva finally seeks the training she so desperately needs. This is where the story takes a nonsensical turn: The majority of the Divas roster is pissed that she is training. Why? Because instead of going to NXT like they claim she said she was going to, Eva is training in California with a private trainer. So to reiterate, Eva is finally training to get better, but since her training isn’t in NXT it is somehow not valid and somehow offensive to The Bella Twins, Paige and Alicia Fox.

The prevailing theme with the Divas is that Eva is getting preferential treatment. The idea that Eva didn’t toil on the independent scene is seen as a knock on her. In all honesty, seeing that as a knock against a wrestler makes sense. The best way to learn this business is to do it and working hard to climb the ladder builds character. For Paige and Alicia to be upset is understandable. Their journey to WWE was considerably more difficult than what Eva is going through. The Bellas on the other hand essentially looks like the biggest hypocrites on the planet by maligning Eva for taking advantage of the opportunities afforded to her. The combined one-year they spent in Florida Championship wrestling hardly counts as years of cutting their teeth on the Indies.

Furthermore, let’s not fall victim to revisionist history: Up until about a year or so ago The Bellas weren’t exactly tearing it up in the ring. Let’s play a quick game: name your favorite wrestling match that features one or more Bella. Go ahead. Does nothing come to mind? There is a reason for that. Now, please don’t take this as Bella bashing. It is extremely difficult to take them seriously knowing that the knock against Eva could be used against them as well. At what point did the Bellas decide to step their game up? AJ’s line about talent not being a sexually transmitted disease was fitting because neither Bella seemed to care about improving until their respective relationships became public knowledge. It may seem harsh, but it’s the Truth.

Paige seemed to take exception to the fact that Eva is able to train and then go home after the fact. Why does that make a difference? Yes, it's not the way you were brought up Paige but is that Eva’s fault? Think about it: If you had the option of training with a group or getting private tutoring from someone like Brian Kendrick which would you choose? Why can’t this be seen as the ultimate admission of needing help? Having someone’s sole focus being to get you up to speed in the ring is not a bad thing, regardless of whose idea it was. Eva needs all the help she can get.

Eva has since had here “debut” match in NXT. It wasn’t exactly a classic but at least Eva seems more confident in the ring. That is a start in the right direction. In the end, the jury is still out on Eva. Are her motives pure at this point? Is it really all about wrestling now? Maybe… maybe not. The real question is: are the Bellas or the IWC really in anyplace to question Eva at this point? It may have taken three years, but we should at least wait to see what she is actually capable of over time (after her training) before we totally dismiss her.

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