Eva Marie Thought Her WWE Suspension Was Just a Storyline Twist

Eva Marie is finally shedding light on one of the wildest career curveballs she ever faced in WWE—and she says she didn’t even realize it was real at first.

On a recent episode of Ring The Belle, the former WWE star opened up about her 2016 suspension under the company’s Wellness Policy, revealing that she genuinely believed the entire thing was part of a storyline.

Marie was pulled from what would have been the biggest match of her career at SummerSlam 2016, just three days before the event. The suspension stemmed from a failed drug test—but not for anything shady. She tested positive for Adderall, which she had a prescription for, but missed the deadline to turn in her paperwork.

“WWE allowed me to put out my statement the way that I did because it was all paperwork,” Eva explained. “They totally knew for sure everything was documented from my doctor. That’s why I thought it was a gimmick.”

She added that the whole situation felt off from the beginning—especially when Nikki Bella was chosen to replace her in the match. “It was just horrendous, and then what was crazy about that, Nikki is the one who replaced me. So, I was like, ‘Is this a storyline?’ Like, ‘What is going on?’ Like this does not even seem like real.”

WWE’s Wellness Policy, which launched in 2006 following the tragic death of Eddie Guerrero, has caught several top stars in the past—including Roman Reigns, Randy Orton, and Rey Mysterio. But Eva’s case was one of the more unusual ones, showing just how tricky the system can be—even when you’re technically in the clear.