Eva Marie returned to WWE television on the May 3rd episode of Raw, having departed the company in 2017. Her return came in the form of a video vignette in which she asks fans, “do I have your attention?” and “this is Eva-Lution.” Since then, it has been reported that WWE’s plan for her is to use her as a vehicle to get another wrestler over.
During Monday night’s episode of Raw, Marie was set to make her promoted in advance in-ring return. But, instead, Scottish wrestler Piper Niven, who was accompanying her, took her place and quickly defeated Namoi. The commentators pretended not to know who Niven is despite her having competed in the Mae Young Classic in 2017 and NXT UK as recently as March. It’s now expected her name will be Doudrop in the future.
While Niven was made to look strong in the one-minute match, many fans were unhappy with Naomi being used to get her over and WWE bait and switching Eva Marie’s return match. #NaomiDeservesBetter would trend on Twitter, and some took out their frustration on Niven, which included mocking her appearance. This led to Mia Yim, who has previously shared a locker room with Niven, tweeting out angrily against body-shaming.
The body shaming is disgusting. Y’all bold behind the screens. It costs nothing to be kind.
Mia YimIt’s disappointing to see fans posting such insensitive comments, and they need to accept that the days of everyone being a fitness model are long gone. The belief is Eva Marie is set to receive a big push, and thus via association, so will Niven, who has been signed with WWE since 2019. Before that, she mainly wrestled on the UK independent circuit and was part of the ill-fated ITV relaunch of the World of Sport.
