4 Ups & 4 Downs From Last Night's WWE NXT (July 15)

2. Crowd Playing The Eva Marie Game

Speaking of potent heat, there's a fun game being played with Eva Marie. Last night, All Red Everything (rubbish nickname) announced her in-ring return as being next week on NXT and the fans booed her out of the building for it. For the hardcore fans (who make up a lot of the NXT audience) it's not exactly news that Eva Marie has been training hard over the last few months under the tutelage of Brian Kendrick, and her progress has apparently been stellar. Footage has emerged online of her hitting fluid arm drags, springboard DDTs, and suicide dives. She may not be on Charlotte or Sasha Banks' levels, but this is lightyears ahead of her nigh-unwatchable early work on Raw. WWE have been canny about how they've packaged Eva Marie's return to the ring. They're aware that the majority of fans think of her as a reality star with no passion for the business, brought in for her looks and little else. As such she faced a wave of vocal resentment and still does. The WWE is looking to harness that heat for a bait-and-switch, preparing to shock everyone with how driven she's become and the amount of progress she's made. To their credit, the NXT fans have been playing their part in this game to perfection. Prior to last night's appearance, Eva Marie was most recently seen a few weeks ago being interviewed in front of the crowd. They pelted her with boos and 'You Can't Wrestle' chants. Whilst some fans likely meant it, the rest have to know that Eva Marie is miles better than she once was. They know what story WWE are trying to tell and dammit, they're going to help them tell it. This is one of the reasons why the NXT crowds are so good. They want to be part of the stories, rather than rewriting them for their own contrary pleasure.