WWE Announces Eva Marie’s First Match in Her WWE Raw Return

Eva Marie’s heavily-advertised return to WWE television will take place on tonight’s Monday Night Raw, and the company officially announced hours before that she’ll compete against former SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi in her first bout. Marie hasn’t been in any type of match since a July 2016 live event against Becky Lynch. A month later she was hit with a 30-day suspension for a WWE Wellness Policy violation, prompting her to disappear from television. She wouldn’t announce her departure from the company until the following July but would start talking about a return in interviews roughly two years later.

The latest reports regarding WWE’s plans for Marie are a) that she’ll be positioned as a babyface despite being reviled by a vocal portion of WWE fans during her first run and b) that she’ll have an NXT star as her backup. The two names associated with this plan are Mercedes Martinez, who just competed at NXT TakeOver: In Your House on Sunday night, and NXT UK’s Piper Niven.

Are you excited for Marie’s arrival? Let us know your thoughts down in the comments. Here’s everything WWE has confirmed for Raw so far:

• Drew McIntyre vs. AJ Styles
• The New Day vs. R-K-Bro
• Eva Marie vs. Naomi

And here’s what WWE has planned for the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view this Sunday:

• WWE Championship: Bobby Lashley vs. Drew McIntyre (Hell in a Cell)
• WWE Universal Championship: Roman Reigns vs. Rey Mysterio (Hell in a Cell)
• Raw Women’s Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Charlotte Flair
• SmackDown Women’s Championship: Bianca Belair vs. Bayley