Former WWE diva Eva Marie credits PETA for fueling hunting passion

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PETA and its in-your-face messaging is normally designed to discourage people from eating meat.

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Former WWE diva Natalie Eva Marie, who went by Eva Marie in the ring, however, was inspired by PETA to not only do the opposite, but also further develop her love of hunting.

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Marie told Hook & Barrel magazine that she was introduced to hunting at an early age as her godfather was an “avid hunter,” but she was more interested in playing sports than joining him.

That all changed after she watched a PETA documentary about factory farming — which involves keeping animals indoors, often with very little space, and giving them special food so that they grow more quickly or produce more eggs or milk.

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“Shout out to PETA because you guys made me a hunter,” Marie said.

“Thank you very much because they did all the hard work by showcasing factory farming … so now I’m going to go hunt my own meat,” adding that she wants to eat food “the way God intended it.”

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“When you’re hunting your own meat, it’s field to table and I’m doing it with my hands,” she explained. “So I feel there’s this element of knowing exactly where your food comes from.”

Staying healthy has long been important to the former wrestler, something she and husband Jonathan Coyle have in common.

“Anybody that has followed my journey by watching Total Divas, and things of that nature, knows I truly believe health is wealth,” she told the publication.

“If you don’t have your health, you have nothing. I don’t care, you can be rich and have all of the things that you think will make you happy. But if you don’t have your health, then you’re done.”

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Marie, who started with WWE in 2013 before she and the company parted ways in 2017, has been sober for over a decade following struggles with addiction and alcoholism.

The wrestler returned to the ring in 2021, but suffered a dislocation of her elbow following a brutal attack by Shayna Baszler; Marie was written out of the WWE for good later that year.

Marie has since found success as an outdoors influencer and brand ambassador for Christensen Arms, makers of hunting and long-range target rifles, according to the magazine.

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“Hunting makes you appreciate food a lot more and we make sure we have zero waste from the wild game we take,” she said.

“I feel like anybody who has never done it should at least experience it once. I get that it’s not for everybody, but to experience it one time, I think, would do a lot of people a solid from understanding what goes into it, the love, the appreciation, all of the emotions.”

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