Eve Torres

Early life

Torres was born in Boston, Massachusetts, but grew up in Denver, Colorado, and has "a Latina background". She has one younger brother, Phillip, who appeared on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? in October 2008 and won $100,000, and currently hosts TechKnow on Al Jazeera America.

Torres attended the University of Southern California (USC) on a full tuition scholarship. During college, she was one of the founding members of the Omega Phi Beta sorority chapter on her campus and held the vice-president position for several years. While in Omega Phi Beta, Torres was awarded for Academic Excellence at the Order of Omega Greek Awards. She graduated with honors and a Grade Point Average above 3.5 in May 2006, with a degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering.

Dancing and modeling career

While attending the USC, Torres appeared in commercials and music videos. Torres was the co-captain of the USC Fly Girls dance squad and created much of their choreography. She also danced for The Southern California Summer Pro League, the only summer league for National Basketball Association (NBA) players, in Long Beach, California. After graduating from college, she began dancing and modeling full-time. After reaching the tryout finals in previous years, Torres became a member of the NBA's Los Angeles Clippers Spirit Dance Team for the 2006–07 season. She also appeared on the game show Show Me The Money.

Diva Search and Ohio Valley Wrestling (2007–2008)

In May 2007, Torres entered World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE)'s Diva Search. She was chosen by WWE officials as one of the eight finalists from a group of 50 women. On October 29, 2007, in Philadelphia, live on Raw, she was crowned the 2007 WWE Diva Search winner, defeating finalist Brooke Gilbertsen and becoming a WWE Diva. Following her win, she began training for her wrestling debut in WWE's then-developmental territory, Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW).

Various feuds (2008–2009)

On January 11, 2008, vignettes promoting Eve's debut began airing on SmackDown. She made her debut on the February 1, 2008 episode of SmackDown, interviewing former World Heavyweight Champion Batista. In early 2008, Eve participated in a contest to determine the top Diva on SmackDown, participating in a bikini contest, an obstacle course, and an arm wrestling competition before being eliminated. At WrestleMania XXIV, she appeared as a Lumberjill in the BunnyMania match between Maria and Ashley against Beth Phoenix and Melina. On October 26, she participated in the Halloween Costume Contest at the Cyber Sunday pay-per-view, where she was dressed as Raphael from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. On the November 3 episode of Raw, Eve made her televised in-ring debut in a 16-Diva tag team match, which her team lost.

In early 2009, Torres began a scripted feud with Michelle McCool after McCool attacked her. On the February 6 episode of SmackDown, Eve made her singles match debut in a losing effort against McCool via submission. Their feud continued for the next few months, with the two competing against each other in singles and tag team matches. In mid-2009, Eve started competing in dance and arm wrestling competitions against Layla, later defeating her on the May 29 episode of SmackDown in a singles match. On the June 18 episode of Superstars, Eve pinned Layla once again. After the match, they both shook hands. Around the same as her scripted rivalry with Layla, Eve became associated with Cryme Tyme (Shad and JTG), where Torres accompanied them to the ring as their manager. Eve and Cryme Tyme then participated in multiple six-person mixed tag team matches against The Hart Dynasty (David Hart Smith, Tyson Kidd, and Natalya), with Eve also facing Natalya in singles and tag team matches involving other Divas. Her final match on SmackDown was on October 9, when she was defeated in a singles match by McCool.

Divas Champion (2009–2011)

On October 12, 2009, Eve was traded to the Raw brand. On the November 2 episode of Raw, she competed in a Divas battle royal, which was won by Alicia Fox. She then began a romantic storyline romance Chris Masters in December 2009, becoming his valet. In January 2010, the WWE Divas Championship was declared vacant and a tournament was set up to determine the new champion, where Eve made it to the semi-finals, before being defeated by eventual winner Maryse. At WrestleMania XXVI, Eve was on the losing side of a 10-Diva tag team match, but the following night on Raw, she pinned Maryse in a rematch to earn the victory for her team. On the April 5 episode of Raw, Eve won a "Dress to Impress" battle royal to become the number one contender to the Divas Championship, and the following week on Raw, she defeated Maryse to win the championship for the first time. She successfully defended the championship against Maryse at the Over the Limit pay-per-view in May. At the Fatal 4-Way pay-per-view in June, Eve defended the championship in a fatal four-way match involving Gail Kim, Maryse, and Fox, where Torres dropped the championship to Fox. On the July 5 episode of Raw, Eve invoked her rematch clause against Fox but was defeated after Fox feigned an ankle injury. As a result, she received another rematch at the Money in the Bank pay per-view, but lost again to Fox.

On January 30, 2011 at Royal Rumble, Eve competed in a fatal four-way match, where she pinned Layla to win the match, becoming a two-time Divas Champion. She retained the championship against Natalya in a Lumberjill match on the February 14 episode of Raw, and again on the March 7 episode over Nikki Bella. On the April 11 episode of Raw, she dropped the championship to Brie Bella. Eve then formed an alliance with Kelly Kelly, and after Kelly won the Divas Championship in June, Eve began accompanying Kelly to the ring during her matches. Eve and Kelly began then started a feud with The Divas of Doom (Beth Phoenix and Natalya), and after Phoenix won the Divas Championship from Kelly, Eve defeated Natalya to earn a match against Phoenix for the championship. She faced Phoenix at the Vengeance pay-per-view, but was unsuccessful in capturing the title. On the October 31 episode of Raw, Eve won a battle royal to become the number one contender to the Divas Championship. Eve received her opportunity to compete against Phoenix for the championship in a Lumberjill match at the Survivor Series pay-per-view, where she Phoenix was victorious over Eve. She later described the match as her favorite.

Heel turn and retirement (2011–2013)

On the December 26, 2011 episode of Raw, Eve teamed with Zack Ryder in a mixed tag team match against Natalya and Tyson Kidd, where Eve and Ryder were victorious. On the January 9, 2012 episode of Raw, Eve started a romantic storyline with Ryder by agreeing to a date with him. Eve quickly became involved in Ryder's storylines involving his ally John Cena, and Kane, the latter of whom injured Ryder. Kane then turned his attention to Eve and tried to attack her until he was stopped by Cena. On the February 6 episode of Raw, Eve suffered a legitimate broken nose during a match against Beth Phoenix. The following week, Cena saved Eve from being kidnapped by Kane, which prompted Eve to kiss Cena. On the February 20 episode of Raw, Eve became a villainess for the first time in her career after she confessed to The Bella Twins in a backstage segment that she had never liked Zack Ryder, and had disingenuously used him for publicity and planned to take advantage of Cena the same way. Cena overheard her revelation and scorned her as she begged for his forgiveness. Eve justified her actions by stating that she had no problem using men to achieve her goals and that she was "a woman in a man's world." She wrestled her first match as a villainess on the March 2 episode of SmackDown, defeating Natalya. Ryder returned on the March 5 episode of Raw, confronting Eve over her recent actions, but she managed to seduce him into forgiving her. At WrestleMania XXVIII, Eve and Phoenix lost to Kelly Kelly and Extra correspondent Maria Menounos in a tag team match. Later that night, she accompanied Ryder to the ring for the Team Johnny vs. Team Teddy match, where she caused Team Teddy to lose the match by distracting Ryder. Afterward, Eve delivered a low blow to Ryder, ending their storyline.

As a reward for her actions at WrestleMania 28, John Laurinaitis appointed Eve the Executive Administrator of Raw and SmackDown. As her first order of business as Executive Administrator, Eve fired the Bella Twins on the April 30 episode of Raw. Despite her new authority figure role, she continued to participate in matches throughout mid-2012. On the August 10 episode of SmackDown, Eve asked SmackDown General Manager Booker T if she could be his assistant, but Kaitlyn was given the job instead. Eve threatened Booker T that she would tell the Board of Directors about his "discriminatory hiring practices," and was given a match against Kaitlyn the following week to determine who would become his assistant, which Eve won.

In August, she began a storyline where she acted friendly and nice, seemingly diminishing her heel characteristics, later shaking the hand of rival Kaitlyn following a match and teaming with her and Layla on the September 10 episode of Raw. At the Night of Champions pay-per-view, Kaitlyn was attacked and injured by a masked figure backstage, and as a result, she was replaced by Eve in a match against Divas Champion Layla, which Eve won. In doing so, she became the first ever three-time Divas Champion. After Kaitlyn revealed that her attacker was a blonde, Eve accused Phoenix, attacking her on the September 24 episode of Raw. The following week, pending an investigation into Kaitlyn's attack, Eve suspended Phoenix, which was reversed by Booker T. It was later revealed that Kaitlyn was attacked by Aksana on Eve's orders. At the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view, Eve retained the Divas Championship against Layla and Kaitlyn in a triple threat match. Eve then continued her feud with the duo, facing them in tag team matches with various partners, and defeating Kaitlyn at Survivor Series to retain the championship. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs, she defeated Naomi to retain the title. After winning a non-title match against Eve, Kaitlyn went on to defeat Eve by disqualification on December 18, with Eve retaining the championship. A rematch occurred on the January 7, 2013, episode of Raw, in which Eve successfully defended the championship after losing the match via count-out. The following week, Eve dropped the Divas Championship to Kaitlyn. Following the loss, Eve immediately quit WWE in storyline. In reality, Torres had asked for her release from the company in December 2012 to focus on her role as an instructor for the Gracie Women Empowered self-defense program.

Part-time appearance and ambassador (2013–present)

On December 9, 2013, Torres made her return to WWE, presenting the Slammy Award for Diva of the Year to The Bella Twins. Since April 2014, she has served as an ambassador for the WWE. Torres appeared on the June 19, 2017 edition of Table for 3 on WWE Network alongside Maryse and Kelly Kelly.

Other media

In August 2008, Torres, along with fellow WWE Divas Maria and Candice Michelle, appeared on an episode of Sunset Tan. On October 2, 2008, Torres and Maria appeared on a special episode of Magic's Biggest Secrets Finally Revealed. Torres appeared on the November 3, 2009 episode of Deal or No Deal with Maria and Dolph Ziggler. On July 1, 2012, Torres, Kelly Kelly, and Michelle McCool appeared on Extreme Weight Loss. In 2012, she was part of NBC's celebrity reality competition series called Stars Earn Stripes; she won the competition on September 3, earning over $100,000 for her charity, the USO. On September 7, 2012, Torres appeared on G4's Attack of the Show for an interview.

Torres, along with Maryse and Michelle McCool, appeared in the January 2009 issue of Muscle & Fitness magazine.

On April 30, 2012, it was announced that Torres would be featured in the WWE Studios and Kare Production Project "Les reines du ring" (English: Queens of the Ring), alongside fellow wrestlers The Miz and CM Punk. In mid-2013, Torres filmed a role for the film The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, which was released in 2015. She later earned a role in Matador as Reyna Flores, a journalist reporting on the leading character's career. The show was cancelled after a single season.

Personal life

Torres is trained in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and holds a purple belt from the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy based in Torrance, California. Torres also participates in kickboxing. She is a spokeswoman and head instructor for the Gracie Women Empowered self-defense program. Along with her sister-in-law, Sage Allard, Torres became an event manager, and together, they opened their own event rental company named "inJOY The Party".

Torres married Rener Gracie in April 2014. She gave birth to her first child, a boy, named Raeven Gracie, on September 28, 2015.

In wrestling

Championships and accomplishments