There have been a number of familiar faces from the WWE women’s division missing for quite some time. Bayley and Alexa Bliss have both remained absent on the Road to WrestleMania. Fans have actively been fantasy booking the return of Asuka. And then there’s Lacey Evans. Evans may be a marginally lower profile than her cohort of missing colleagues, but she was embroiled in a storyline with no lesser star than Charlotte Flair before she left TV in early 2021. Moreover, her reasons for taking time away were clear—she was pregnant in real life. She gave birth in October and just six weeks later, posted ripped gym selfies which seemed to speak to her preparations for a comeback. When the time comes for her to return to WWE television, there are some real questions about how the company should use her.
Do A Callback To Lacey Evans’ Debut
One of the most memorable pieces of Lacey Evans’ WWE career to date was how she debuted on the main roster. She did so via a series of appearances in which her music played, she walked down the entrance ramp almost as if it were a runway, then headed to the back without saying a word. While superficially silly and a bit anticlimactic, these spots put her on fans’ radar and became an unconventional source of heat as fans actively wanted to see her do something more, culminating in her pulling this stunt on the biggest stage of all at WrestleMania 35. The gimmick established her as a star of sorts, and put her on the radar to debut in a feud with Becky Lynch over the Raw Women’s Championship.
Because Evans has yet to capture a championship in WWE, or engage in a truly iconic storyline, it’s reasonable enough to argue that these appearances walking down the ramp are the most memorable part of her wrestling legacy to date. It would only make sense for WWE to tap into that history and reignite some of that interest with her reviving the act at least once and maybe for a series of spots upon her return. To mix things up, though, perhaps Evans could walk out in such a way to interrupt a heel’s promo, or distract from a heel moment of glory in celebrating victory.
A Babyface Run For Lacey Evans
It’s only traditional for stars coming back from medical leave to return as babyfaces because fans are happy to see them again, and there’s a baked in comeback story ready at hand.
Related: Becky Lynch & 9 Other Female Wrestlers Who Became MothersThough Lacey Evans had played babyface for about a year before stepping away from the ring, she’s best remembered by the fans for her heel work. Picking up as a face still has the potential to feel fresh, then, whether Evans returns to feud with Charlotte Flair, poses a heroine opposite the likely-as-not still-evil Alexa Bliss, or flips the face-heel orientation on her old rivalry with Becky Lynch.
Ms. Money In The Bank
Lacey Evans is a big-bodied, visibly jacked presence who can naturally play a bully heel, but also fits the traditional mold of a superhero baby face. Moreover, she has a real life background serving in the Marines that invites a good PR story to accompany her success in WWE.
Nonetheless, Evans also happened to emerge in WWE at the height of Becky Lynch, Charlotte Flair, Sasha Banks, and Bayley dominating the upper ranks. That’s not to mention Ronda Rousey snagging the spotlight, and Bianca Belair passing Evans with a blockbuster first year on the main roster. How can Evans, then, factor into any title picture? She's an ideal candidate to win Money in the Bank. Similar to Edge in the mid-2000s or Big E in the early 2020s, she’s that potential top-tier star with a glass ceiling over her head. The briefcase is all but designed to help that kind of Superstar breakthrough to the next level with a little storyline push to explain their way into a title reign, after which the performer can sink or swim.
Leave The Ric Flair Angle In The Past
Storyline continuity is generally a good thing in the world of professional wrestling. One reason why few fans were sad to see Lacey Evans go on maternity leave in 2021, though, was because of how poorly received her character’s creative direction was leading up to it. Evans feuding with Charlotte Flair was fine, but the company booking her into a kayfabe romantic relationship with Ric Flair landed poorly. The idea of the woman in her early 30s engaging with the man in his early 70s felt, at best, outdated—more like a callback to the Dawn Marie-Al Wilson angle than the kind of story of an independent woman fans have come to expect in the 2000s.
The best choice for Evans’ career moving forward is to pretend the Nature Boy angle never happened in favor of emphasizing her abilities as an athlete, her past as a Marine, or perhaps even her identity as a mother. The feud with The Queen is fine to go back to if the creative is right, but dropping the previous creative altogether would be in the best interests of everyone.
It's unclear when, exactly, Lacey Evans will be back in a WWE ring. It seems she’s physically ready, though. The company has a habit of rebooting after WrestleMania including call-ups from developmental and reintegrating familiar faces who’ve been missing for a while. The Lady of WWE should fit in that mix and have a noteworthy year ahead of her.
