WWE: Predicting the First Championships for NXT’s Newest Call-Ups

Lacey Evans

Lacey Evans seems like a bit of a random choice for a call-up from a women’s division that contains wrestlers like Shayna Baszler, Candice LeRae, and Kairi Sane. Indeed, while Evans has been signed to NXT since 2016, she has only really established herself as a character in the last year or so, and has never really been seen as a viable contender for the brand’s top prize, instead playing a midcard heel role.

She is, however, a talented performer with a look and backstory that makes her seem like she was born to be a WWE Superstar. A former Marine, Evans has thus far used her history as a method of drawing heel heat, playing a character that borders on being xenophobic at times. This may court quite a bit of controversy on a more widely viewed product than the intimate setting of NXT, so WWE would be wise to tread carefully and avoid doing anything too tasteless.

Should WWE decide that Evans’ current act is not the way to go, is not at all difficult to see how easily this character could be morphed into a more crowd-friendly variant in the vain of patriotic babyfaces like John Cena.

While it may be tempting to cast Lacey Evans in the same boat as Nikki Cross, and predict a SmackDown Women’s Championship run, Raw actually seems like the better place for Evans’ talents. The red show has always been more focused on characters and gimmickry, as opposed to the more wrestling focused blue brand. A place on Raw would definitely play to Evans’ strengths while leaving her weaknesses relatively hidden.

Prediction: Raw Women’s Championship