Lacey Evans

Lacey Evans
Macey Estrella-Kadlec (Evans; born March 24, 1990) is an American professional wrestler and former U.S. Marine. She is best known for her career in WWE from 2016 to 2023, where she performed under the ring name Lacey Evans.
Originally introduced to wrestling while serving as a military police officer in the Marines, Evans trained and began her career on the independent circuit. She started working for WWE in their NXT developmental brand in 2016, and participated in their inaugural Mae Young Classic. After feuding with Kairi Sane in NXT, Evans debuted on the main roster on Raw in January 2019, entering a feud with Becky Lynch that culminated in a mixed tag team match in the main event of Extreme Rules. Over the next several years, she appeared sporadically on WWE programming until leaving the promotion in August 2023.
Early life
Estrella-Kadlec was born Macey Evans in Georgia on March 24, 1990. According to ESPN, she was "raised in a home torn by depression, drug, and alcohol abuse" and had to live in tents at times while growing up due to her parents' legal problems. Her father, who had entertained thoughts of becoming a wrestler but never acted on them, died of a drug overdose before she got her WWE tryout.
Military career
Estrella-Kadlec is a veteran of the Marines, serving as a United States Marine Corps Military Police officer, including Special Reaction Team training. She enlisted at age 19 and served for five years, earning a bachelor's degree from Indian River State College and starting a construction business while on active duty. She was introduced to professional wrestling while in the Marines through a Staff Sergeant who promoted independent shows on the side. On the second show of which she attended, the Staff Sergeant booked her to wrestle him.
Professional wrestling career
Independent circuit (2014–2015)
Estrella-Kadlec trained under Tom Caiazzo at the American Premier Wrestling training facility in Statesboro, Georgia. She made her debut for the promotion in 2014, later winning the company's World Heavyweight Championship.
WWE (2016–2023)
NXT (2016–2019)
On April 12, 2016, Estrella-Kadlec signed with WWE and was assigned to the developmental brand, NXT, and began training at the WWE Performance Center. At an NXT Live show on October 20, she made her wrestling debut as Macey Estrella in a battle royal, which was ultimately won by Ember Moon. Three months later, in her first appearance on the NXT television program, Evans teamed with Sarah Bridges in a tag team match which they lost to the team of Billie Kay and Peyton Royce. In 2017, Estrella was given the ring name Lacey Evans, which is coincidentally, her sister's maiden name. She was used mostly as a jobber to various competitors. In July, Evans participated in the inaugural Mae Young Classic, defeating Taynara Conti in the first round, but losing to Toni Storm in the second round.
On the January 17, 2018, episode of NXT, Evans established herself as a heel, as she complained to NXT general manager William Regal for allowing "the lowest forms of societal trash" like Nikki Cross, Ember Moon, and Kairi Sane to compete in the women's division. In April, Evans was placed in her first feud with Sane, as the two exchanged victories and attacked each other throughout the next few weeks. Eventually, Evans lost to Sane on the June 6 episode of NXT to end their feud. Throughout the rest of the year, Evans started a winning streak, defeating the likes of Dakota Kai and Candice LeRae. In December, she competed in a fatal four-way match to determine the number one contender for the NXT Women's Championship, however, the match was won by Bianca Belair.
Main roster (2019–2023)
On the December 17, 2018, episode of Raw, Evans was advertised as one of six NXT wrestlers about to move to the main roster. Just prior to her main roster debut, she lost to Natalya in a dark match on the January 7, 2019, tapings of Main Event, and then made her official main roster debut in the women's Royal Rumble match at the Royal Rumble on January 27. She entered the match at number 1 and lasted over 29 minutes, eliminating The IIconics (Billie Kay and Peyton Royce), before she was eliminated by Charlotte Flair. After that, Evans began appearing on Raw, SmackDown, and at pay-per-views to interrupt various segments and matches by walking out on stage, waving to the crowd, and leaving.
Shortly after WrestleMania 35, Evans was drafted to the Raw brand as part of the 2019 WWE Superstar Shake-up, and placed in her first feud on the main roster as she continuously attacked Raw and SmackDown Women's Champion Becky Lynch. This led to a title match between the two for the Raw Women's Championship on May 19 at Money in the Bank, where Evans lost to Lynch via submission. A few minutes later, Evans helped Flair win the SmackDown Women's Championship from Lynch as she hit her with her finisher, the Women's Right, and allowed her to take advantage of the attack. Throughout mid-2019, Evans continued to feud with Lynch and was defeated by her at Stomping Grounds, she lost again to Lynch, and in the main event, was Baron Corbin's choice for a special referee for the WWE Universal Championship match, due to Seth Rollins dating Lynch. On July 14 at Extreme Rules, Evans and Corbin challenged Lynch and Rollins for their respective titles in a Last Chance Extreme Rules mixed tag team match, where they failed to win the match after Rollins pinned Corbin, thus ending her feud with Lynch.
As part of the 2019 Draft in October, Evans was drafted to the SmackDown brand. On October 31, at Crown Jewel, Evans and Natalya became the first female wrestlers to wrestle in Saudi Arabia, where Evans lost. The two women embraced afterwards, breaking kayfabe to absorb their historical moment. On November 24 at Survivor Series, Evans then went on to compete in the 15 woman elimination tag match, where Team NXT ultimately won. On the November 29 episode of SmackDown, Evans took exception to Banks and Bayley insulting the SmackDown roster, particularly the women, for losing to Team NXT at Survivor Series. After exchanging insults, Evans hit Banks with the Woman's Right and left the ring, thus turning face for the first time since early 2017. On January 26, 2020, at the Royal Rumble, Evans unsuccessfully challenged Bayley for the SmackDown Women's Championship.
On April 5 (taped March 25/26), at WrestleMania 36, Evans was part of a five-way elimination match for the SmackDown Women's Champion. Evans lost the match after being pinned by Bayley after interference from Banks. On the April 24 episode of SmackDown, Evans competed against Banks in a qualifying match for the opportunity to be in the Women's Money in the Bank ladder match. Evans won the match after hitting Banks with the Women's Right (while clutching a fan with a picture of her daughter on it in her hand) and pinning her. On May 10, at Money in the Bank, Evans was unsuccessful in the namesake match, as she was pulled down a ladder by Asuka, who went on to win. On the July 10 episode of SmackDown, Evans attacked Naomi, after she lost a karaoke contest to her, thus turning heel once again. As part of the 2020 Draft in October, Evans was drafted to the Raw brand.
On the January 4, 2021, episode of Raw, Evans started a storyline with Ric Flair when, during a match against WWE Women's Tag Team Champions Charlotte Flair and Asuka, Evans flirted with Ric. During the following weeks, Ric managed Evans, usually distracting his daughter Charlotte, including a participation in the women's Royal Rumble. On February 15, Evans' real-life pregnancy was announced and incorporated into a storyline on that night's episode of Raw, in which Ric was implied to be the father. Evans was scheduled to face Asuka for the Raw Women's Championship at Elimination Chamber, but the match was canceled due to her pregnancy; the storyline with Ric and Charlotte was cancelled as a result. She was reportedly planned to win the title at the event.
After over one year of inactivity due to her pregnancy, on the April 8, 2022, episode of SmackDown, Evans returned to the show as a face in a vignette talking about her life, taking on a military inspired character, but she was drafted to Raw as a militaristic heel character. Weeks later, she was moved to SmackDown again. On the June 10 episode of SmackDown, Evans made her in-ring return, turning again into a face character, defeating Xia Li to qualify for the women's Money in the Bank ladder match. At Money in the Bank, she was unsuccessful in winning the match. On the following episode of SmackDown, Evans turned heel when she berated the fans and attacked her tag team partner Aliyah. The same thing would occur on the next two episodes of SmackDown. The two were supposed to have a match on the July 29 episode, but Evans was not medically cleared to compete.
On the November 11 episode of SmackDown, Evans competed in a six-pack challenge for a SmackDown Women's Championship match at Survivor Series: WarGames, which was won by Shotzi. Starting on the December 2 episode, vignettes aired showing Evans training in the military, adopting the cobra clutch as her finisher. This character drew criticism from Sgt. Slaughter, a wrestler who also had a military-based character and used the cobra clutch as his finisher. Evans' last match was a dark match on the July 7 episode of SmackDown before leaving WWE in August.
Other media
Estrella-Kadlec as Lacey Evans has been a playable character in the WWE 2K video game series. She first appeared in WWE 2K19 as part of its downloadable content pack, "Rising Stars". She was then featured as a regular playable character in WWE 2K20, WWE 2K22, and WWE 2K23.
Personal life
Estrella-Kadlec is married with two daughters, and resides in Parris Island, South Carolina. In August 2023, Estrella-Kadlec opened a new café, "Sunny Summers Cafe", in the Beaufort Plaza Shopping Center in Beaufort, South Carolina. The café, which is named after her daughters, features WWE memorabilia including Lacey Evans action figures. Estrella-Kadlec stated that she planned for the café to help address community issues such as mental health and addiction, including by hosting Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings.
Championships and accomplishments
American Premier Wrestling
APW World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
Pro Wrestling Illustrated
Ranked No. 23 of the top 100 female wrestlers in the PWI Women's 100 in 2019
WWE
Slammy Award (1 time)
Trash Talker of the Year (2020)
References
External links
1990 births
American female professional wrestlers
Indian River State College alumni
Living people
People from Parris Island, South Carolina
Professional wrestlers from South Carolina
United States Marines
21st-century American women
21st-century female professional wrestlers