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 territory in 2016, and participated in their inaugural Mae Young Classic. After feuding with Kairi Sane in NXT, Evans debuted 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.