Pros and Cons: Lacey Evans' Heel Turn

The latest edition of SmackDown was the first to take place following WWE's Money In The Bank event, which saw (among other things) Liv Morgan win the briefcase, and then use it on the same night to become the new SmackDown Women's Champion. We were treated to an appearance by Liv, followed by a grudge match between Ronda Rousey and Natalya, but that was not the only bit of women's action, as we were originally set to have a tag team contest pitting Lacey Evans and Aliyah against Shotzi Blackheart and Shayna Baszler.

Notice I said "originally." After Aliyah entered, we see Lacey make her entrance. Followed by a second. And a third. Apparently the third time wasn't the charm, as each time, Lacey was left disappointed, and afterwards, she grabbed a mic and decided to suddenly lambaste the fans in attendance for not giving her the proper ovation she felt she deserved. Lacey reminded the crowd what she had been through in her life, and she repeatedly stated that it was enough to demand praise, while stating that none of the fans could survive what she had been through. She referred to herself as an American hero who put her life on the line for the fans, and even went as far as to say that until she gets the respect she deserved, all of the fans could "go to Hell," and it was followed by Lacey decking Aliyah with the Women's Right before leaving.

So with all of that, Lacey Evans turned heel--only three months to the day after she began her gimmick as a sympathetic babyface. It was on April 8, 2022 that Lacey returned to TV with the first of several weeks of segments where she discussed her tough upbringing and life prior to joining WWE, but in spite of this, there was a lack of certainty regarding what to do with Lacey. She was briefly (and I mean briefly) moved to Raw and repackaged as a heel before they did the right thing and put her back on SmackDown as a babyface. Even though Lacey is better as a villainess, I'm not happy with this move. I wanted more of babyface Lacey, especially since a) we didn't get much of it last time, and b) this was a different gimmick than her "Lady of WWE" character she played for years. Even so, there are benefits to this as well as drawbacks, so here are the Pros and Cons regarding Lacey's heel turn.

Pros: As I said before, Lacey is more natural as a heel; she has proven that time and time again in her years in WWE, most notably during her feud with Becky Lynch back in 2019. An evil Lacey Evans, in the long run, could eventually be placed in a title feud with Liv Morgan, which means the following two positives: one, they aren't rushing Charlotte Flair back anytime soon, and two, Liv's title run could go well past SummerSlam and Ronda Rousey. Before the villainess can set her sights on Liv and the SmackDown Women's Championship, she has to have a side feud with Aliyah first. Also, with her current look, it's save to say that Lacey will be more vicious and violent than she was with her more "refined" character in her early years.

Cons: One of a number of drawbacks to Lacey's heel turn is that it gave me vibes of Xia Li's abrupt heel turn, when she went from being a borderline superhero known as "The Protector," to being a self-serving villainess out for herself. Another con is, again, we were treated to vignettes of Lacey pouring her heart out and telling her tragic story, and this went on for weeks. Lacey was supposed to be someone we were pulling for and feeling for, so to make her evil and arrogant with all of that? That can be seen as tone-deaf, especially since the subject of mental health was mentioned in one of those segments. And again, this is another case of a gimmick not being given a fair chance; something I've seen a lot in my years as a wrestling fan. I love a good villainess as much as the next person, but I really wanted more of babyface Lacey, because she can be excellent as a heroic character if the proper chance is given. Again: three months. That's all we received.

So overall, it should be interesting to see what develops from this. I honestly do expect a push for Lacey; even though WWE appears to act like they don't know what to do with Lacey, they are high on her, that much is clear.

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