Lacey Evans Has An Issue With Becky Lynch Calling Herself "The Man"

One of the newest NXT call-ups, the "Sassy Southern Belle" Lacey Evans, was a guest on Lillian Garcia's Chasing Glory podcast. During the interview, Evans went into detail about how her southern-inspired character has evolved over the years.

Evans explained that the name itself, "Lacey Evans", has experienced a lot of changes over the course of her career. WWE would ultimately create the final name she used when performing in the ring (or, as of late, on the ramp).

"When I got signed with WWE, I got to choose names and I originally wanted Macey Evans, my real maiden name," Evans explained. "And then I chose Macey Loretta because I love Loretta – it is different. I wanted my character to be southern, so, Macey Loretta sounds southern, but WWE chose Lacey and Evans from the names that I had chosen. I never chose those names together. I said, 'Oh no, Lacey is my sister's name,' and they said, 'Well, if she is okay with it, then we are okay with it.' So I called her and she said, 'Hell yeah, use my name! That is so cool!' So that is how that happened. It was just by pure chance."

The southern aspects of Evans' character are in-part inspired by her family, and she hopes that the character will remain "respectful" so that she can make them proud.

"I am a mom, so, in my opinion, it is the way I carry myself [that makes me a southern belle], and I want my daughter to make sure that it is still respectful," Evans said. "And for my husband, he is such an old-fashioned man. I just feel beautiful and my daughter never has to look at me, like, 'Oh no, Mom!'

For Evans, she has a problem with fellow WWE superstar Becky Lynch calling herself "The Man", as she believes that it derives from all of the things women have accomplished in their own right. Her hope is that her "Sassy Southern Belle" character will show ladies that they can own their womanhood while still being dominant in the ring.

"The values behind what a lady is capable of? You don't have to be 'The Man' to be successful or show that you are a bad son-of-a-gun," Evans stated. "I can put on a dress, wear high heels, and still kick your ass. I hope that it is a challenge to Becky Lynch. Women have come so far: the WWE Evolution, the Mae Young Classic, and you mean to tell me that you are now going to call yourself 'The Man'? Is 'The Woman' not good enough? Have we not proven what we are capable of?

"One of the biggest things with this character is that I want to show the world that you can [easily] make a pie just as good as you can fire a weapon, and you can get the job done in a pair of heels just as you can do in a pair of heels," Evans continued. "Women are that bad ass, that we can conduct ourselves with class, and confidence, and sophistication, and we can be beautiful. We can make sandwiches and we can still kick your ass. That is why I chose this character, because it's feminine beauty and bad assery. There is nothing we can't do. That is why women are unstoppable and I want my baby to know it. I am going to show you what we are capable of and we can do it with class."

You can listen to the full interview above. If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit Chasing Glory with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

Peter Bahi contributed to this article.