Lacey Evans On When She Told WWE She Was Planning To Get Pregnant
Lacey Evans appeared on the 100th episode of The Bellas Podcast to talk about her recent pregnancy and its affect on her angle with Charlotte and Ric Flair. Lacey is obviously excited about her impending motherhood but the revelation during a huge push led to mixed emotions.
"We're blessed to be able to birth children and extend our families," said Evans. "But we also have jobs to do in sports, like physical athletic jobs. So it's kind of a blessing and a curse. Don't get me wrong; I'm so head over heels excited. My husband, I've been with since I was fifteen. My daughter has been begging for a sibling since NXT. And as a woman, I have to look at my baby and say 'I can't. I'm chasing, I'm so close, I'm almost there.' I have to prove to this company, to the world and to myself that I have what it takes to be successful and then I promise.
"But we're women; at one point can we promise them when we're literally giving our body, everything we possibly can to be an athlete, to be a sports entertainer. You can't be pregnant out there with a big belly kicking ass and taking names. There's pros and cons but at the end of the day I wouldn't change a thing."
Upon being asked to walk them through the timeline, Evans revealed that she had been planning to have a second child for awhile, and had even talked to WWE about it.
"I got a good run with Becky Lynch," Evans recalled. "I got to do amazing things with Bayley and Sasha and Saudi Arabia. All of a sudden I wasn't being used and I was backstage in catering. And I wondered how it would work; how does it work to be a woman in WWE when it comes to pregnancy? I am not one to just sit back and be quiet, and I knocked on the door and I say 'when is a good time?' I'm not being used and I always wanted to have another child. I know for a fact once I have the baby I can come back, kicking ass and taking names. So I went to WWE and asked 'how does it work?'
Evans revealed that WWE was more than supportive. After several months of trying and not getting pregnant however, Vince McMahon approached her with the idea for an angle with Charlotte and Ric Flair, to which Evans agreed. It was just one week before her match with Asuka at Elimination Chamber that she learned she was pregnant.
"I said I'll just continue to take pregnancy tests for obvious reasons," Evans said. "And Sunday at 8:15 it was positive. It was one week to the day before Elimination Chamber. And I was like 'this is great, but dammit.' There's a guilt, you know, you feel guilty because there's so many people working for these storylines. From the writers to Charlotte to her father. And I'm just like 'dang.' But what can you do? It took me from 8:15 to 8:40 to write that up and inform the powers that be that this is where we're at."
Nevertheless, Lacey hopes to pick up right where she left off with Charlotte when she returns. She also would have no qualms if WWE wanted to incorporate her pregnancy into the storyline.
"I'm ready," she said. "Just because I can't do the sports part doesn't mean I can't entertain the hell out of you nasty things! I want to run with it."
If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Bellas podcast with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.