Next up is a recently familiar face, the ‘first lady’ of NXT Lacey Evans who is a former SWAT team member in the marines and her daughter is ringside! Her opponent has a blue belt in jiu-jitsu and a black belt in judo, representing Brazil, Taynara Conti!
At the start of the match, Lacey extends her hand for the handshake but Taynara offers her a traditional judo-style bow instead. Off the bat, Taynara is slightly more aggressive and takes the role of the heel (in classic pro-USA WWE style). Lacey is able to battle back and gets the first 2 kick following a springboard kick from the apron. It’s Lacey who has control over the match until Taynara manages to hit a unique judo throw.
The Brazilian competitor takes over with a monkey flip, aggressive strikes and choking her against the ropes. She hits Lacey with a cool swinging slam, that gets her a near fall. Taynara tries to get on the offence straight away, but is met with a strong forearm from Lacey which buys her time to recover. Lacey manages to gain some steam and tries to cause some damage with a swinging neckbreaker into a unique elbow drop, then followed by a neat-looking delayed bronco buster move in the corner.
Lacey lifts Taynara into the fireman’s carry position, but Taynara wriggles out and it looks like she’s trying to go for a sunset flip. However, Lacey locks in her legs and drops her for a sit-out slam – almost like a reverse variant of the Styles Clash. Lacey sits through the 3 count and has earned her ticket to the second round! Our Brazilian competitor is out the competition and she’s definitely not happy, but Lacey will go on to face Toni Storm!
Post-match, Lacey has a bit more of an attitude when asked about her next opponent Toni Storm. She mentions that Toni isn’t an American and she isn’t part of NXT, so Lacey aims to fight for her baby and defend her job.
Thoughts: For two relatively inexperienced women compared to others in the tournament, these two did a decent job. Probably not the most memorable match of the first round, but considering how both of these women have not been in the ring for that long is impressive – especially knowing that there’s a slight language barrier between the two.
However, one thing that really bugged me in this match was the overload of hair extensions. I know the hair is part of Lacey’s look, but it was all a bit too much – it brought me back to 2011 when Maryse and Kelly Kelly went overboard. It’s just distracting, especially when you can see if effecting the wrestlers’ performances.
Overall, I admit that I’m surprised Lacey got the victory here since she’s relatively just been jobbing on the NXT main show but maybe this is her chance to make a strong impression. I’m definitely interested in seeing her work with someone who has more experience like Toni. Also, Taynara is only 22 and definitely has a lot of time on her side as she works her way through the Performance Center.
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