Crown Jewel was a historic night for the WWE as Natalya and Lacey Evans put on the first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. Staying in line with Saudi Arabian culture, both women were covered up from the neck down and ditched the heel and face dynamics to work a very straight forward pro wrestling match in which Natalya went over clean.
Lacey Evans, who usually plays the role of a glamorous heel on TV, dropped her gimmick at Crown Jewel and didn't portray any distinct character.
Reason why Lacey Evans dropped her gimmick
Dave Meltzer spoke about the idea behind the booking of the match on the latest edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. He stated that WWE just wanted to take a small step in the right direction with the match and chose to play it safe with the booking.
They didn't want to do anything that could have been perceived in the wrong way. This was the reason why Lacey Evans didn't come out with her gimmick.
WWE wanted to stay clear of anything that could have been 'constituted as sexy'. Although the match looked like one that could happen at the Performance Center, the message was what mattered, not the quality of the bout.
The idea was the match was a step, and to make sure not to do anything that would be taken wrongly. Evans dropped her entire gimmick, her walk, and avoided doing anything that could be constituted as sexy, which is why her look besides her costuming was also very different.
It was also revealed by Meltzer that Natalya told people backstage that she had an out-of-body experience during the match. Yes, it meant that much to the Queen of Harts.
Both were smiling but Natalya was beaming. Those close to the situation said Natalya, who saw this as the most important thing she had ever done in her career, said she felt during the match like she was in an out-of-body experience. At times you could see the emotion almost overcome her.
As they say, this was just the beginning and we should expect more women's matches to happen in the Middle East from here onward.