Big Update On Lacey Evans' Return To WWE TV

There have been a lot of questions recently surrounding the WWE status of Lacey Evans, but speculation on a timetable for her return can now be put to rest. WWE has announced that Evans will be featured on the September 9 episode of "WWE SmackDown," where she will compete in a Fatal 5-Way Elimination Match to determine the next challenger for Liv Morgan's "SmackDown" Women's Championship. The other wrestlers set for the match are Ronda Rousey, Natalya, Sonya Deville, and Xia Li.

Evans hasn't performed since having an untelevised six-woman tag team match during a "WWE Sunday Stunner" event on July 17. At the time of Evans' absence, Fightful Select was told that she had been "medically sidelined," but further details weren't given.

This will be Evans' first appearance on WWE TV in the post-Vince McMahon era, as McMahon announced his retirement just five days after Evans' last match. Many have criticized how Evans was being used in her most recent run — she was seen in vignettes for weeks recalling how her life went from tragedy to triumph, and while these appeared to be babyface promos, reports surfaced claiming that Evans was internally listed as a heel. For a few weeks, WWE did in fact present Evans as a face, but the decision didn't inspire much affection from the crowd, and she ended up being booed at Money in the Bank before officially turning heel. Evans had been involved in a feud with Aliyah that was never paid off; time will tell if WWE will try to reignite that program, though Evans would likely have to find a partner to take on the current WWE Women's Tag Team Champion.