It hasn’t been an easy few weeks for Natalya, but Raw offered the former SmackDown Women’s Champion her first glimmer of hope since SummerSlam in the form of a very winnable match against Lacey Evans. The Queen of Harts, understandably riled up thanks to the insults and injuries inflicted on her by Sasha Banks, used all her recent indignities as fuel, and the strategy paid off against The Sassy Southern Belle … at least to a point.
Natalya opened the match by rushing Evans from behind on the entrance ramp, and her usual smile stood in stark contrast to a notably more aggressive style that only grew more and more feral as the match progressed. Evans grabbed hold of the ropes to break the offensive press, then tossed her handkerchief in the Canadian’s face before uncorking a Woman’s Right that dropped Natalya for three. Kudos to Natalya for taking her destiny into her own hands after a dispiriting run, but she’s not out of the woods yet, and there's clearly something to be said for fighting so hard you forget to fight smart.