In October 2018 WWE’s female wrestlers took center stage as part of WWE Evolution. For the first time ever, the company held a pay-per-view that exclusively featured women on its card.
Due to Ronda Rousey being signed and Becky Lynch being at the height of her popularity, WWE felt the confidence to put on this show.
To the sounds of Little Mix’ ‘Salute’, 38 women arrived on the main card to show that they belong and are able to steal the spotlight, just like their male counterparts.
Today, over two years after the special event, we take a look at how these women who keep revolutionizing the business in 2020, in the order of their matches on the card.
Trish Stratus
Evolution Match: Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Mickie James & Alicia Fox
Trish Stratus entered this show as a veteran, a former multi-time Women’s Champion and WWE Hall of Famer.
Stratus returned to PPV once more for another farewell match, this time against Charlotte Flair, at SummerSlam 2019 in her hometown of Toronto. To date, it stands as the final match of her career.
These days Stratus mostly takes care of her two children, as well as appearing in minor acting roles and running a yoga studio.
Lita
Evolution Match: Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Mickie James & Alicia Fox
Much like her frenemy, Lita was there to be a blast from the past. Lita and Stratus followed up their win at the pay per view with another match the next night on Raw where they won again in a ten-woman tag match.
In 2020 Lita announced the ‘KAYfABE’ project alongside former WWE employees like Christy Hemme and Gail Kim. The project was set to be a new type of wrestling show that made scripted drama blend into pro wrestling.
The operations were put on hold due to the global pandemic.
Mickie James
Evolution Match: Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Mickie James & Alicia Fox
Mickie James, who was defeated by Trish Stratus and Lita in the match, remained a part of the WWE roster.
However, James suffered an ACL injury in 2019. Since then James, although being fit to wrestle, she is rarely used on television, apart from sporadic appearances to do commentary on WWE’s Main Event between September 2019 and April 2020 and a few matches on RAW in September 2020.
She suffered a broken nose late in 2020 and has been off television since although she is expected to return soon.
Alicia Fox
Evolution Match: Trish Stratus & Lita vs. Mickie James & Alicia Fox
Alicia Fox came in as a replacement to this match, was Alexa Bliss, who was originally planned to face off against Trish Stratus and Lita alongside Mickie James, but suffered a concussion prior to the event.
In February 2019 Fox showed up intoxicated backstage, at a WWE live event. This resulted in WWE producer Arn Anderson to be released from the company, who allowed her to compete that night, amongst other reasons.
In fall 2019 her profile was moved to the alumni section of WWE’s website.
She has claimed to be sober and that she wants others to help to overcome the addiction with seminars. Additionally, on an episode of The Bellas Podcast, it was announced that Fox was in school
Nia Jax
Evolution Match: Women’s Battle Royal For A Women’s Title Opportunity
It was Nia Jax who went on to win the Women’s title shot, she used it against Ronda Rousey at the 2018 TLC PPV and lost.
Since the event, Nia Jax has continued to work as a heel on television. Shortly after Evolution, Jax injured Becky Lynch during a Raw angle by throwing an errant punch. She has been booed vociferously since.
Her only championship success since then has come in a tag team. Jax and Shayna Baszler won the Women’s Tag Team Championship at Payback 2020 and held them until TLC three months later.
This battle royal featured a lot of women from past and present like Peyton Royce, Billie Kay, Molly Holly, Kelly Kelly, Torrie Wilson, Sonya Deville, Alundra Blayze, Maria Kanellis, Lana, Mandy Rose, Dana Brooke, Michelle McCool, Naomi, Carmella, Ivory, Asuka, Tamina, Zelina Vega and Ember Moon, who Jax eliminated to win the match.
Toni Storm
Evolution Match: 2018 Mae Young Classic Final: Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai
Toni Storm won the Mae Young Classic final on the show. She and Io Shirai had a very good match culminating with Storm winning the tournament. To date, this was the last Mae Young Classic.
In 2019 this was followed with a lengthy run as the NXT UK Women’s Champion. After a longer absence from television due to the pandemic, Toni Storm made her return to the NXT brand. She quickly turned heel by attacking Ember Moon, ultimately joining Candice LeRae’s heel team in a big WarGames match.
Io Shirai
Evolution Match: 2018 Mae Young Classic Final: Toni Storm vs. Io Shirai
Io Shirai went on a different path and remained on the American version of NXT. After a lengthy feud with Shayna Baszler, Io Shirai turned heel in the Summer of 2019. Her new attitude and feud with Candice LeRae helped to establish her as a believable championship contender.
Shirai is currently the reigning NXT Women’s Champion, having defeated Charlotte Flair and Rhea Ripley at NXT TakeOver: In Your House.
The Riott Squad
Evolution Match: Sasha Banks, Bayley & Natalya vs. The Riott Squad
The Riott Squad lost their match on that night and never fully recovered.
After the trio was split for a short while, Ruby Riott and Liv Morgan are back competing together in tag team action. They have had little success in the grand scheme of things but were able to force the Iiconics to split up by defeating them on Raw the night after Payback 2020.
Meanwhile, Sarah Logan was released in April 2020. Sarah Logan is currently expecting a baby with her partner, WWE wrestler Erik.
Natalya
Evolution Match: Sasha Banks, Bayley & Natalya vs. The Riott Squad
Natalya remained in her role as a veteran in WWE’s Women’s Division, currently being part of the SmackDown roster. That being said, Natalya’s role has been minimal since Evolution. Her biggest match was likely her Raw Women’s Championship match against Becky Lynch at SummerSlam 2019, although she was unsuccessful.
On a recent episode of SmackDown, she defeated former SmackDown Women’s Champion Bayley.
Sasha Banks
Evolution Match: Sasha Banks, Bayley & Natalya vs. The Riott Squad
Sasha Banks and Bayley continued to be tethered to one another after WWE Evolution. They became the inaugural Women’s Tag Team Champions at Elimination Chamber 2019, however, they lost the titles at WrestleMania 35 soon after.
Banks took time off from WWE after the show, resurfacing after SummerSlam where she reignited her partnership with Bayley. Banks has since gone on to win the tag titles with Bayley again, along with reigns as Raw and SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Defeating her former partner Bayley at Hell in a Cell, Banks is currently the SmackDown Women’s Champion.
Bayley
Evolution Match: Sasha Banks, Bayley & Natalya vs. The Riott Squad
Bayley had a near identical path to her partner, Sasha Banks, after Evolution. After their first reign as Women’s Tag Team Champions, Bayley basically reigned as SmackDown Women’s Champion for a year and a half.
She briefly lost the title to Charlotte in October 2019 but won it back just days later. In total she held the title for 519 of the 524 days from May 19, 2019 to October 25, 2020.
Shayna Baszler
Evolution Match: NXT Women’s Championship: Kairi Sane(c) vs. Shayna Baszler
Shayna Baszler went on a lengthy reign as champion after being able to defeat Kairi Sane in this match. Her reign ended in December 2019, well over a year later, when she was eventually beaten by Rhea Ripley.
She started off strong on the main roster, with a title feud against Becky Lynch, but was taken off tv rather quickly.
However, things are looking better now, as she was one half of the Women’s Tag Team Champions with Nia Jax until December’s TLC.
Kairi Sane
Evolution Match: NXT Women’s Championship: Kairi Sane(c) vs. Shayna Baszler
After losing the match Kairi Sane continued to wrestle in NXT until NXT TakeOver New York in 2019. After she was called up, she went on to hold tag team gold in WWE, alongside Asuka as part of the ‘Kabuki Warriors’ between October 2019 and March 2020.
Sane left the WWE ring in June 2020 and is now fulfilling an ambassador role in her home country of Japan for the company.
Becky Lynch
Evolution Match: WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Last Woman Standing Match: Becky Lynch(c) vs. Charlotte Flair
Becky Lynch continued her meteoric rise to the top of the company and main-evented WrestleMania 35 alongside Flair and Rousey, where she ended up holding both the RAW and SmackDown Women’s Championships.
Lynch held the Raw Women’s title for over a year, defeating virtually every top women’s star on Raw.
In the spring of 2020, Becky Lynch was forced to take a hiatus from wrestling due to expecting a child with her partner, fellow WWE wrestler Seth Rollins. The baby was born in December 2020.
Charlotte Flair
Evolution Match: WWE SmackDown Women’s Championship Last Woman Standing Match: Becky Lynch(c) vs. Charlotte Flair
For Charlotte Flair, after main eventing WrestleMania alongside Becky, she was back to her championship hunting ways. Later in 2019 Flair won the SmackDown Women’s Championship two more times.
Before going on a hiatus in 2020, Flair won the 2020 Royal Rumble match and was challenged by NXT Women’s Champion Rhea Ripley. Flair was able to overcome Ripley at WrestleMania, recapturing the NXT Women’s Championship for the first time in five years.
She made her WWE return in December 2020, winning the Women’s Tag Team Championship alongside Asuka at TLC.
Nikki Bella
Evolution Match: WWE RAW Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey(c) vs. Nikki Bella
The Bella Twins have not wrestled a match after this. It was revealed that a cyst had been found on Nikki Bella’s brain, leading to her retirement from the ring. Since this match, both Nikki and Brie Bella have given birth to baby boys in the summer of 2020
As of late, the twins have teased a return to the ring.
Ronda Rousey
Evolution Match: WWE RAW Women’s Championship: Ronda Rousey(c) vs. Nikki Bella
Ronda Rousey also left the WWE after WrestleMania 35 and has not been seen since. She has made several media appearances and it was rumoured she would be pursuing to start a family with her husband Travis Browne.
Rousey has made many comments about a possible return to the ring, saying she isn’t interested in the crazy schedule of fans. She also had unkind words for wrestling fans during this time. It is unclear if she will ever return to WWE.
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