As noted, Michel Cole announced at this morning’s WWE Crown Jewel media event in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia that the first-ever women’s wrestling match in the Kingdom will take place at Thursday’s Crown Jewel event. The match will see Natalya take on Lacey Evans.
Above is a new WWE Now video with McKenzie Mitchell looking at social media reactions to the big news. McKenzie looks at the Twitter comments from Natalya and Evans, plus the tweets from Stephanie McMahon and Triple H. She also looks at tweets from Paige and Renee Young, plus an Instagram post from Natalya’s husband, WWE producer Tyson Kidd.
Below are new videos of Evans and Natalya talking to a WWE interviewer about making history in the Kingdom on Thursday. Evans said she was “honestly numb” over getting the opportunity at Crown Jewel.
“Just honored,” Evans said when asked about her initial reaction when she found out. “Honored that I get to be a part of this history-making event, honored to be here, to get to perform in front of the WWE Universe and in front of Saudi Arabia, to get to open doors that have never been opened before, and I’m just… I’m blown away. I’m honestly numb right now. I can’t believe that this is happening, and like I said, I’m just blessed that I get to be here.”
While the interviewer noted that Evans’ interview was recorded after the media event, he indicated that Natalya’s comments were recorded after the presser. Natalya was also at a loss for words, and talked about how she woke her mother up with the news. She also called the match life-changing.
“It’s… I’m just so excited,” Natalya said when asked about her reaction when she heard the news. “I don’t even feel like it’s really sunk in. For me, it’s just… it’s life-changing. It was like three o’clock in the morning when the news broke back in the States, three o’clock or four o’clock in the morning in the US. So, I texted my mom and I’m like, ‘I’m so sorry to wake you up but I’m just like, so excited.’ And my mom was just so happy. To me it’s like… I can’t believe that I’m getting to do this and I cannot believe that I’m going to be a part of history. I’m just so excited, I’m so excited for our WWE fans in Saudi Arabia, and our WWE fans around the world, and for women around the world. It’s just transcending.”
Stay tuned for more Crown Jewel updates from the Kingdom. Below are the interviews with Evans and Natalya: