As noted, Lacey Evans (Macey Estrella) parted ways with WWE this past week as her contract expired and was not renewed. Evans, who is now on the WWE Alumni roster, is now a free agent for the first time since signing with the company in April 2016.
In an update, Evans recently spoke with Delayna Earley of The Island News and revealed her new project, and why she chose to leave WWE. It was also noted that Evans’ WWE contract expired at midnight on Tuesday, August 15.
It was noted that Evans loved her time with WWE and is grateful, but the constant traveling made it harder for her to be with her family and to do outreach in her community.
“I thought I could be of more assistance fighting a different fight than in the WWE ring,” Evans said of the decision to leave WWE. “I want to focus on helping my community to fight against addiction and fight on the mental health side to normalize mental health issues.”
Evans lost her father to his struggles with mental health issues and drug/alcohol addiction while she was still in the Marine Corps and just before her WWE tryout. She noted that while with WWE, she used her platform to try and normalize mental health issues, and help those children who have been affected by addiction, and now she wants to do that for her community with this new project.
Evans is set to open the Sunny Summers Cafe in Beaufort, South Carolina this week. She and her family will host a grand opening and ribbon cutting on Monday at 11:30am. The cafe is located at 7 Robert Smalls Parkway. To Evans, the cafe represents a chance to spend more time with her family and to give back to the Beaufort community that she loves.
Evans hopes to open her cafe doors to community organizations such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and said she plans to offer them free coffee and donuts in addition to a meeting place. She also wants to host seminars and classes, mainly for women and military spouses, to help them with important skills that are necessary to get a job and “follow their goals and aspirations.”
Evans said stepping away from the WWE has freed up her time, but also allows her more freedom in what she can do and say. Most of all, Evans is happy to be able to be settled in one place with her family.
Sunny Summers Cafe is named after Evans’ two daughters – Summer and Sunny. Along with Evans’ husband Alfonso, she and her daughters have transformed the inside of the cafe into a vibrant and comforting space with hidden visual treats such as crayon marks from her toddler Sunny, and little green military men hanging out in the lit-up words above the cash register that read “CAFÉ” as a nod to her being a former Marine. There are also multiple selfie stations around the cafe. She also plays to pay homage to her pro wrestling career by displaying her WWE action figure.
It was also noted that as a veteran and a survivor of childhood trauma due to her exposure to severe depression, drug and alcohol abuse, Evans wanted to focus on mental health at the cafe, with inspirational phrases, scent therapy, color therapy and comfortable seating.
“I wanted to create a space where people could come in and unplug from their devices, but also unplug from their minds as well,” she said, emphasizing the word unplugged and adding that if you put your phone in their Cellphone Jail, you will get a free donut to enjoy with your family. “The cellphone has replaced your computer. The cellphone has replaced your camera. Don’t let it replace your family.”
The menu at Sunny Summers Cafe will offer a variety of coffee drinks and donuts that will be made fresh every day. Evans commented on why she wanted to open a cafe.
“The smell of coffee, the taste of coffee, kind of reminds me of the hard work that I’ve had to put in – and the long days that I’ve had to spend traveling – so it has always been very motivating for me,” she said.
There is still no word on what Evans has planned for her pro wrestling future.
You can see Evans’ new cafe in the Instagram posts below:
Stay tuned to WrestlingHeadlines.com for more.
Follow Marc on Twitter at @this_is_marc. Send any news, tips or corrections to us by clicking here.
