The future of Rusev and Lana affected by real life tragedy?

[hatehabsforever]

Personally I don't think the tragedy of the plane crash will affect anything whatsoever. The only change I see happening is that Lana will stop making direct reference to Vladimir Putin, and will stop showing his face on the Titantron. Other than that, I see no repercussions whatsoever.

She and Rusev will remain affiliated, as a Bulgarian and Russian respectively. Neither will turn face. She will continue to spew anti American and pro Russian rhetoric, minus the direct references to Putin. She will continue to draw heat by making her disparaging comments to the American fans, and will continue to tell them to shut up. But there's no way this feud changes dramatically, or ends differently, because of the real life events. I just don't see it. It's not like she's going to come out and endorse Putin as some humanitarian, or defend his involvement in the tragedy. It will be business as usual, but she will have to tread a little lightly and be careful with her choices of words. At the end of the day, I see a no contest at Battleground, and a decisive Rusev victory over Swagger at Summerslam.

 

[Pedigree1]

Its a shame that this tragedy happened,ironic though that this may spell the end of Rusev as a super Bulgarian athlete goes.. Lana will no longer mention Putin,this will be a huge No-No considering the events that has happened..

Rusev will most likely lose to Swagger now at Battleground,as the tension between Russia and USA is very much real now.. A kayfabe feel good moment is needed here,i will be very surprised if Rusev goes over..

Lana though,has always been the plan not Rusev.. Rusev as been mentioned is like Ivan Drago,nothing special in him.. I agree with JoeFromTomsRiver (Frankie Edgar reference),Rusev will lose drop Lana like a hot potato,and come back as the new authority figure!

 

[oldschool123]

It appears as if Russia had a hand in shooting down a civilian airplane and killing 259 innocent people.

Do you think that this will have an affect on the booking of Rusev and Lana since their whole gimmick is being super pro Russia?

We have seen the plug get pulled in the past with these nationalistic gimmicks when current events made them too controversial.

 

[Wrestlingaholic]

First off can we stop referring to it as a 'tragedy'? Tragedy implies some kind of accidental circumstances; pro-Russian separatists from the People's Republic of Donetsk - or, indeed, the Ukrainian army (although more than likely the former) - launching a pre-meditated attack on a passenger aeroplane is not accidental.

Secondly, and talking purely on the wrestling angle here, it seems to me that, reading these posts, the biggest loser is Jack Swagger - after 5 years as a fair-to-middling heel, he gets a big face turn, in a mid-card feud but with a gimmick that usually comes with an eventual main event push, and the IWC have now decided that if Swagger wins at Battleground, it will ONLY be because of this incident. Any credibility he may have gained, instantly taken away by the perception of the IWC. That's a shame.

 

[WarroBODFan]

First off can we stop referring to it as a 'tragedy'? Tragedy implies some kind of accidental circumstances; pro-Russian separatists from the People's Republic of Donetsk - or, indeed, the Ukrainian army (although more than likely the former) - launching a pre-meditated attack on a passenger aeroplane is not accidental.

Secondly, and talking purely on the wrestling angle here, it seems to me that, reading these posts, the biggest loser is Jack Swagger - after 5 years as a fair-to-middling heel, he gets a big face turn, in a mid-card feud but with a gimmick that usually comes with an eventual main event push, and the IWC have now decided that if Swagger wins at Battleground, it will ONLY be because of this incident. Any credibility he may have gained, instantly taken away by the perception of the IWC. That's a shame.

Tragedy refers to the countless lives lost in this "pre-meditated attack". Thought that was obvious.

Anyway, I do agree that this could be a damn shame for Swagger if anything is altered. Although by the end of the feud I was expecting Rusev to be the one going over, I also expected Swagger to booked strong, and would still carry some strong face turn momentum into whatever his next programme would be.

 

[The_Don]

The following is an excerpt:

There’s a lot of speculation that WWE may drop the current storyline with Lana and Rusev after the civilian plane was shot down in East Ukraine last week and the ongoing controversies surrounding Russian President Vladimir Putin. A similar situation happened back in 2005 when WWE nixed the Muhammad Hassan character after the July 7th bombings in London.

This speculation has not been reported here (at leat not at the moment of writing), but it makes a lot of sense with the explanation given. Will WWE ignore this? Will they just stop the Putin references? Will they just drop the Rusev/Swagger angle? Or will they shut down Rusev and Lana completely just like they did with Hassan?

I believe if they shut down both if WWE pulled the panic button, but I hope that's not the case. What do you think will happen?

 

[d_henderson1810]

In light of the Malaysian Airlines tragedy over Russia, and the possibility that Vladimir Putin could have been involved in it, will this be reflected in WWE?

I tip it now. You will no longer have Lana do her "Grassi, Grassi" speeches where she talks about American weakness, and promotes Russia, and especially Vladimir Putin.

I think that it would be considered insensitive for WWE to continue to use this as a heat magnet for Lana, and will draw media criticism if they continue to have those promos.

Instead, I would not be surprised if, instead, Lana merely accompanies Rusev at ringside, and plays interference, rather than put her on the mike as a Russian heat-magnet. And I tip that it will start as early as today, at "Battleground". So, no more speeches about Russian supremacy. However, it might make Jack Swagger and Zeb Coulter even more cheered now.

Do you feel that this will happen?

 

[Jack-Hammer]

There were reports yesterday alleging they MIGHT drop the angle altogether. As of this morning, the company's already catching heat because of the crash and the various political controversy surrounding it. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0721/579226/wwe/

This is a perfect example of why you don't see WWE doing more "edgy" or "controversial" or even more "realistic" storylines. Whenever they do something like that, people get completely bent out of shape and, as usual, blow things completely out of proportion. Apparently, it's in poor taste to have an angle like this, even though said angle was going on long before the tragedy of the crash, yet it's okay for all the various news organizations are milking the hell out of it, just like they do for every other story with possible international fall out, in order keep their ratings up.

So yeah, after all this, there's a good chance that this angle will be dropped altogether.

 

[laodaron]

It's even ok for many Conservative pundits in America to criticize the President of the US about the plane crash, but a fictional storyline episodic television show gets heat.

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Basically a lot of people have kicked off since Lana's comments last night... They are NOT hers... they TOLD her to say them... but it's a classic case of the talent possibly suffering as a result.

Lana is an American girl portraying a Russian...very, very well I might add... Rusev is a Bulgarian speaking and acting as a Russian, which is not unusual as someone his age will have been around during the Soviet Bloc time or certainly his parents would have been.

WWE has made a call on this and it's a bold one so fair play to them on that, but only if they follow it all the way and ride the controversy out... they went FAR further with Saddam and Slaughter but where this COULD backfire is if sponsors don't like it... then USA are going to be where UPN were with Muhammed Hassan... they just don't want to risk losing their advertisers.

As long as WWE don't take any backlash out on Lana in particular I have no problem with this direction... if they throw her and Rusev under the bus as they did Hassan though, they deserve to go out of business... don't play with fire unless you can take being burned!

 

[Slash-LN]

Lana was born in America but spent a lot of her childhood living in Russia. I'm wondering how she personally feels about this whole angle.

The WWE released a statement that last night she wasn't referencing the plane being shot down and that they storyline has been going on for 3 months.

While technically they're right. She never did say directly anything about the plane. However saying "recent events" we all knew what she was talking about.

There's no way that WWE wouldn't have seen backlash coming from the angle last night. You can't be in charge of a billion dollar corporation that has been around that long and has more than once had the same issue and honestly say you didn't see the backlash coming.

I'm not sure where they go with this tonight. It probably depends on how much pressure they get from the USA network and sponsors but they put themselves in this position knowing the risks they were taking.

 

[LBGetBack]

WWE BETTER have Lana/Rusev's back here. They chose to go with this angle....And Lana/Rusev have done their job with it.

THEY chose to have Lana say that last night.....and she did a good job with it.

THEY better not panic. You can keep the same thing going pretty much, and just phase out the more outrageous stuff. They better not just drop the angle or even worse, drop the characters. Have some balls for once, when people criticize the company for stupid things. Let these morons who like to pretend to be offended over everything have at it, who cares? They'll move onto something else to pretend to be worked up about within a week anyway. That's what those types do.

 

[JoeFromTomsRiver]

I'll admit I was wrong, I thought the WWE was going to pull the plug on Rusev/Lana. Instead, they had her actually hint at the recent events last night (even though they deny thats what she was referring to when she said "current events").

Kudos to Creative for not being knee-jerk *****es.

 

[TWJC: The Beginning]

No they won't nor should they pull the plug. WWE has had characters when the US was actually at war. She doesn't reference things directly. It's mostly standard heel things she's saying and honestly, most of it is very mild compared to what's on Faux News.

Keep running with it. Wrestling is supposed to reflect reality and stir emotion, that's what this will do.

 

[Softcore Holly]

Feels pretty stupid on the WWE's part. Like if they're going to have the balls to do something big then don't run away at the first sign of trouble, especially it's the expected reaction that anyone with half a brain can see coming from a mile away. Otherwise they're just flushing a bunch of work away for no real reason.

 

[d_henderson1810]

There were reports yesterday alleging they MIGHT drop the angle altogether. As of this morning, the company's already catching heat because of the crash and the various political controversy surrounding it. http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0721/579226/wwe/

This is a perfect example of why you don't see WWE doing more "edgy" or "controversial" or even more "realistic" storylines. Whenever they do something like that, people get completely bent out of shape and, as usual, blow things completely out of proportion. Apparently, it's in poor taste to have an angle like this, even though said angle was going on long before the tragedy of the crash, yet it's okay for all the various news organizations are milking the hell out of it, just like they do for every other story with possible international fall out, in order keep their ratings up.

So yeah, after all this, there's a good chance that this angle will be dropped altogether.

Don't think this is the issue you do it with, but just once, I would like to see Vince do what he wants, and damn the media, anyone else who has a problem with it?

I mean, what can the media actually do to stop McMahon. They don't own him. He can do it, and think "screw the media", like he did in the Attitude Era.

Freedom of speech is either a right, or it isn't. It is either unfetted, or it isn't. Black and white. Pure and simple.

 

[Viola Moonlight]

The WWE won't drop this feud.

Did you seriously think Lana's character, a hardcore Russian advocate who loathes everything about America (and every other country), would NOT have mentioned what happened with the plane? It's not in her characters nature to oversee an issue as global as this and to not utilise it to further her agenda. It's an excellent, cheap heat magnet that adds more fuel to the fire in the fans wanting to see Rusev get beat cleanly... and all she did was reference it in a somewhat obscure manner. Most people will know what she is inferring but when you look back at the incident, it's just another Lana promo.

This isn't Muhammad Hassan level who physically involved himself in terrorist-like acts. This isn't Sgt. Slaughter level who became an Iraqi sympathizer. Lana was simply speaking about the incident very briefly for that one time. Should Lana not reference it again, everyone will forget she even mentioned it.

On top of that, Swagger vs. Rusev has been built for an epic conclusion and WWE cannot turn back now. This feud is red hot for the crowd and they want to see an ending. I'm sure Zeb Coulter can grab the microphone and cut a promo on what Lana said as well, easing any tensions.

------------------------------

TL;DR - this was said by a Fictional Character during the Reality Era of a Professional Wrestling company. Anyone complaining about this are most likely stupid or just wanting to stir the pot. Weather the storm and it will subside.

 

[MartialHorror]

Yikes, on a side note, did everyone watch Rusev Vs the Great Khali? While I'm grateful it wasn't a squash, watching those botched kicks made me cringe harder than Lana's controversial reference to the plane.

On topic though, it was a bad way to generate heat. Too soon, too tasteless. Creative team claims it wasn't intended to reference the plain, but to embody the entirety of this Russian conflict, but they aren't fooling anyone. Nevertheless, I dont think they should kill the feud over it.

 

[Slash-LN]

Don't think this is the issue you do it with, but just once, I would like to see Vince do what he wants, and damn the media, anyone else who has a problem with it?

I mean, what can the media actually do to stop McMahon. They don't own him. He can do it, and think "screw the media", like he did in the Attitude Era.

Freedom of speech is either a right, or it isn't. It is either unfetted, or it isn't. Black and white. Pure and simple.

The media isn't the problem.
The problem is stock holders, sponsors and the USA network.

All people the WWE has to keep happy or they lose money.
Just like the Daniel Bryan think choking Justin Roberts with his tie.
WWE had to do something to please the sponsors that weren't happy. So they fired him and waited for things to cool down and then brought him back.
I would say the fans too but honestly I think the number of fans who would stop watching and buy merchandise is very low. I'm sure no matter what they do there are going to be small numbers of fans who will quit watching.

Anyway as I stated before there is now way the WWE didn't know they'd get the negative backlash. They knew exactly what they were doing.

However if the stock holders, network and sponsors aren't making noise and threats then odds are they're going to continue doing what they are doing.

Continuing the storyline on Superstars or Main Event has little to no risk since it's on their own network. The only complaints they may get are from stock holders but not enough to tone things back I would guess.

 

[Reflection]

I would love to see Lana cut a promo about Israel bombarding civilian areas of Palestine with rockets, killing thousands upon thousands, and how America is aiding, defending and protecting Israel throughout these attacks. She should also mention the American media feeding the American sheep demographic about Israel suffering one death and a few injuries, earning sympathy, while covering up what USA's buddies are doing. Indirectly, America is responsible for all these thousands that are dead and are dying, as opposed to only 285 or so dead because of Russia.

That would be one awesome "pipebomb" esque promo and a massive 'fuck you' to everyone that is getting butthurt by this angle and what she said on Sunday.

 

[SpoodBeest]

I thought in this company's eye any publicity is good publicity? If they are willing to drop this feud and Rusev's push then clearly they changed their stance on that. Besides if they were scared how the public would react why even bring up such a controversial and devastating tragedy in the first place? In the end it really doesn't matter anyways, as Rusev will take his first clean loss to a big face like Cena or Reigns and end up in Koslov-Comedy Land until he gets cut.