Where does Lana fit in?

[Mustang Sally]

Does it occur to anyone that since Lana and Rusev split, her role has been essentially......nothing?

As far as I can see, she's on the roster to make out with Dolph Ziggler at ring center.....a rather unsanitary display of lip-locking for an otherwise immaculate woman.

When she first hooked up with Dolph.....which really came out of nowhere....it was odd to see her perching at the top of the stage as he matched down to the ring to fight. After all, we watched her stand at ringside all the time we knew her before; how come she watched Dolph at a distance?

With Rusev, she had a function, whether it was directing his actions as he entered the ring (didn't it seem at first as if she was his boss?), cheerleading during his matches, or throwing her shoes into the ring for her man to use as weapons.

Now, she poses at ringside during Dolph's matches and smooches with him afterward......and that's all.

Can anyone figure what might be coming for the lady? Will she re-unite with Rusev? Will she wind up scratching Summer Raye's eyes out? Will she save Dolph Ziggler by drop-kicking Sheamus out of the ring?

Or is this do-nothing program simply a way station until Rusev recovers from his injury?

 

[ASKane]

Lana is Rusev's mouthpiece

That is the best role for her and currently as a none competing talent the only role that she currently fits in. Rusev needs Lana to talk for him and Lana needs Rusev so she has a reason to be on TV. If Rusev is out for a while she will be stuck in the void she is currently in unless she has the talent to compete or has another Eastern European to help her turn on Ziggler and join Her and Rusev in a stable. As far as I know the closest person to fit that role is Cesaro and thats a massive reach.

So she either competes as a Diva or is stuck in the void till Rusevs return when they should reunite

 

[MCMG]

It depends if she is learning how to wrestle. In that case it is pretty obvious where her she will end up but, if not, then I'm not sure. There was a suggestion that she could be the female face of the company but I'm just not sure how she does that without wrestling. If it is as a manager then she needs the right superstar and Ziggler definitely isn't him.

Maybe the Rusev injury changed things. Maybe it ruined things but I think there is a chance they can turn her back heel and pair the two together. Rusev and Ziggler eventually have their match and Lana does the ultimate betrayal. Indeed, given the rumours, imagine if this was a "losers leave town match".

I think Lana ultimately ends up back with Rusev. There doesn't seem to be much else out there for her and maybe in the mean time she can learn to wrestle.

 

[Savior of Silence]

KB would have you believe that it's Ziggler's fault as opposed to creative having paired her up with him and treating her as an afterthought. Not sure how that makes sense but there it is.

Lana either needs to turn on Dolph and get back with Rusev or she needs to be a wrestler to be able to move higher than she was at her peak. Otherwise she'll continue to fall in to obscurity because creative clearly has nothing for her.

Rusev's injury really came at the worst possible time for Lana.

 

[ITrippedTheShockmaster]

I agree that since they split Lana and Rusev, Lana seems to just... be there. The storyline of them splitting is interesting, but it's just like they randomly pulled someone out of the hat to put her with and Ziggler won. It's just weird, and the two don't really have any chemistry together. When she's in the ring with him after match and before they kiss, it's just... awkward. It's like she's just standing there, waiting for him to make a move. She doesn't talk much any more, except when she's telling Rusev she's done with him. I do like that on Raw last night, she "let her hair down," at least somewhat. If she's going to stay with Dolph, she needs to not wear the dresssed-up look. Wear her hair down and dress like a rocker chick. Her staying in the nice outfit just screams that they'll put her back with Rusev when he's healthy and this is simply biding time, keeping her on camera with a popular face.

What appears to be the start of something with Rusev and Summer Rae also seems weird and forced. She has no bearing in this storyline whatsoever. So, if she sides with Rusev and they play the "make Lana jealous" card and want her man back, that seems like a rather dull way to put the two back together. Everyone's expecting a swerve by Lana to reunite with Rusev, but the jealousy road doesn't seem like a great path, either.

With rumors of both Dolph bolting when his contract is up and that WWE is looking at Lana to be their next female star to strap a rocket pack to, they need to do more with her than just make her a near-mute armpiece for a wrestler that may or may not be here much longer. I don't think she wrestles full time, but they need something to elevate her to the next level before she plateaus in the mid-card.

 

[Messiah]

Lana shouod leave and go back to acting, she's actually a pretty good actress and I don't see her doing much in WWE besides what she's doing now.

 

[MartialHorror]

To be fair, I have a feeling that Lana's inactivity is mostly due to Rusev getting injured. They keep playing up this love triangle, but it's hard to do anything when the bad guy is pretty much a cripple. If Ziggler or Lana beat him up, it doesn't matter what Rusev has done, they will be the assholes.

My initial presumption was that Lana would turn on Ziggler and return to Rusev, as that would be the only way to get any kind of heat. Her promo abilities are good, but wouldn't really work as the voice of anyone else. Can you imagine her cutting promos for Ziggler? Not really. But once Rusev got hurt, those plans fell through. Until he's better, I doubt WWE has any real plans with Lana outside of what we've been getting.

Ugh, love triangles in wrestling usually suck. The Summer-Fandango-Layla was probably the worst angle of 2014. I will say this about the current one though, they've finally managed to make Rusev look like the most unsympathetic party.

 

[Jeff Deliverer of Mail]

Ya, she needs to turn heel with Ziggler or do something else. Her role has diminished to zero. A mixed tag match program is likely coming in the future...

 

[Stan Hansen]

Let her be with Cesaro.

He is a better fit than Ziggler.

The pairing with Ziggler seemed random and pointless.

Weeks later it still seems pointless as they have done nothing with it.

 

[Navi]

She's not really a wrestler, so I don't see her in any kind of a match. The only one who needs her as a mouthpiece is Rusev, so until he comes back, she's sort of stuck where she is.

I'm sure this wasn't supposed to go as long as it has, but the injury to Rusev has changed everything. The more interesting question should be this. What happens to Lana if the rumour's are true and Ziggler is leaving?

Let's hope they come up with something for Lana, or Rusev comes back, just in case Ziggler goes first.

 

[Heartbreak_Kid_707]

Unless wwe gives Lana some sow wrestling lessons I see her time in wwe short, which would be for the best. She's acted in movies and tv shows BEFORE wwe...she'll be fine!!!

 

[OYDK]

Rusev's injury could not have come at a worse time for both himself and Lana. The red-hot momentum that Lana had just a short month ago has completely fizzled out at this point and it doesn't seem like the crowds are even reacting to her anymore. She was well on her way to being the company's hottest female commodity since Sable and WWE has let it go to waste... NOBODY can get over by being somebody else's makeout tool. It's getting sickening at this point and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

With the addition of Summer Rae it seems as if this might lead to a match between Lana and Rae which, at least, should get the crowd interested in her again. I just don't see where WWE is trying to go with this... is Lana going to all of the sudden become jealous of Summer Rae and Rusev? Are they going to fight over Dolph? Why the hell does Summer Rae like Rusev anyway, after seeing him treat Lana like dirt? I don't think this is going to end well...

 

[Greg4WWE]

I think Lana is still over with the crowd, but she needs to do something different. I thought when she turned face she would embrace that she is in fact American, but they have kept the ravishing Russian title on her. It may be time to just pair her back with Rusev and try it again in a year or so.

 

[Navi]

Rusev's injury could not have come at a worse time for both himself and Lana. The red-hot momentum that Lana had just a short month ago has completely fizzled out at this point and it doesn't seem like the crowds are even reacting to her anymore. She was well on her way to being the company's hottest female commodity since Sable and WWE has let it go to waste... NOBODY can get over by being somebody else's makeout tool. It's getting sickening at this point and I'm sure I'm not the only one who feels this way.

That's what I was thinking as well. The only real reason Ziggler/Lana worked in the beginning was because it was a thorn in the side of Rusev. Now with him hobbling around on crutches, it somehow doesn't have the same effect. And with Summer Rao thrown into the mix, it's become even more mundane than it was to begin with.

I mean shit, who gives a rats ass about Summer Rae? They couldn't have picked a more uninspiring Diva to make Lana jealous, if that's what they're going for.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

This entire thing with Lana practically has Vince's fingerprints all over it. He's taken Lana from being an entertaining, pretty articulate heel and has turned her into a vacuous blonde that's just a couple of pegs short of being a full out bimbo. If this part of some grand master plan on Vince's part to turn her into the female "face" of WWE, it's not working for me at all.

When I see what Lana's been reduced to, which is basically a giggling piece of flirtatious eye candy, it just reinforces the notion of Vince McMahon's view of women in wrestling, possibly women in general, of being about 30 to 40 years behind the times.