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Rusev and Lana Expose WWE’s Kayfabe Problem

By Travis Hopson

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WWE has spent years encouraging their superstars to break kayfabe, but the recent Rusev/Lana situation shows why this can be a problem.

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Maybe it’s because I’m old, but I remember when breaking kayfabe was the death knell to a wrestler’s career. If you were in a feud with another wrestler, and were spotted hanging out at a bar with them or something, it could be cause to be fired. Things were different back then; there was an air of mystique still around the wrestling business. You hear stories of wrestlers who didn’t break character literally for decades, like Mexican wrestler El Santo who wore his mask in public for 40 years. Times have changed, and WWE has been better than most at bending or outright breaking kayfabe to achieve a sense of heightened reality, but the recent situation with Rusev and Lana’s engagement shows it can lead to some problems.

Rusev and Lana, who are a couple in real life, announced their engagement on social media a week ago. Happy day for all, right? Well, the problem is that it ruined a months-long romantic storyline in which Lana dumped Rusev for Dolph Ziggler, with Summer Rae also in the mix. WWE mitigated the damage by brushing off the storyline the next night and acknowledging Rusev and Lana’s real-life engagement. As bad as this storyline has been the simple dumping of it was far worse, and left audiences feeling cheated.  Rusev is now reportedly being “punished” for the engagement, which is absurd given the WWE’s history with breaking kayfabe when it suits them.

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Breaking kayfabe has become a reliable business model for the WWE, beginning with the “Montreal Screwjob” and extending to CM Punk’s infamous “pipe bomb”, both instances where real tensions were used to add emotional heft to ongoing storylines. WWE has used this model and, essentially, built an entire 24-hour TV network around it. They have a reality show, “Total Divas”, which takes us into the personal lives of their female superstars. The interpersonal relationships built on that supposedly real (How real is debatable) show are often brought to Raw or SmackDown, and it probably makes zero sense to those who don’t watch the E! Network. Sometimes it works; like in the aforementioned “pipe bomb”, but more often than not it speaks only to the Internet wrestling community and alienates casual viewers, who don’t understand why certain characters are changing for no clear reason.

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    • WWE has no hard and fast logic when it comes to breaking kayfabe, and it can be seen in the confusing storylines that emerge from it. The best example are the Bella Twins, Nikkie and Brie, who are romantically involved with John Cena and Daniel Bryan, respectively. It was all well and good when Brie and Nikki were considered babyfaces because, for some apparent reason, they felt it enhanced their characters to be associated with the company’s two top stars. There’s a case to be made for that. But the Bellas are very rarely babyfaces for long, and once they turned heel WWE forgot all about who they’re sleeping with. A similar problem occurred with heel WWE Diva Naomi and her babyface husband, Jimmy Uso. And now we have this awful Lana and Rusev business. Frequently, the WWE will break kayfabe to report on wrestler injuries. Yet, other times, they’ll run an injury angle on TV to explain an absence. Where’s the consistency?

    The point being that WWE is trying to have their cake and eat it, too. There is greater corporate synergy than ever now, and WWE wants their superstars to be as personable with the fans as possible. But if they go too far and disrupt a storyline, well then there could be trouble. But where is the line? If it’s confusing for audiences to figure this stuff out, it has to be just as confusing for the superstars who have to work under a shaky creative policy.

    Breaking kayfabe is never going to change; the genie is long out of the bottle and the major companies like WWE and TNA have no interest in putting it back. While it would be preferable for their superstars to wrestle in a completely fictional, contained universe similar to the old school days or like how Lucha Underground does it now, that won’t happen. But can we all agree that from now on all wrestling marriages must take place in the ring, so Triple H can run-in and marry the bride himself?

    Next: WWE Must End Love Storylines After Rusev and Lana Debacle

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