WWE: Rusev and Lana work better together than apart

Am I the only one that continues to cringe every time Rusev, Lana, and Bobby Lashley hit my television screen during WWE Monday Night RAW?

From the looks of Twitter, I am probably not. Perhaps it is the storyline theme around a cheating wife, a honorable and loving underdog babyface of a husband, and the scumbaggy heel of “the other man” rubbing it that has me turned completely off; maybe it’s that these “cheating” programs in WWE that involve a real-life husband and wife simply do not work anymore; or it could be just that Rusev and Lana work better together than apart (whether they are heel or face).

I’m actually surprised that WWE Creative has given this idea a go. Let’s rewind a bit …

Picture this: May 2015 (a mere four years ago), when the powers that be decided it was time for Lana to branch off and away from Rusev. Dolph Ziggler was brought into the picture and a love triangle emerged on WWE television. Lana turned face and rushed into Dolph’s arms, and Rusev was still heel.

The end result? Ziggler and the Ravishing Russian were simply awkward together. Just as awkward as Lana looks with Lashley right now. Summer Rae was somehow placed into the mix as well. It’s important to note that Rusev’s injuries did slow down any momentum this program might have had. Rusev and Ziggler finally did have a show down months later during the SummerSlam PPVthat year, in a very lackluster match that closed with a double count out.

The 2015 program was quietly swept under the rug as the weeks went by, especially after TMZ broke the news that Rusev had proposed to Lana in real life in October of that year. Lana would appear by Rusev’s side once again by late November on RAW, as a heel (again), and all seemed so well with the world, once again.

What was the reason behind my stroll through memory lane? If it didn’t work once, it won’t work again. You could replace Dolph Ziggler with Drew McIntyre and it still wouldn’t work. Why? Well, we all know by now that kayfabe is dead, buried eight feet underground somewhere under Madison Square Gardens. Mixing real life situations within WWE storylines requires a little more strategy these days for it to come off as believable and get fans truly invested.

It worked when The Miz and Maryse battled John Cena and Nikki Bella because there was known animosity between Bella and Maryse, plus those Total Divas parodies from Mr. and Mrs. Miz were AWESOME; it worked for Daniel Bryan and The Miz, thanks to that Talking Smack interview that shook the WWE Universe back in 2016; it could also work for Goldberg and Matt Riddle, thanks to social media.

My point being is, when fans know )or at least get the impression that) there is legitimate heat between two Superstars, then they know a true fire can burn in that WWE ring; and an incredible story can ultimately be told. There needs to be a spark to ignite this, it really can’t come from out of the blue.

You can’t profile a couple as being in love on Total Divas for season upon season, and then make it seem as if there is friction all of a sudden. It just won’t catch on, and as for the Attitude Era-ish bed and restaurant scenes on RAW, well, those come off looking just as cheeseball as the storyline itself.

As the famous Albert Einstein quote goes, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.” So why. oh why, is the WWE expecting Lashley to change things within this equation?

Lana and Rusev simple work well together, and if they need to take separate paths for character development, or so Lana could wrestle or manage someone else, using a “cheating” storyline might not be the best route.

It didn’t work in 2015, and it doesn’t work four years later in 2019.