WWE Starrcade 2019: Rusev, Lana and Lashley are saving their own storyline

At WWE Starrcade, Rusev, Lana and Bobby Lashley were able to sell even the harshest critics of their romance angle on their storyline. All it took was a little southern violence in the humble state of Georgia to do the trick.

Ever since the very beginning of this love triangle, long before WWE Starrcade even took place, this angle has been the target of much ridicule from the wrestling community. And to be perfectly honest, much of that ridicule wasn’t without fault and, in many cases, was well deserved.

For months, this storyline has seen Lana and Bobby Lashley partake in segments bordering on material better suited for Skin-i-Max. Rusev was accused of having some non-PG addictions. One week, Lana was pregnant and, miraculously, wasn’t pregnant 10 seconds later. And that just barely scrapes the bottom of the barrel of what “entertainment” this storyline has offered since late September. And let’s not forget what other atrocities have made this angle problematic.

Needless to say, WWE have done this trio no favors with this storyline. However, thankfully, all three performers are talented enough to be their own saving grace.

The best wrestlers are able to make the most ludicrous and asinine storylines or characters into something not only memorable, but entertaining. This storyline is the latest example. These last couple weeks, fans are slowly becoming fully invested in the romance angle and it has nothing to do with the words WWE have written into their script. It’s all about how the performers have, well, performed it in action.

It’s hard not to be entertained by Rusev knocking Lashley off a stage platform and then getting carted away by police officers while shouting “No regrets, it’s Rusev Day!” The crowd popped huge in both instances and, therefore, it works.

Tonight at WWE Starrcade, we saw Rusev pummel Lashley with weapons moments after causing a DQ for the Kevin Owens vs. Lashley “main event” (main event, as in last match televised on the Network, not main event for the live crowd). Usually, as we saw at Hell in a Cell, fans are quick to boo any match that ends in a DQ or no contest because they felt like they got ripped off. Not this time. They went crazy for this moment.

Again, they popped huge and, therefore, it works.

Even the Twitter TL (as merciless as they’ve proven to be with egregious angles like this) are starting to warm up to this storyline. @nikkisstorm on Twitter is just one of many Twitter users to say that WWE Starrcade’s ending angle was enough to get them “invested” on wanting to see Rusev beat the crap out of Lashley going forward. And honestly, that just means these performers are doing something right.

And let’s not forget Lana, who has committed hard on this angle since day one. Our pal Anthony Suter over at Smark to Death pointed out on Twitter that whenever Lana posts pictures with Bobby Lashley on Instagram, she isn’t wearing her wedding ring. But every other pic on the Gram of her, she’s donning that ring. “The storyline may be dumb, but she is definitely committed to selling it,” he pointed out.

Now, we can say the same thing about all the performers involved.

Just like with movies, the actor’s performances can sometimes make a bigger difference in making an impression on audiences than the material written for them, especially when the material is bad. A good actor can make a bad script work and since Lashley, Lana and Rusev are all good actors, fans are finally starting to warm up to their schtick after seeing how committed they are to making it work.

Whether it be Rusev’s anger and intensity, Lashley flopping like a fish to make Rusev look like a million bucks during beatdowns, or Lana’s subtle character nuances in trying to mold herself as a characters fans love to hate, they are all driven to sell us on this storyline and now, it’s working.