Regarding: Rusev & Lana

THE BROAD, THE BRUTE & THE BAD BOOKING

January 26th was the date of 2014s ROYAL RUMBLE. Two big things happened in that match. __ ____ left the WWE for good, and Rusev unofficially debuted on the main roster by entering at 6. He then had his first match and 'official' debut on the 7th of April and went undefeated all the way until WrestleMania 31 - almost an entire year.

It seems that at WrestleMania 31, not only did Rusev have his first completely undeserved and badly booked loss, he had his entire gimmick change throughout the coming weeks from "indestructible foreigner" to "cuckolded foreigner".

Instead of being a dominant force despite his recent losses, Rusev was said to be "more than just a brute", or something along those lines, by Lana.


WHAT DO I THINK OF THIS?

Well to put it concisely I think it's fucking ridiculous.

I already had my qualms about Cena defeating Rusev for the championship because Rusev losing to someone else would have been so much better for virtually everyone involved, and Cena then beating him two more times to make the record 1-3 out of four matches was way too much bullshit overall, but to add to that, Rusev loses his masculinity by Lana walking about essentially whoring herself out?

When I say Rusev losing to someone else would have been better, Rusev losing to Ambrose to reignite his run and end his losing streak in PPVs; or losing to Reigns to make him look better either coming out of the loss at WrestleMania, or even at WrestleMania instead of being in the main event, would have been much better choices for booking. Rusev would've lost against someone who could've used the nudge, and the championship, and he would have also been able to continue a feud that would have been fresh and interesting, and not a rehash of a portion of their career like it is Cena's.

Considering that didn't happen and Rusev still managed to look decent up until his second loss against Cena, I patiently sat expecting a swerve of some kind, but when this dirt-sheet report of Vince McMahon supposedly wanting Lana to be pushed as some Baywatch-esque "face of the divas division", I got worried.

Now, if this is a SWERVE and Lana comes back to Rusev after tricking everyone and Rusev wins the Intercontinental Championship or something like that, it's okay, I guess I haven't much to complain about, because everything gets back to what would be considered 'normal' for both of them. Despite the fact this should have been done at Extreme Rules and not Payback - where Rusev would have had three questionable endings to all three matches against Cena, leaving an opportunity down the track for a more legitimate finish to a better booked feud and match, it would have been... okay.

But to completely move one of WWE's most well booked, protected, and youngest heels in the entire main roster from an indestructible force to a literal PG cuckold is insane. To kill off Rusev for the possibility of a valet, as in, someone who literally cannot get in the ring and wrestle because of injuries, to become the supposed "face of the divas division" is more fucked up than what's obviously at first glance.

The effect of this change past Rusev is incredible as well. The concept of a non-wrestler becoming the face of an entire division has the possibility of completely killing any likelihood of it ever being a popular in-ring piece of television time ever again. And this isn't the mid-to-late nineties, Lana can't strip down a la Sable. WWE is fixed in the PG stance and there's no way it's changing just because of one blonde bombshell, no matter how much of a bombshell she is. And hell, even if it did, we all know Lana's tits aren't FUCKING FAKE so they're not as eyecatching as they'd need to be to really sell.

Anyway, I digress. The effect on the division as a whole is an incredible negative. The decent work that AJ Lee did before leaving in an attempt to get management to care about the division would have gone to complete shit, and instead of having very mediocre 6-7 minute matches like they are having now, the main roster divas will be having even less time and even less care, because the biggest draw, or just, the person who gets the most TV time, is a non-wrestler!

On top of that, the obviously great work that the NXT divas have been putting on and making fans actually enjoy the division will have gone to waste, and make it even less of a reason for an NXT diva to want to ever go on the main roster, they'd never get an opportunity at a match half the length of what they get now.

As always, the idea of one thing affects an abundance of things in professional wrestling. The gimmick change for Rusev is just plain stupid and the possibility of Lana's change to become a big draw in a division is nonsensical and damaging to almost everyone involved.


However, despite all of this, I still think Rusev has a good opportunity to continue showcasing his talent on TV. All we need now is Lana to stop overshadowing him with her figure and the fans' collective horniness so people can see his true talent and ability in the ring.