It was reported online a few days ago that real-life couple and WWE Superstars Rusev and Lana asked for their WWE releases. It seems to stem from the delegation once again of Lana from a wrestler to a manager role, as well as Rusev being creatively stifled after returning from injury.
Back before the Money In The Bank PPV, Lana made her on-screen return after a series of vignettes showed her with a Burlesque-style dancer gimmick. She challenged then-SmackDown Women’s Champion Naomi at the PPV, but also on subsequent episodes of SmackDown Live was made to look out of her league at every opportunity. She might not be as accomplished in the ring as some of her counterparts on the roster, and this was emphasised on screen, seemingly portraying the notion that she is very out of her depth. While SmackDown Live is the land of opportunity, someone who cannot keep up with the likes of Charlotte Flair, Becky Lynch and current Women’s Champion Natalya has now been relegated to managing Tamina.
Meanwhile Rusev was traded to SmackDown Live as a part of the Superstar Shake-Up back at the beginning of the summer, and rekindled his anti-American gimmick. Of course on the 4th July, free agent John Cena came back and defended America’s honour by defeating Rusev in a Flag Match. Rusev then dwindled on SmackDown Live for a while before being squashed in 9 seconds at SummerSlam by Randy Orton, a man himself reeling from a never-ending feud with WWE Champion Jinder Mahal.
Seemingly all of this has led to speculation that Rusev and Lana are frustrated with their positions in the company at present, where the Bulgarian Brute asked for his release following his loss to Orton. The story was quickly shot down by Lana on Twitter:
That's called don't believe the pathetic villagers that pretend that they are "journalist" with real facts… hahahahah!!!! https://t.co/EfaoxRsdhJ
— CJ “Lana” Perry (@LanaWWE) August 23, 2017
Rusev has a tendency to work the WWE Universe on social media, and this situation is no different. His tweet on Wednesday is a good example:
Thank you @WWERoadDogg for stepping in between…….. I would of been in trouble. I mean I almost got whole eggs instead of egg whites.
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) August 24, 2017
The dust seemed to settle for a bit, but then Twitter went into a frenzy again when The Bulgarian George Clooney tweeted this:
I want to thank @WWE front office TR and everybody involved. THANK YOU
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) August 25, 2017
The lack of any news from the wrestling media’s more reputable sources and no notice of a “future endeavours” notice from the company, suggests all of this is just speculation and nothing more. But credit to Rusev for keeping us entertained with his spectacular presence online.
Could it be more? Weirder things have happened.
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