Heading into WWE Money in the Bank , the WWE Universe had mixed feelings about Lana challenging for the SmackDown Women’s Championship. Many people weren’t happy about The Ravishing Russian getting a shot so quickly, but some fans wanted to see what she could do in the ring since she’s been training. Not to mention, every other woman on SmackDown Live was busy with the Money in the Bank Ladder Match.
As a result, Lana was given the opportunity to show her in-ring skills on WWE PPV. She ended up losing the match to Naomi, but the WWE Universe has generally admitted that she looked good and controlled most of the offense of the match. It will likely be a while before she gets another shot at the richest prize on “the blue brand,” but WWE officials are still planning a huge push for her on SmackDown Live going forward.
It’s been reported that WWE officials are planning to use Lana to fill the role that was originally meant to be filled by Eva Marie. The latter’s loss will ultimately be The Ravishing Russian’s gain, but WWE officials may be looking to give Lana elements of another character that didn’t work out on WWE programming herself.
It’s being reported that WWE officials are specifically looking for Lana to play the role of a sexy female. The role is expected to push her as one of the top superstars in the company down the line. Their influences for the character are Eva Marie and the gimmick that would have been “Emmalina” on Raw , but they made the decision to cancel the gimmick for Emma because they felt she couldn’t pull off the role like they wanted.
In a nutshell, The Ravishing Russian will be taking the role of “Emmalina” and be given the spot that would have been given to Eva Marie. On paper, everybody wins in this scenario. Eva Marie decided to take the risk for a career in Hollywood and Lana will get a positive reaction from the WWE Universe. Emma is too good a wrestler to be used in a “sexy” role. Lana is already better suited than either Emma or Eva were for the role.
Lana didn’t have the best debut match in history, but there has not been much criticism of her performance at WWE Money in the Bank. She’s clearly still learning, but she looked natural during her first match. As of this writing, the ball is already rolling on a push that may see The Ravishing Russian become the top female performer in the future. Only time will tell, but Lana is being given the opportunity on a silver platter.
[Featured Image by WWE]
