WWE News: WWE’s Russian Storyline Getting Media Backlash Amidst Malaysian Airline Crash

Instead of WWE being the news for the right reasons, something distasteful occurred last night at the Battleground pay-per-view. For the Americans reading this and have not heard what happened, prepare to bust out the American flag like Jack Swagger last night.

Lana and Rusev have been involved with a storyline over the past several months against American gladiators in the squared circle. Past competitors include Big E and now Jack Swagger, alongside Zeb Colter. Colter and Swagger are no strangers to being strong patriots. The brutal clash between the two world powers took place last night at Battleground.

It all sounded well, until the WWE’s blonde manager said something she shouldn’t have.

“You blame Russia for the recent current events,” said Lana to the Americans listening to the world listening at home and inside the Tampa Bay Times Forum. After it occurred, many media outlets took to their computers and wrote down what the rest of America was thinking at that moment. The worst part was, that the WWE didn’t even think it was a bad idea before Lana said it.

WWE issued a statement on their behalf that tried to make it seem like it was not the reference Lana was making.

The storyline with characters Rusev and Lana has been a part of WWE programming for more than 3 months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night’s segment and was offended.

For those behind on their current events, another plane on Malaysian Airlines crashed down near the Ukraine border Sources said that it was likely shot down and it did carry Americans on the flight. Several international media outlets are shooting down WWE and their integrity.

But on Sunday night’s Battleground pay-per-view, the shtick became less amusing and more cringeworthy when CJ Perry, the bilingual American who plays Lana, the acerbic Russian manager of Rusev (who both in real life and in the ring hails from Bulgaria), decided to allude to “recent current events” while ranting on the microphone about how Russia is better than the United States. – the Washington Post

Below is a tweet from a wrestling fan that summarizes the initial feeling in the Forum, as well as the internet audience watching along.

#wwe bringing up the airplane incident from a few days ago for heat… Very VERY brave #WWEBattleground

— Tom Emmans (@EmmansizX) July 21, 2014

The Washington Post wasn’t the only major media outlet to talk about the controversy surrounding Lana’s at WWE Battleground. News.com.eu, the Daily Mail and TMZ also picked up on the incident and laid down the law, quite like the Washington Post did. To be fair, they have a great point.

Normally, WWE doesn’t go overboard with their storylines. When Chris Jericho stomped on the Brazil flag, he got suspended. No, that’s not anywhere near as serious, but it still makes a point that needs to be recognized. The last time WWE crossed the line was in 2005, when Muhammad Hassan’s terrorism storyline coincided with the London Bombings. Obviously, WWE had to can the project.

We reported yesterday that WWE was considering dropping the Rusev/Lana storyline altogether due to the situation in Ukraine. Whether that occurs or not, that remain to be seen. Expect the WWE to make significant changes to programming with Lana and Rusev from here on out.