10 Famous Wrestling Gimmicks That Ripped Off Real People

8. Lana (Brigitte Nielsen In Rocky IV)

In Rocky IV, Brigitte Nielsen played the character of Ludmilla Vobet Drago. The wife of Sylvester Stallone's main adversary in the film, Ivan Drago, Nielsen's character starts to fall for Rocky throughout the movie. In other words, she becomes disenfranchised by the militant, harsh nature of the Russian side, empathising more with the 'freedom' afforded by America. That's exactly the path Lana has taken in World Wrestling Entertainment. When she first burst onto the scene, the 'Ravishing Russian' looked eerily like Nielsen in Rocky IV, and even carried herself the same way. Accompanying the Bulgarian brute, Rusev, Lana explained that he had been chosen as a super athlete perfect to represent Russia and crush the USA. Fast forward to now, and Lana has had her head turned by the cavalier freedom expressed by Dolph Ziggler. Her career to date has pretty much followed Rocky IV perfectly. Even looking at the way Lana previously dressed when with Rusev reminds older fans of the boxing movie. This is another of the more obvious ones, without it expressly being said that Lana is Drago's wife.