10 Segments Sky Sports Cut From WWE Programming Airing In The UK

10. Lana

There was a segment cut from the 6/6/14 edition of SmackDown with little explanation from Sky Sports, that went under the radar of most fans. It involved The Ravishing Russian Lana making her way to the stage and introducing Rusev (who was still getting a monster push at the time). She put over Russia huge, spouting cheap heat drivel like Russia and its citizens being recognized and honoured for their monumental place in the world, raving about their Nobel Prize wins and America being on a downward spiral compared to the continued recognition of Russia and its great people remaining supreme.

All Sky Sports viewers saw when it aired was Rusev making his way down to the ring with Lana to crush Xavier Woods (that’s what regularly happened for Xavier pre New Day). Sky Sports had edited out Lana’s full speech. Rumours swirled it was due to the relationship between Britain and Russia at the time being complex and toxic. Relations had been strained for the countries following the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 and had grown unfriendly due to the Ukrainian crisis that began in November 2013.