10 Things We Learned From The Backlash Go-Home WWE SmackDown (May 16)

6. (Still?) Coming Soon

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WWE.com

In contrast to The New Day's grandstanding featurettes building their impending arrival on SmackDown Live!, Lana's dancing vignettes ahead of her own debut are beginning to wear a little thin.

Furthermore, the persistent 'Coming Soon' tag at the end of each of her performances puts in mind the catastrophic 'Emmalina' rebrand from earlier this year that may have placed a hex on the talented Australian's career.

As evidenced in her limited displays last year, Lana is an unpolished in-ring performer despite showing outstanding poise as Rusev's valet since the pair arrived on the main roster in 2014.

The spliced-together package on this week's broadcast was a 'best bits' collection of the aired sequences so far, which would ordinarily imply that a debut is imminent.

With reports of the 'Ravishing Russian' still diligently putting in time at the Performance Centre and on NXT live events, the delay may be down to a confidence issue management has with Lana joining the talented ranks of the blue brand's thriving women's division.

This of course begs the question as to why the decision was made to separate her from her husband and potentially damage both performers (as they did once before), but the company seem insistent on making her a solo star. For Lana's sake, here's hoping the endless trailers don't hype her beyond her own skillset.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett