10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Lana

6. Her New Gimmick Didn't Exactly Take Off

Lana SmackDown
WWE.com

Rusev was injured when he and Lana were drafted to SmackDown from Raw as part of the Superstar Shakeup in April 2017. As both were traded separately, rumours were rife that Lana would work solo on Tuesday nights. Confirming that, vignettes began airing for a new character Lana would begin playing.

In the skits, she was shown dancing around a chair and wearing flashy outfits. The whole thing was vaguely similar to the "Emmalina: Coming Soon" hype packages that had aired towards the end of 2016, and it was hoped that WWE would follow through this time (they didn't with Emmalina).

They did, sort of.

The dancing character is one Lana played for only a short spell, and it coincided with a push to make her a full-time member of the SmackDown women's division. When matches against Charlotte Flair and Naomi toiled in-ring, Lana once again became a manager and tried to make Tamina "ravishing".

When that flopped, WWE returned her to Rusev's side. The dancing gimmick, one that was supposed to help her branch out on her own, didn't really work out.

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Lifelong wrestling, video game, music and sports obsessive who has been writing about his passions since childhood. Jamie started writing for WhatCulture in 2013, and has contributed thousands of articles and YouTube videos since then. He cut his teeth penning published pieces for top UK and European wrestling read Fighting Spirit Magazine (FSM), and also has extensive experience working within the wrestling biz as a manager and commentator for promotions like ICW on WWE Network and WCPW/Defiant since 2010. Further, Jamie also hosted the old Ministry Of Slam podcast, and has interviewed everyone from Steve Austin and Shawn Michaels to Bret Hart and Trish Stratus.