10 Things WWE Wants You To Forget About Rusev
4. The Leaked Engagement
We've already covered the Dolph Ziggler/Summer Rae situation in some detail, but its murky conclusion is absolutely worth mentioning. It's why the storyline was scrapped in the first place, and if you believe the hearsay, the biggest factor contributing to 'The Bulgarian Brute's' lack of push since then.
Six days after Summer proposed to Rusev on Raw, TMZ reported that he and Lana had become engaged in real-life. Images of 'The Ravishing Russian' flashing her new engagement ring started doing the rounds on social media, and the storyline was axed the very next day. Summer dumped Rusev, Lana and Ziggler went their separate ways, and the duo reconciled.
The cancellation was merciful, as it was leading Rusev and Lana down a road to nowhere. Still, the company were reportedly furious with them for going public with their relationship. WWE apparently don't trust their audience to understand the difference between real-life and a television storyline anymore, and aside from a second US Title run, the duo were ebooked in nothing but dead-end stories ever since.
Their marriage became an accepted part of kayfabe, but if you want to make the argument that Rusev and Lana were buried for it, there's plenty of evidence.