Lana's Recent WWE Push Reportedly Started As A "Punishment"?
Also, what does Lana have in common with Daniel Bryan?
Dave Meltzer claimed on Wrestling Observer Radio that Lana's WWE push "obviously" started out as a punishment because of Rusev/Miro's jump to AEW earlier this year.
The Observer chief then went on to say that "somebody got the idea it was funny" to see Lana repeatedly go through the announce desk, so that's why the company kept at it. According to Dave, WWE management were hopeful that piping in cheers and going heavy on Nia Jax' bullying would turn Lana into a huge babyface.
Meltzer noted that WWE tried this same strategy with Daniel Bryan almost a decade ago - Bryan had the support of most fans regardless of how many times the promotion tried to keep him down.
The more he lost, the louder those cheers got.
WWE might need to rethink things if they're trying the same approach with Lana. Without being disrespectful, she's hardly Daniel Bryan between the ropes.
This is clearly some guesswork from Meltzer and co-host Bryan Alvarez too; Alvarez said the timing of Miro's arrival in AEW and Lana's table-breaking spots were too coincidental. However, it doesn't make much sense that WWE would "punish" someone by pushing them into a featured spot on TV.