Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jul 3, 2021 11:28:27 GMT -5
Was there literally anything interesting about the "Ravishing Russian" other than being attractive? That's a legitimate question, not a knock on you (like what you want!). What I saw was the cheapest hackneyed heat delivered in a bad Russian accent, and then I started skipping all their segments before stopping watching WWE altogether. I am genuinely curious as to how she got "interesting". I think what made Lana interesting was that she was a female manager, not a valet, but a manager. There's definitely a difference, even if it's not always obvious. Then the Dolph feud happened and she basically became a valet and it kind of wrecked it.
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fw91
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Post by fw91 on Jul 3, 2021 11:30:49 GMT -5
Was there literally anything interesting about the "Ravishing Russian" other than being attractive? That's a legitimate question, not a knock on you (like what you want!). What I saw was the cheapest hackneyed heat delivered in a bad Russian accent, and then I started skipping all their segments before stopping watching WWE altogether. I am genuinely curious as to how she got "interesting". It's a fair question, but like it was said before, she was the mouth piece not just eye candy.
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Mozenrath
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Post by Mozenrath on Jul 3, 2021 11:54:57 GMT -5
Was there literally anything interesting about the "Ravishing Russian" other than being attractive? That's a legitimate question, not a knock on you (like what you want!). What I saw was the cheapest hackneyed heat delivered in a bad Russian accent, and then I started skipping all their segments before stopping watching WWE altogether. I am genuinely curious as to how she got "interesting". It's a fair question, but like it was said before, she was the mouth piece not just eye candy. Right. She also was implicitly in charge of Rusev's business dealings and what tied him to Russia for the implied connection to the Russian government, so yeah, manager rather than valet. Tangentially related, it's weird when people present Lana and Rusev as being some '80s Cold War leftovers when they were rather obviously playing off of politics of the day. Like, they even had Lana hack the New Day for a gag. It'd be like if someone watched JBL's run and thought he was a JR Ewing spoof and not picking up on why his stable was called the Cabinet.
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Post by eJm on Jul 3, 2021 11:56:19 GMT -5
It's a fair question, but like it was said before, she was the mouth piece not just eye candy. Right. She also was implicitly in charge of Rusev's business dealings and what tied him to Russia for the implied connection to the Russian government, so yeah, manager rather than valet. Tangentially related, it's weird when people present Lana and Rusev as being some '80s Cold War leftovers when they were rather obviously playing off of politics of the day. Like, they even had Lana hack the New Day for a gag. It'd be like if someone watched JBL's run and thought he was a JR Ewing spoof and not picking up on why his stable was called the Cabinet. Like, she literally said "Rusev is under the command of Vladimier Putin" on a weekly basis.
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Post by Kevin Hamilton on Jul 3, 2021 12:26:12 GMT -5
While that's true she was pretty much playing Brigitte Nielsen's Rocky IV character.
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Post by Cyno on Jul 3, 2021 13:52:26 GMT -5
The relations between America and Russia are considered a second Cold War in a lot of circles. So it's easy to repeat a lot of fictional Cold War tropes when they can also apply to modern day geopolitics.
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Mochi Lone Wolf
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Post by Mochi Lone Wolf on Jul 3, 2021 18:03:44 GMT -5
The relations between America and Russia are considered a second Cold War in a lot of circles. So it's easy to repeat a lot of fictional Cold War tropes when they can also apply to modern day geopolitics. Doesn’t work out as well since it’s not nearly as contentious as it was during the Cold War, and because China is considered the bigger adversary. I’m fully expecting an angle about the Chinese coming down the pipeline soon enough.
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Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jul 3, 2021 18:52:42 GMT -5
Listening to TIJ and man she really hates smart mark wrestling fans.She’s gonna love AEW. Not really surprising there
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Post by jason1980s on Jul 3, 2021 19:39:29 GMT -5
Listening to TIJ and man she really hates smart mark wrestling fans.She’s gonna love AEW. Not really surprising there She and Rusev were awful with fans during their first few years of a WWE run. Both kept in total heel mode at airports and other venues refusing photos and autographs. It wasn't until WWE released a Happy Rusev Day shirt that both made a deal to sign or do photos only with fans wearing those shirts. I do wish them the best and do feel like WWE did them dirty the last year or so and I get not enjoying your personal time being invaded but at least try to be nice to other people. Understand that the person asking for a photo at the airport may literally have nothing else going for them in their life but meeting wrestlers. Turn them down politely but don't pretend that this is 1980s WWF and that this kayfabe B.S. still exists. It only exists to someone that despises the fans and wants nothing to do with them. Also the biggest 1980s kayfabe heel of them all Iron Sheik signed free autographs for fans at airports. It is even his claimed reason why he hated Andre, Andre refused fans for autographs. If 1980s Sheik can sign-Lana and Rusev can sign.
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Blade
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Post by Blade on Jul 3, 2021 23:23:15 GMT -5
I mean, everyone's different though? Rusev and Lana dont owe you their time or attention just because they happen to be on TV. If they choose to sign something or have a photo taken the fan should be grateful; it should never be expected. Just like they don't know what you may be going through in life, you don't know what they're going through either, so be respectful of their wishes if they don't clearly desire fan attention.
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Post by This Player Hating Mothman on Jul 3, 2021 23:44:51 GMT -5
Not really surprising there She and Rusev were awful with fans during their first few years of a WWE run. Both kept in total heel mode at airports and other venues refusing photos and autographs. It wasn't until WWE released a Happy Rusev Day shirt that both made a deal to sign or do photos only with fans wearing those shirts. I do wish them the best and do feel like WWE did them dirty the last year or so and I get not enjoying your personal time being invaded but at least try to be nice to other people. Understand that the person asking for a photo at the airport may literally have nothing else going for them in their life but meeting wrestlers. Turn them down politely but don't pretend that this is 1980s WWF and that this kayfabe B.S. still exists. It only exists to someone that despises the fans and wants nothing to do with them. Also the biggest 1980s kayfabe heel of them all Iron Sheik signed free autographs for fans at airports. It is even his claimed reason why he hated Andre, Andre refused fans for autographs. If 1980s Sheik can sign-Lana and Rusev can sign. Fans shouldn't be pestering wrestlers at airports and if has nothingh going for them but the chance to maybe gleam a crumb of parasocial interaction then that's something they need to work out and deal with instead of offloading that expectation onto strangers. There's definitely been adversarial issues with them and the fans in the past, but nah that's really not the angle.
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Totorob101
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Post by Totorob101 on Jul 4, 2021 0:09:20 GMT -5
I mean, everyone's different though? Rusev and Lana dont owe you their time or attention just because they happen to be on TV. If they choose to sign something or have a photo taken the fan should be grateful; it should never be expected. Just like they don't know what you may be going through in life, you don't know what they're going through either, so be respectful of their wishes if they don't clearly desire fan attention. Totally agree,honestly screw the fans,celebs don't owe us anything at all.You see them on tv or the movies and that should be that.It must be really hard for wrestlers and celebs in general having to deal with complete strangers wanting stuff from them day in and day out.All fans deserve is what they pay for and no more.
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Dub H
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Post by Dub H on Jul 4, 2021 0:13:08 GMT -5
I mean saying they hate the fans because they dislike the ones that pester at the airport is a stretch.
Hating someone for being enthusiastic and hating someone for being an asshole are two different things
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Post by Ben Wyatt on Jul 4, 2021 7:23:18 GMT -5
While that's true she was pretty much playing Brigitte Nielsen's Rocky IV character. And she was great at it. The problem is that once they did the split with them, her character changed and it became the law of diminishing returns with her.
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Post by BorneAgain on Jul 4, 2021 7:30:39 GMT -5
Something that's a bit forgotten (especially as her mic work and feel got increasingly more WWE like over time) was that Lana's acting background made her a much more convincing promo (even with the Russian acccent) than much of the roster in her first couple of years. That helped explain why her and Rusev worked as an act because she did pull off the gimmick remarkably well and felt like a breath of fresh air compared to how stilted various other people felt at the time.
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Captain Stud Muffin (BLM)
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Post by Captain Stud Muffin (BLM) on Jul 4, 2021 11:44:38 GMT -5
Something that's a bit forgotten (especially as her mic work and feel got increasingly more WWE like over time) was that Lana's acting background made her a much more convincing promo (even with the Russian acccent) than much of the roster in her first couple of years. That helped explain why her and Rusev worked as an act because she did pull off the gimmick remarkably well and felt like a breath of fresh air compared to how stilted various other people felt at the time. The accent was shitty but she committed to it
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Post by Brandon Walsh is Insane. on Jul 4, 2021 13:38:18 GMT -5
While that's true she was pretty much playing Brigitte Nielsen's Rocky IV character. Which is funny that in the interview Jericho mentions that after Lana says that her character was a unique take that hadn’t been done before; and then they quickly move on.
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Post by jason1980s on Jul 4, 2021 14:18:45 GMT -5
I mean saying they hate the fans because they dislike the ones that pester at the airport is a stretch. Hating someone for being enthusiastic and hating someone for being an asshole are two different things I have no problem with them not signing, it is disrespectful of fans to be at the airport specifically to get autographs. If it were a random fan with a crappy slip of paper, that's different. It's the fact that they kept a kayfabe attitude and weren't courageous enough to just deny the fan on their own. There is no adult fan that believes these two are two angry foreigners who hate being in the U.S., adult fans and probably even children known they are playing characters. And again, Iron Sheik loved signing for fans even in the 1980s at the height of his fame as a heel. I'm not one of those who believes "without fans there would be no wrestlers." I believe without wrestlers there would be no fans, so fans aren't owed anything, wrestlers are owed a respect but if you don't want to sign just be man or woman enough to tell off the person, don't kayfabe it up. During Lana and Rusev's biggest point in WWE they were the only two who consistently turned down fans. It wasn't until people wore his shirt that they signed and the fan probably bought the shirt just to try and get an autograph and took the shirt off right afterwards.
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