Absurd Rusev and Lana Promo With Michael Cole Is Primo Pro Wrestling

Rusev and Lana, who were gallivanting around Cancun last week, sat down for an interview with Michael Cole, and it’s the best thing they’ve done with WWE programming in recent memory. (As they alluded to in the spot, the League of Nations, the faction where Rusev spent the last however many months, was as toothless as the historical alliance it was named after. Lana knew it would be a failure from the get-go, and would not be associated with it.)

This promo, where they’re both straddling the fourth wall and wading indistinguishably between their characters and reality, is my favorite type of thing in pro wrestling when it’s executed properly. “It’s an honor for Total Divas to have me and Rusev,” Lana deadpans. “Rusev is a real hero, so people are going to be able to see why, and see me, and why I define what a true woman means.”

Rusev has been stuck in mid-card purgatory for the last two years, and piling up spots like this one is what could be his ticket out of there if he also catches some breaks. At the very least it advances his plotline for his upcoming US title match against Kalisto.

As a counterexample, Ryback, who is currently absent from the company in a cash and creative dispute, has never displayed depth and comedic timing like this onscreen. His match with Kalisto at Payback ended up being great when it happened, but the buildup was blah. Sure, plenty of that can be attributed to poor scripting, but if there were layers to Ryback’s Big Guy gimmick they never personally resonated with me.

One final point is that Michael Cole takes a lot of flack for the way he announces the product. A lot of that is probably because of Vince McMahon’s infamous micromanagement, but some of the blame also lies with Cole. That being said, he does a great job in the role of the straight man in segments like this one, and the one with Miz and Maryse from a couple weeks ago: