As the Ravishing Russian who managed real-life husband Rusev (now Miro in AEW), Lana burst onto the scene in early 2014 and the pair quickly cemented themselves as a top act in WWE.
Lana’s charisma and talents on the microphone were obvious, but Florida-born star, with a background in singing, dancing and acting, longed to be taken seriously as a wrestler.
That journey has been a turbulent one for Lana. Her popularity called for her to get a shot in the ring, but the company also felt like she wasn’t ready which lead to many stop-start in-ring exploits.
Over the past 12 months it seems like the 35 year old has finally started to see some of the fruits of her labour. She has constantly worked before live events, headed to the Performance Center on her days off and is constantly working out in the Hart Dungeon 2.0 with TJ Wilson and Natalya.
Also Read: WWE Smackdown Results (19/02/21): Roman Reigns Attacks Edge; Tag Team Main Event
Now, after being on the receiving end of the harsh, unforgiving nature of social media for years, the tide has turned and she’s enjoying the best run of her career.
When talkSPORT had the chance to sit down with Lana ahead of the Elimination Chamber, we asked who had been crucial to her in-ring development and progress in WWE.
On Fit Finaly…
Gosh, I don’t know what I would do without Fit, to be honest. He’ so brilliant.
“I’ll never forget – and we were able to show this on Total Divas – but in 2017 I was training and training, going down to NXT on my off days, not having any off days, training with Fit on my off days and training with Fit at live events and then I was told that I wasn’t ready.
“I was told that I was going to have this title shot, then I’d be paired with Tamina. So I’d keep wrestling live events, but it was going to be with Tamina. They told me ‘you’re just not athletic.’ I’ll never forget that [laughs]. This is like May 2017.
“I was like ‘OK’ and of course I come out of the room and bawling [crying] and I run to Fit. Fit looked at me and he goes ‘don’t stop.’
“He goes ‘it’s your choice. If you want to stop, then that’s your choice. But don’t stop because they’re telling you something. We’re going to go out there and continue to prove them wrong. If you want to quit, no worries. If you don’t, keep on going.’
“And he just kept working with me and kept on going. And if I would have quit back then, I wouldn’t be where I am now, so I’m thankful for that.
“He believed in me when no one else did, even when I didn’t believe in myself. So I’m very, very thankful. I was actually able to train with him last week and the week before and the Performance Center and I was just so happy. He’s so amazing.”
On TJ Wilson and Natalya…
“TJ is another person. He believed. He is just so encouraging and he’s always like ‘you’re picking it up so fast’ and I haven’t heard those words.
“I’m like ‘I am?!’ [laughs]. Oh my gosh. He was having me do a crossbody and a hurricanrana and I would never have even thought I could do that.
“He pushes me and Nattie does, so I’m so thankful.”
TJ Wilson and Natalya have their own ring where they let their peers come and train called the Hart Dungeon 2.0
On Becky Lynch…
“Becky has helped me a lot. That would be someone that probably people don’t know about because of characters, storylines etc. But man, I have learned so much from Becky!
“I think partly, before The Man started, at live events she would be in the match and taking heat and I would be learning from her. She was so tough on me. But man, if she wasn’t tough, I wouldn’t be where I am right now.
“She was so tough [laughs] she would always be like ‘toughen up!’ and this and that.
“And now, I get texts from her saying ‘I’m so proud of you.’ She texts me every single week. I’m so thankful for that because when this whole pandemic started, I remember being so discouraged and I remember her telling me ‘you’re so strong. You’re such a strong woman. Now you’ve got to be who you are. Keep on carrying this, keep working hard, harder than anyone else so we can bring the people back that we love so much’ – and I remember those words [begins to cry].
“I’m sorry. I just remember when she was like ‘you’ve got to be the strong woman that you are’ – those words helped me not to give up, you know?
“Hearing Becky say that about me. Every single day I start my morning like ‘I’m strong, I’m resilient I’m durable – I’m going to keep going.’
“I just think it’s so important the words that we use to people and that’s such a great example of Becky giving me hope. Her texts and guidance every single week is just… I’m so thankful.”
Tune into the WWE Network at midnight on Sunday February 21 to watch WWE Elimination Chamber
