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THE WWE roster is full of intriguing individuals, none more so than Lana, the “Russian” ice maiden.
Mouthpiece and spouse of Bulgarian brute Rusev, the two characters and performers have a perfect symmetry in many ways.
They are married off screen and have seen subtle shifts in persona during their WWE careers.
Rusev burst on the scene as a blast from the past – straight from the old school, eastern European heel gimmick of yesteryear – and still owns one of the greatest Wrestlemania entrances of all time on that tank two years ago in Florida.
He’s since stopped waving a Russian flag and become Bulgarian, where he is from, but little else has changed.
Lana was thrust into the fray alongside him as his orator, a silky, sexy Russian to add fuel to his growing fire. And we loved her.
Making her FT debut to promote her new role on Total Divas on the E! UK Network, Lana says she has her place in the women’s revolution of recent times in WWE – and so does the show.
“Before the women’s revolution started, very few women besides Stephanie McMahon had long promos,” she says, in a beautiful Floridian accent.
“I do believe I had a part of it before that revolution started because I was given five, 10, 15-minute segments where I would stand with the microphone and cut the promos. Rusev would be there but I would be speaking.
“I got to stand in the ring with Chris Jericho, Roddy Piper, The Rock, Triple H, Stephanie – this happened before the Give Divas a Chance movement.
The thing about the women’s revolution is yes, it’s about longer matches, but it’s also about building characters and giving us time on the mic and in the ring, so we can tell stories.
“I do feel like I had a big part of it because I am also training. I will be an in-ring competitor and I will be a full-time wrestler.”
Karate
Catherine Perry was born in Florida and spent a good deal of her youth in Riga, the capital of Latvia. She speaks fluent Russian and is a highly-trained dancer and gymnast.
She has spent a lifetime as an athlete – doing football, ballet, break-dancing, karate and Muay Thai kickboxing.
“I feel like I’ve been able to pick it (wrestling) up pretty quickly,” she says.
She danced with the Latvian National Ballet, then part of the USSR – so Lana knows what she’s talking about when she says: “There’s nothing like training with the Russians in ballet for discipline.
“They ingrain discipline. It’s the same in anything, if you put the hard work in, you can achieve anything. No matter what I face, I will remain resilient and chase that prize.”
And as for the slight anomaly in the Total Divas title, Lana says the show has played its part in plugging a positive perception of the women in WWE as athletes and role models.
She says: “Total Divas was the catapult of the women’s revolution. More women watch it now as a result of the show.
“Total Divas has shown women who don’t necessarily watch RAW or Smackdown that there are these beautiful, strong, empowering women who wrestle. Then they start watching RAW or Smackdown.”
You can catch Lana every Sunday on the new series of Total Divas on the E! UK Network.