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WWE has a way of making its fanbase happy and angry at the same time. While most of them are really happy with the way things are shaping up for Survivor Series, many think that there is one particular storyline that is devaluing the whole product.
Yes, the storyline between Rusev, Lana, and Bobby Lashley is one that has got everybody talking. The question here is, why are Paul Heyman and Vince McMahon going ahead with this angle even though it has received severe backlash from the WWE Universe?
Even Corey Graves on his new After the Bell podcast harshly criticized this particular storyline. You can read the transcript here.
Now, let's back up a bit and see how it all started. After Rusev returned from his hiatus, he faced Seth Rollins, back when The Beastslayer was the Universal Champion, in the main event of RAW. But, Bobby Lashley came out during the match and he brought Lana, Rusev's wife, with him, and they started kissing each other, much to the dismay of The Bulgarian Brute.
From then on, Rusev has been trying to get revenge on Lashley for this act. But despite the negative reviews this storyline has received so far, WWE seems content on carrying on with it. So, in this piece, we state the three reasons why that's the case.
#3 Paul Heyman has a long term plan and he's sticking to it
This is one of the most obvious reasons why WWE is going ahead with this storyline. If you want to trust somebody in the wrestling business who can come up with some bits of absolute genius, there is almost none better than Paul Heyman.
If he has a plan for Lashley, Lana, and Rusev, then who are we to complain? We should give this storyline some time to reach a conclusion and then decide if it was good or not. If there's somebody one can trust in pulling off things that nobody expects, it is Heyman.
#2 To make the product on RAW different from SmackDown and NXT
Since SmackDown made the switch to FOX, and NXT became WWE's third official brand, there has seemingly been some change in the way WWE operates. If you take a look at how storylines develop on SmackDown and NXT, you would have realised that their approach is pretty different from RAW.
There is a reason for that, obviously. Vince McMahon wants the three brands to have their separate identities. While SmackDown will be known for its sports-like approach to professional wrestling, NXT at the same time will be known for it's exciting and fast-paced wrestling action similar to the indies.
That could be the reason why Vince McMahon wants RAW to be different from those two brands, to offer something different to the WWE Universe on Monday Nights. With this storyline, he is definitely blurring the lines between PG - 13 and the Attitude Era, but maybe that's what he wants. McMahon and Heyman want RAW to offer something unique and this particular storyline might be their way of implying that.
#1 It is drawing eyeballs no matter what
The truth is, despite all the negativity surrounding this particular angle, it has managed to grab many wrestling fans' eyeballs and at the end of the day, that is what Vince McMahon would have hoped for.
The video of the very first time Bobby Lashley appeared with Lana has already garnered over 5 million views on YouTube on WWE's official YouTube channel, while the views on the other videos surrounding this storyline haven't been bad either.
No matter what, this storyline has gotten people talking about Rusev, Lana, and Lashley. That is what you finally want to accomplish with a particular angle, right? You want people talking about it and tuning in to watch it.
Unless fans completely stop watching or caring about what is going on in this particular storyline, don't expect WWE to drop it completely. Despite all the backlash, WWE is still making money through this storyline.
