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What is WWE thinking?
Seriously, what was the WWE thinking when they came up with one night in Milwaukee storyline that aired on SmackDown. While it's not exactly known what takes place on the tape, the part that Aiden English played seemed to show Lana coming to Aiden English's hotel room to tell him something.
The tape than cut off, and Aiden English claimed he was saving it for the highest bidder to have. He even mentioned selling the rest of the tape to TMZ, which is a neat little call back to Lana leaking her and Rusev's engagement to TMZ a couple of years ago. It's also one of the worst segments WWE could think of, and is already looking like a no win situation.
With that being said, and WWE seemingly content with continuing on with the one night in Milwaukee storyline, here are the 5 people that are going to come out looking the worst when all is said and done. As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments below, and tell us if you think WWE should go on with the storyline, or abandon it.
#6 The SmackDown Live Women's Division
If nothing else, this one night in Milwaukee storyline completely demeans the role of women on the SmackDown Live roster, and the overall women's revolution. Beyond that, WWE has painted Lana as being sexually promiscuous multiple times, which could mean they don't know what else to do with her.
With that in mind, the women's division deserves better than a storyline like this, especially during the women's revolution. Not only does this demean women and the strides they have made in the last couple of years, it further hurts a female superstar that has already had that done in a storyline multiple times!
#5 SmackDown Live
Both Raw and SmackDown Live have both been having ratings trouble over the course of the last few weeks, and its hard to imagine a storyline like this helping anything. In fact, with Aiden English only releasing the tape bit by bit, and only doing it out of revenge, it's probably going to be a storyline that fans don't like
Unfortunately for the WWE, that means fans are going to start tuning out more than ever, which is going to have a drastic effect on the mid card. In all honesty, Rusev Day was one of the last mid-card feuds the WWE Universe took seriously, and now it be anymore, due to what the company has done.
In the end, the ratings are only going to dip further with a stunt like this, and they are going to have to end up abandoning it. Either that, or risk further damaging three mid-card stars with one of the worst storylines in the last decade or so. Rusev, Lana, and Aiden deserve better than this, and so does the WWE Universe.
#4 WWE
Is WWE really going to get away with this?
One would think that in the era of the women's revolution and the #metoo movement, something like this wouldn't happen, but WWE is actually trying to do a porn tape storyline. At least that's what English seems to be alluding to during his segments about the tape. It's a pretty low bar for a company that is supposed to be pro women.
Not only that, the company is on the cusps of their first ever women's only pay per view, which is going to make them look worse in the public's eye. If nothing else, WWE needs to abandon this storyline as soon as possible, or risk the consequences of being thought of as hypocrites for doing this with a female superstar.
In the end, its understandable that fans would want to see a more attitude era type product in WWE, but it doesn't need to be at the expense of a female superstar that has already been paraded around as promiscuous. It's insulting to Lana, Rusev, and the viewing audience for WWE to do this, and they need to realise it.
#3 Aiden English
Aiden English was never going to set the WWE Universe on fire, but he did find a nice little niche for himself by becoming Rusev's hype man. The storyline lasted for about a year and culminated a few weeks ago when English confessed that it was he who created Rusev Day, and that he and Lana spent a night together.
Unfortunately for English, it seems like he is going to be the fall guy in this storyline, and he eventually will get his ass kicked by Rusev. Even worse for English is the fact that he isn't that much of a physical threat to begin with, which means that the feud with Rusev isn't going to last long.
With that being said, Aiden English is always going to be known as the guy that slept with his best friend's wife, and ruined Rusev Day. That along with the limited options English has on both the Raw and SmackDown Live roster, it's pretty obvious that this could be one of the last time fans see him on television in such a high profile role.
#2 Rusev
Is WWE intentionally trying to kill Rusev's momentum
Believe it or not, the answer to that question seems to be yes, and the one night in Milwaukee storyline almost confirms it. Think about it! Why else would WWE take one of the most organically over superstars on the entire SmackDown Live roster and put him in a storyline where his wife is cheating on him with his best friend.
While some could argue that we are supposed to be sympathetic towards Rusev, it's hard to when there was no sign of this happening earlier. In fact, the one night in Milwaukee thing seemed to have come out of nowhere, and is just a cheap way to move the plot about the former best friends along.
One also has to realise that Lana has been accused of this multiple times in storylines, and repeatedly doing that cheapens both of their characters in the long run. Of course Lana will probably suffer more than Rusev does due to The Bulgarian Brute having better in ring prowess, but Rusev will still be the guy with the wife that keeps cheating on him.
#1 Lana
Why WWE? Why?
Lana might not be the best in ring performer on The SmackDown Live brand, or even the entire WWE, but she deserves better than this. Furthermore, she deserves to be a further fleshed out character, and not just a superstar WWE keeps making out to be a cheater.
Beyond all that, what is going to happen to Lana when all this is over? Is WWE or even the WWE Universe for that matter going to be able to take her seriously again? That would be asking a lot from fans after this one night in Milwaukee storyline, and one has to wonder if Lana will ever recover from this mess.
Again, Lana deserves better, and so does Rusev for that matter. Why would WWE turn their marriage into another joke for storyline purposes? Of course Rusev and Lana might have agreed to it, which is another problem in itself, but the bigger issue here is that WWE would even allow it!
In the end, Lana is a great manager, and does pretty well on the microphone when the time comes. If nothing else, WWE needs to capitalise on those strengths and stop trying to stick her with these sultry storylines that make her look worse and worse.
Now that doesn't mean WWE has to give her a title, or even push her to the main event scene, but they can do anything besides this!
