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Lana Comments on Her and Rusev Being Removed from WWE’s Total Divas Cast…And She’s Not Happy About It!

By John Canton • Published 11th February 2019
TJR Wrestling

Lana and Rusev are no longer going to be a part of WWE and E Network’s “Total Divas” show after being in the cast for the past three seasons. The married couple got to have two weddings as part of the show when they got married in the United States and Rusev’s home country of Bulgaria. They were on the show for three seasons, but now they are gone and Lana isn’t happy about it.

Lana and Rusev were guests on Lilian Garcia’s “Chasing Glory” podcast recently. Lana wasn’t shy about letting people know she was upset about being taken off Total Divas.

Here are some of Lana’s comments on no longer being on Total Divas with thanks to Wrestlezone for the transcript:

“It really sucks. I go through a whole bunch of different emotions. Kevin Dunn is so great. We were first told we were basically a shoo-in, and that we were incredible this season. I was told that he loved me, that Bunim-Murray, which is the production company that produces the show, loved me, WWE loves me, WWE loves us, that we should be working on our spin-off show.”

“Kevin Dunn told me that E! Executives took a poll and that we are strongly disliked by the demographic, they do not like us and that I’m hated, we’re hated, and that the E! Executives thought that our stories were very slapstick, and they were a strong no.”

I think everything on “reality TV” is slapstick considering how ridiculous it is, but they aren’t consulting with me. Anyway, Lana explained that she was shocked by the news:

“I was shocked. I just sat there. It was like my tryout for WWE all over again. I’ve gone through a lot of different range of emotions. I’ll cry, but when I get hurt, I get really angry. That’s how I deal with hurt, I get really angry. Like, who is this new E! Executive?”

Lana was apparently in tears as she continued to talk about it:

“It’s just that I’m not liked and one part of me is like – and I said that – Mark Carrano and Kevin Dunn was there and I said, ‘Maybe, I’m just not a likable person.’ I know I’m a good person, but maybe I have a boring personality because I’m just not liked.”

Apparently, Dunn and Carrano assured her that wasn’t the case at all, but she was still emotional about it.

Lana also complained about the editing on the show, which happens often on reality TV shows where they film hours of content and then have to condense it for the hour long broadcast.

“There’s so many things in edit that I was royally screwed over. They take someone saying something from one thing and put it there. In edit, they can do whatever they want and that’s out of your control. If they want to make me more annoying and I have to play that annoying girl, they’ll do that.”

“There were some things I got really mad about, but it is what it is. I understand that’s what I signed up for. I understand that when you sign up for reality TV, you have to be ready to be not perfect and I was OK with that.”

Rusev didn’t seem interested in returning to Total Divas and he explained it this way: “I’ll make my own show. Once I get rejected from somewhere or whatnot, I’m moving on.”

The couple recently turned heel on television again and Lana went on Twitter where she brought that heel attitude.

Analysis: It sounds like Lana is really upset by this and it’s not for storyline purposes. The wrestlers on the show get paid really well to be part of the cast, so that could be part of it, or it’s simply a case of Lana feeling disrespected by being removed from the show. It’s easy to see why they would be upset about not being on the show anymore. No word on how this will affect their WWE status if at all.