Rusev On His Storyline With Lana: ‘This Is What Any Other Actor Does’

– Rusev discussed his controversial storyline with Lana and Bobby Lashley in a new interview with Digital Spy.

On if he’s happy with the storyline: “How can I not be happy? It’s the hottest storyline in the whole WWE, it’s been the hottest storyline for years. So of course, I’m happy with it.”

On whether this is affecting his real-life relationship: “Not many people are willing to do something like this, but we’re professionals so, of course, we’re used to it. (Being professional) is what any other actor does, you know, when you’re going to step on stage or whatever. This is no different than that.”

On Corey Graves calling the storyline ‘ridiculous’ on After the Bell: “Just because Corey Graves doesn’t like it or somebody else it doesn’t mean anything. Obviously, the numbers speak for itself, we’re the highest viewed YouTube video in a long, long time. I’m stoked about it.”

On the reaction from fans he’s met: “We have fans that are not even fans of WWE that tune in because they like the drama. That’s what I don’t understand, when you watch Game of Thrones or any of your favourite shows there’s always a scandal, there’s always things like that. That’s why I don’t understand why some people are trying to reject that. It’s just those super ultra fans in their basement that are trying to reject it, which it is what it is, you know, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to watch it.”

On comparison to Attitude Era storylines: “Now we have the appropriate people to actually perform (these storylines) the right way and obviously I believe we’re doing a great job.”

on the Saudi travel incident: “It was a long day just in general the whole day of the pay-per-view because we’ve got to be in the stadium all day so everybody was tired. Once we got to the aeroplane, it was oh we’re going to go, we’re not gonna go, we’re gonna go but now this is broken, that is broken and with each hour the frustration grew. Finally we couldn’t take off because the stewardess couldn’t stay any longer on the plane, they had to get off because they need a certain amount of break time. So everybody got detained and we went to a hotel and we flew the next day at the same time.”

On people like Tyson Fury getting high-profile matches on PPVs: “I think it’s great. I think (Fury) puts more eyes on the product. I think if I’m a boxing fan and I see, ‘Oh Tyson Fury’s going to fight for WWE, oh let me check this out’. Now we have more people watching the product. It also gives me hope that 20-30 years from now when I retire they’ll call me and say, ‘you want to come work at WrestleMania for $10million?’ Yeah, I’ll come, I’ll stop by.”

On losing to John Cena at WrestleMania 31: “It’s the normal thing in any movie, the bad guys introduced to the good guy and what better opportunity than on the grandest stage of them all for the United States Championship, Russia against the USA. I think there’s only one outcome there and I think we did the right thing it was great for business and it worked out at the end of the day.”