Does Lana Have Backstage Heat With Sasha Banks? Women’s Wrestlers Reportedly In Real-Life Twitter Feud
New reports suggest that SmackDown Live valet and women’s wrestler Lana has backstage heat with one of Monday Night Raw‘s Sasha Banks, with Banks and her friends reportedly taking issue with how the “Ravishing Russian” liked a series of tweets from a former WWE Women’s Champion.
According to Wrestling Inc., the “Twitter drama” started on Monday night, when former WWE Women’s Champion Melina Perez expressed her approval of Alicia Fox’s upset victory over Sasha Banks on this week’s Monday Night Raw. She referred to this outcome as “great booking,” and was also in favor of how the match made Banks look like she had underestimated Fox, which may or may not tie in with her long-rumored heel turn. These tweets were liked by Lana, which immediately caught the attention of Sasha’s fans, as they saw it as a case of the former throwing shade at the latter.
On Thursday afternoon, Lana explained her side, referring to Sasha Banks as a “game changer wrestler,” while reiterating that she was also in favor of the controversial booking decision to have her lose to the unheralded Alicia Fox. This prompted a tweet from Banks, and triggered rumors of Lana possibly having backstage heat with Sasha and her fellow Monday Night Raw women.
“‘When you are confident in your own talent and abilities you have no reason too tear down others.’#LegitBoss“
According to Wrestling Inc., Banks, Summer Rae, and “some of their friends” posted subsequent tweets using the hashtag “#BL2017,” which fans have surmised may be a shortcut for “Block Lana 2017.” This was in reaction to a tweet from Lana, saying that she would have no problem blocking anybody who reacted hatefully toward her posts on Twitter.
Reports of Lana having backstage heat with her fellow female performers in the WWE are nothing new. Last year, WrestleZone wrote that a controversial skit featuring Lana and The Rock may have been punishment for her bad attitude behind the scenes. This skit had the wrestler-turned-actor suggesting that he and Lana had a romantic tryst during their last common appearance on Monday Night Raw, before Lana’s real-life husband Rusev stepped in to interrupt The Rock’s increasingly bawdy remarks.
WrestleZone cited the Wrestling Observer‘s Dave Meltzer, who wasn’t clear on the reason why Lana may have had backstage heat, but nonetheless suggested some people weren’t happy with her behavior.
In October 2015, Lana had reportedly gotten in trouble with WWE officials for admitting that she and Rusev, at that time, were engaged in real life. However, she downplayed these rumors in an April appearance on the podcast Busted Open (quotes via Wrestling Inc.), claiming that WWE’s creative team, led by Vince McMahon, had suggested that her ongoing storyline take a surprise turn involving the real-life engagement announcement.
“They just ended up changing the story so it wasn’t necessarily like heat, it was more like… a little bit disappointing because we worked really hard for this story”
Another previous Lana backstage heat incident involved the 32-year-old valet/wrestler taking to Twitter and calling former WWE Divas Champion Paige a “bully,” as WrestleZone noted in the above report.
Also I will block the hate. I've said this many times before. I put my hater blockers on. I'll block people that tweet lies or mean remarks
— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) May 18, 2017
#BL2017 and forever
— Mercedes Moné Varnado (@MercedesVarnado) May 18, 2017
#BL2017 definitely sounds like Summer, Sasha and Stella lowkey shading Lana, I'm here for it! Block Lana 2017???
— d i v a (@iconiicrae) May 18, 2017
It’s not sure yet how Lana’s rumored backstage heat will affect her push on SmackDown Live going forward, but she has been the subject of criticism as of late for her upcoming repackaging, which may see her work a dancer gimmick in line with her real-life background prior to joining WWE. This gimmick, unfortunately, has been reported by Comic Book as a new twist on Raw wrestler Emma’s ill-fated Emmalina persona, which could mean more teaser vignettes in coming weeks, but hopefully not the same shelving on the very same day as its television launch.
[Featured Image by WWE]
