WWE Higher-ups Screwing With Rusev and Lana On Raw?

After being out of action since September with a wrist injury, Lana returned to WWE television — and to former charge and real-life fiancee Rusev’s side — on Monday night’s Raw in Pittsburgh.

Lana popped up on Monday night in a short pre-commercial backstage segment with Rusev, while the announcers played up their engagement, the news of which “was first reported by TMZ.” Michael Cole then announced that Rusev and Lana would be guests on MizTV, following the commercial break.

A very "engaging" edition of @MikeTheMiz' #MizTV is coming up NEXT on @WWE #RAW, with @RusevBUL & @LanaWWE! pic.twitter.com/eYnTTZHSkZ

— WWE (@WWE) December 1, 2015

After returning from commercial, Rusev was in the ring with The Miz for MizTV. The crowd chanted “We Want Lana” which enraged Rusev, because Lana is “his.” He also referred to Lana as “his wife,” which may have been a slip-up. Rusev claimed that Lana was the only person who gave him support while he was out of action with an injury and he invited Lana out to the ring to join them.

Miz asked Lana to explain why she is back with Rusev and she essentially explained that they are everyone’s one true pairing. “We fight hard and we love hard,” she said. Lana insisted she didn’t go all the way with Ziggler and RuRu explained he didn’t go all the way with Summer. Both statements resulted in “Yes You Did” chants from the crowd.

The Bulgarian brute and “The Ravishing Russian” then shared an extended makeout session before they were interrupted by Ryback. Ryback apparently heard Lana and Dolph Ziggler did, in fact, go all the way. The entire way. Ryback then claimed to be hungry and Lana instructed Rusev to “Crush.” This led to a match between the two men.

Late in the match, Ryback shoved Rusev into the ring steps, which then hit Lana. A concerned Rusev tended to Lana, which resulted in Ryback earning a victory by Count-out.

On the post-Raw edition of Wrestling Observer Radio on F4WOnline.com, host Bryan Alvarez said Lana and Rusev weren’t informed beforehand about Ryback’s line about Ziggler going “all the way” with Lana. While the line was in the script, Alvarez and co-host Dave Meltzer felt it was a “double cross line.”

Later in the show, a segment aired of Adam Rose running down WWE relationships in front of a black backdrop with some generic television production graphics in the upper-right corner. Rose riffed on Rusev and Lana’s relationship, where he said that Rusev does not wear the pants in the relationship, but that he might wear the bra.

Prior to Monday, Lana was last seen on WWE television as part of a much-maligned love rectangle storyline involving Ziggler and Summer Rae. Lana publicly revealing her engagement to Rusev while being involved in an on-screen relationship with Ziggler reportedly resulted in “nuclear heat” for her backstage. Lana may be unpopular with her peers, and some higher-ups may be mad at her, but that definitely won’t stop WWE from continuing to feature her.

Vince McMahon’s way of getting back at talent he’s upset with often involves putting them in embarrassing situations and leaving them vulnerable to passive-aggressive, personal digs which they can’t really respond to on television. Keeping a performer around who rejected WWE and humiliating that person on TV is Vince’s way of having the last laugh. He actually can’t stand it when a performer doesn’t need WWE. Unless Lana and Rusev stand up for themselves to management, you can expect the pair to be subject to further humiliation under the guise of a storyline.