5 WWE Superstars and their real country of origin
WWE is an international wrestling promotion that houses talent from all over the world. Their commitment to scouting talent from every corner of the globe means the roster is multinational and world-class.
The company spares no effort to acknowledge the backgrounds of their superstars. They announce where every wrestler is from when they make it to the ring to compete.
Sometimes, however, Vince McMahon and company bill some of them from the wrong country. This happens due to a variety of reasons. While there are none for labeling Stardust as a resident of the Fifth Dimension (sigh), there are some for other cases.
In that regard, here are five WWE Superstars who the company assigned a different country of origin to. And by the way, we are so glad Cody Rhodes is back to bin the Stardust gimmick for good!
#5. On our list of WWE Superstars who had different countries of origin: Gunther
Gunther made his debut on SmackDown this past week, annihilating a local competitor and putting the roster on notice. His arrival alongside Ludwig Kaiser is a big coup for the blue brand as they now have another elite superstar on their hands.
Gunther is being billed as a wrestler from Germany, but that is not exactly where he is from. The former Walter is in fact an Austrian superstar who was born in Vienna.
He came to NXT and ran roughshod over the roster, with the highlight coming in the form of a record-breaking NXT UK title reign.
The Ring General will now hone his craft on the blue brand alongside his former Imperium stablemate. He will be looking to make a statement and climb up the proverbial ladder as quickly as possible.
#4. Nikolai Volkoff
The late Nikolai Volkoff wrestled in WWE for many years as a villainous Russian character. However, he was a Croatian-American by birth, having been born in modern-day Croatia.
Volkoff's Russian heel persona was his defining gimmick before he turned face and feuded with the likes of Sgt. Slaughter. At one point in his career, he was also billed as hailing from Mongolia. Despite this, the former World Tag Team Champion masked his actual birthplace extremely well and played his character to perfection.
#3. Vladimir Kozlov
Vladimir Kozlov was a part of WWE's main roster as well as their ECW brand. He is a former World Tag Team Champion and has also won the Slammy Award in 2008 for 'Breakout Star of the Year'.
Kozlov was billed from Moscow during his time in the company. A lesser-known fact about him, though, is that he was actually born in Ukraine SSR when it was part of the Soviet Union. However, WWE opted to let his character hail from Ukraine's neighbor for reasons known only to them.
#2. Lana
Lana was one of the most popular WWE Superstars during her time in the company. Her diverse range of talents saw her succeed in both wrestling and non-wrestling roles.
Lana was billed as a Russian superstar throughout her stint with the company. However, a lesser-known fact about her is that she is American by birth, hailing from Gainesville, Florida in the United States.
#1. Rusev
Lana's client Rusev was also billed as a native of Russia despite hailing from another country. For a while, he marched to the ring with Russian flags and played a monster Russian heel despite not actually being Russian.
Even though WWE said otherwise for a while, Rusev was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The company eventually ceded and gave him the nickname 'The Bulgarian Brute', acknowledging where he was from on the product.
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