"She rubbed some people the wrong way" - Hall of Famer says Lana had backstage heat in WWE
'Road Dogg' Brian James has revealed that Lana wasn't the most popular of the stars in the women's division during her time in WWE.
The Ravishing Russian struggled to be relevant on TV after WWE pulled the plug on her alliance with Rusev, and Road Dogg briefly looked back at her on-screen partnership with Tamina from 2017.
The WWE Legend recalled that Lana did have some backstage heat with other talents, which might have affected her standing on the roster. Brian James even admitted that WWE could have provided Lana with better creative opportunities at the time.
While the superstar was primarily booked as a manager, she has often showcased her desire to be a full-time wrestler, and Road Dogg briefly also commented on her in-ring skills, as you can view below from his podcast:
"Look, this is one of those things where I feel like she rubbed some people the wrong way. And, look, she was underutilized," said Road Dogg. "I agree with that a 100%. She could wrestle pretty good. Like, is she going to go with Bianca or Asuka or Charlotte or Becky or any of these that are great workers? Like, no! But she can dang sure have a match, and she is dang sure an eyeful when she stands there at ringside, you know what I mean?" [52:40 - 53:12]
I'll take that heat: Road Dogg on Lana being underutilized in WWE
The tag team legend was the Head of Creative on SmackDown when Lana began competing in the squared circle after her highly-acclaimed stint as Rusev's valet.
CJ Perry, unfortunately, did not get the backing of the writers, and Road Dogg was willing to take the blame for the former WWE star's lackluster run as a wrestler. James noted that while he had an excellent backstage relationship with Perry, he wasn't confident about how the rest of the roster felt about her.
Road Dogg added:
"So, I don't know; I think she was underutilized. You can tell that's on me, and I'll take that heat. But I feel like I had a great relationship with those two, but not everybody did, and I feel like that did come back to bite her." [53:13 - 53:30]
Lana has stayed away from the wrestling world since her WWE release in June 2021, and recently spoke about whether she intends on joining her husband in AEW.
Do you see the 37-year-old star making her wrestling return in the future? Sound off in the comments section below.
If you use any of the above quotes, please credit the Oh...You Didn't Know podcast and give a H/T to Sportskeeda Wrestling for the transcription.