We’re only a couple weeks into teasers for Lana’s debut on her new Tuesday night home of SmackDown Live, but whatever is coming next from the Ravishing Russian is already a hot topic.
Rumors say she’ll be joining the blue brand’s Women’s division as a singles act, and the hype videos indicate it will be a dancing seductress gimmick. But that’s all we have to go on... unless her work on a Tampa NXT house show last night (April 20) is a preview of what we’ll get when she eventually starts on SmackDown.
In picking up a win over Ruby Riot, Lana was definitely working heel. She even had Mary Kate (the recently signed, Team 3D-trained wrestler who was with TNA as Rosie Lottalove) as an enforcer. The victory came thanks to a distraction from her muscle and a roll-up.
#NXTTampa @LanaWWE is here in NXT! pic.twitter.com/XLDn2J6erl
— JJ Williams (@JJWilliamsWON) April 21, 2017
The Ravishing Russian @LanaWWE is in the house! #NXTTampa pic.twitter.com/3sZQbRskUF
— Will Henderson (@willh94) April 21, 2017
Lana brought a little backup to #NXTTampa in the form of @Amazon_Andrea pic.twitter.com/4gtS0xkYy4
— Wayne Mason (@waynemason) April 21, 2017
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Is this what we’re getting on Tuesdays?
Wouldn’t be surprising. The gimmick contains elements of what WWE was doing with Eva Marie before her suspension and what they allegedly wanted to do with the Emmalina character on Raw before they, for whatever reason, reverted back to Evil Emma. Seeing as how some of the reviews of her in-ring work from fans in attendance weren’t exactly glowing, and since Mary Kate has some television experience, it’s not inconceivable they could show up as a package deal, either.
What do you think, Cagesiders?