History YMMV / RusevAndLana

* EvilIsSexy: Lana, who wears skin tight business dresses with very short skirts and always does a little turn on the stage to show off her body before speaking.

* WMG/PoisonOakEpilepticTrees: Certain [[http://www.inquisitr.com/2161671/wwe-news-vince-mcmahon-pushing-for-break-up-between-rusev-and-lana-in-real-life-not-just-on-screen/ unflattering]] [[http://www.ringsidenews.com/wwe-news/vince-mcmahon-trying-to-break-up-rusevs-real-life-relationship-with-lana/ reports]] have circulated about Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's intentions for creating the breakup storyline for Rusev and Lana, claiming that he wanted to break up their relationship ''in real life'', not just on-screen, though admittedly they were conjecture based on past events rather than any true evidence. Let's just say that if there ever was such a plan, the TMZ reveal completely foiled it, though the fact that WWE gave a break up angle a second go with the infamous storyline of Lana leaving Rusev for a huge black man before both Rusev and Lana were released didn't help quell those rumors.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Miro's initial "Best Man" gimmick in AEW. Critics have sneered at the former Bulgarian Brute in the WWE being reduced to a blond-haired, video-game-obsessed flunky for mid-card nuisance Kip Sabian, regarding it as a huge step down for him. After seeing how Rusev's last story in WWE was an UnfortunateImplications-filled travesty where he was portrayed as a sex maniac by his wife, who proceeded to leave him for a [[Wrestling/BobbyLashley huge black man]], and where he repeatedly got humiliated before losing the feud and vanishing from TV up until his release, these fans had understandably expected AEW to go out of their way to immediately portray him as a monster to show up WWE for their misuse of him. Supporters of the new character have pointed out that the BoisterousBruiser "Best Man" gimmick is a lot closer to Miro's real personality than the "Bulgarian Brute" ever was and, regardless of what you think of it, he's clearly having the time of his life playing it. After Miro finally ([[IKnewIt albeit predictably]]) snapped, turned on Kip and brutalised him, then defeated Wrestling/DarbyAllin to become the TNT Champion, the base skewed far harder to the positive side, with fans of both the badass character and the genuine personality simultaneously satisfied.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** For the first few months after debuting, Rusev tore through superstars such as Wrestling/KofiKingston, Wrestling/XavierWoods, [[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]] and Wrestling/BigELangston… now what do all four of those wrestlers have in common?[[labelnote:*]]Three of them would eventually form Wrestling/TheNewDay. But that's ''not'' the right answer.[[/labelnote]] Needless to say, it was borderline uncomfortable for a while, to the point where Big E actually [[https://twitter.com/WWEBigE/statuses/463677106288070656 took notice of it on Twitter during an episode of RAW.]] Eventually it was subverted as Rusev's pool of victims started to diversify a bit.
** Rusev plays the ForeignWrestlingHeel trope so straight that he's basically a GenreThrowback to the bad old days of one-dimensional ethnic stereotypes and thinly-veiled racism where merely being "foreign" (i.e "not American") was all a wrestler needed to automatically qualify as a heel. Fortunately that old stereotype doesn't really fly so much these days and crowds are less-willing to boo a guy just because "he's foreign", leading to a lot of the UnintentionallySympathetic moments below. Rusev himself has [[https://uproxx.com/prowrestling/rusev-foreign-heel-comments/ lampshaded]] [[http://kwese.espn.com/wwe/story/_/id/22422193/rusev-taking-latest-character-iteration-further-away-even-foreigner-stereotype this,]] stating that "Rusev Day" was an opportunity to move away from that kind of character.

* EvilIsSexy: Lana, who wears skin tight business dresses with very short skirts (ShesGotLegs) and always does a little turn on the stage to show off her body before speaking.

* WMG/PoisonOakEpilepticTrees: Certain [[http://www.inquisitr.com/2161671/wwe-news-vince-mcmahon-pushing-for-break-up-between-rusev-and-lana-in-real-life-not-just-on-screen/ unflattering]] [[http://www.ringsidenews.com/wwe-news/vince-mcmahon-trying-to-break-up-rusevs-real-life-relationship-with-lana/ reports]][[note]]mostly conjecture based on past events rather than any true evidence[[/note]] have circulated about Wrestling/VinceMcMahon's intentions for creating the breakup storyline for Rusev and Lana on the back end of the feud with Wrestling/JohnCena. Let's just say that if there ever was such a plan, the TMZ reveal completely foiled it.
* TheScrappy: Hey, remember when Lana would get "We Want Lana!" chants even when she wasn't with Rusev? Then WWE runs an angle where she "divorces" Rusev for Wrestling/BobbyLashley, filled with all kinds of unsavory undertones, including BlackIsBiggerInBed, also resulting in her losing her accent in exchange for the most whiny voice imaginable. Then the chants stopped. The storyline as a whole was so reviled that it was only a few votes short of winning ''Website/WrestleCrap''[='=]s 2019 Gooker Award, only losing to the infamous Wrestling/SethRollins[=/=][[Wrestling/BrayWyatt "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt]] "Hell in a Cell" match at ''Wrestling/HellInACell 2019''. To put it in perspective, they put the angle as a candidate ''while it was still ongoing''.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Miro "the Best Man" in AEW. Critics have sneered at the former Bulgarian Brute in the WWE being reduced to a blond-haired, video-game-obsessed flunky for mid-card nuisance Kip Sabian, regarding it as a huge step down for him. After seeing how Rusev's last story in WWE was an UnfortunateImplications-filled travesty where he was portrayed as a sex maniac by his wife, who proceeded to leave him for a [[Wrestling/BobbyLashley huge black man]], and where he repeatedly got humiliated before losing the feud and vanishing from TV up until his release, these fans had understandably expected AEW to go out of their way to immediately portray him as a monster to show up WWE for their misuse of him. Supporters of the new character have pointed out that the BoisterousBruiser "Best Man" gimmick is a lot closer to Miro's real personality than the "Bulgarian Brute" ever was and, regardless of what you think of it, he's clearly having the time of his life playing it. After Miro finally ([[IKnewIt albeit predictably]]) snapped, turned on Kip and brutalised him, then defeated Wrestling/DarbyAllin to become the TNT Champion, the base skewed far harder to the positive side, with fans of both the badass character and the genuine personality simultaneously satisfied.

** The Rusev-Lana breakup angle also involving Wrestling/SummerRae and Wrestling/DolphZiggler is having much the same effect, if only to further establish Rusev as a JerkassWoobie. When Lana was using Ziggler to get back at Rusev for his borderline abusive VillainousBreakdown at first, Ziggler was fully willing to go along for the ride and to constantly screw with Rusev, only worsening his downward spiral. Rusev ended up getting with Summer and clearly using her to up the ante on making Lana jealous, only for Lana to find that she actually liked Ziggler. Then the Summer/Dolph tease came along one night when Summer went in Dolph's locker room while he was showering in order to seduce him. When this failed and she resorted to claiming the opposite happened, Ziggler found himself solemnly trying to make his case to Lana…while still teasing Summer with an extravagant "peace offering" for the sole purpose of messing with Rusev, who remained unconvinced by Summer's pleas that she would never cheat on him. [[MoralDissonance And Dolph was still the face.]] Ziggler even fully acknowledged once in a dot-com interview that he was ruining Rusev's life and Rusev had good reason to be upset with him, but reasoned that his actions were justified because of…Rusev's anti-Americanism. A side of his character that was primarily driven by Lana and largely de-emphasized after their breakup. In fact, that in itself is something the entire storyline has had to ignore in order to work, since any acknowledgement of it would make Lana's suddenly demure, naive demeanor in the face of Rusev's meltdown come across as a drastically blatant WoundedGazelleGambit. At least when they did another angle like this in 2019, they had the good sense not to try and villify Rusev first, framing him entirely as the victim.

* AwesomeEgo: Upon turning The Redeemer in AEW, Miro becomes an ostentatious LargeHam utterly convinced of his greatness, and while still booed as a heel, is still clearly enjoyed and agreed with in this regard.

* AwesomeEgo: Upon turning heel in AEW, Miro becomes an ostentatious LargeHam utterly convinced of his greatness, and while still booed as a heel, is still clearly enjoyed and agreed with in this regard.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: With Rusev being released by WWE in April 2020 and later cheerfully signing with AEW in September of that year under his (shortened) real name Miro, it's easy to sum up and assess his entire WWE career as being one of the biggest wastes of potential WWE has fumbled in the entire 2010s. Rusev was freakishly athletic, technically talented, had a great character, and was incredibly over, yet WWE did almost nothing to capitalize on what they had, with Rusev never winning anything other than the United States Championship (three times) despite ''easily'' being potential WWE Champion material.[[note]]The most likely reason is Rusev was constantly in the doghouse with upper management. The first big offense happened when he and Lana allowed their engagement to be leaked to the media (with all but absolute evidence pointing themselves as the leakers, and doing so intentionally) putting an end to the Rusev/Lana/Ziggler/Rae story arc. Next, Rusev cut his hair short without notifying or asking anyone if it was okay to do. Finally, the writers were angry at how the Rusev Day thing exploded when it wasn't their idea. Note that all three of these are ''[[SoYouWantTo/BeABooker really bad reasons]]'' for wasting a talent like Rusev and have only led to more criticism of how WWE does things.[[/note]]

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Miro "the Best Man" in AEW. Critics have sneered at the former Bulgarian Brute in the WWE being reduced to a blond-haired, video-game-obsessed flunky for mid-card nuisance Kip Sabian, regarding it as a huge step down for him. After seeing how Rusev's last story in WWE was an UnfortunateImplications-filled travesty where he was portrayed as a sex maniac by his wife, who proceeded to leave him for a [[Wrestling/BobbyLashley huge black man]], and where he repeatedly got humiliated before losing the feud and vanishing from TV up until his release, these fans had expected AEW to go out of their way to immediately portray him as a monster to show up WWE for their misuse of him. Supporters of the new character have pointed out that the BoisterousBruiser "Best Man" gimmick is a lot closer to Miro's real personality than the "Bulgarian Brute" ever was and, regardless of what you think of it, he's clearly having the time of his life playing it. After Miro finally ([[IKnewIt albeit predictably]]) snapped, turned on Kip and brutalised him, then defeated Wrestling/DarbyAllin to become the TNT Champion, the base skewed far harder to the positive side, with fans of both the badass character and the genuine personality simultaneously satisfied.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Miro "the Best Man" in AEW. Critics have sneered at the former Bulgarian Brute in the WWE being reduced to a blond-haired, video-game-obsessed flunky for mid-card nuisance Kip Sabian, regarding it as a huge step down for him. After seeing how Rusev's last story in WWE was an UnfortunateImplications-filled travesty where he was portrayed as a sex maniac by his wife, who proceeded to leave him for a [[Wrestling/BobbyLashley huge black man]], and where he repeatedly got humiliated before losing the feud and vanishing from TV up until his release, fans had expected AEW to go out of their way to immediately portray him as a monster to show up WWE for their misuse of him. Supporters of the new character have pointed out that the BoisterousBruiser "Best Man" gimmick is a lot closer to Miro's real personality than the "Bulgarian Brute" ever was and, regardless of what you think of it, he's clearly having the time of his life playing it. After Miro finally ([[IKnewIt albeit predictably]]) snapped, turned on Kip and brutalised him, then defeated Wrestling/DarbyAllin to become the TNT Champion, the base skewed far harder to the positive side, with fans of both the badass character and the genuine personality simultaneously satisfied.

* BaseBreakingCharacter: Miro "the Best Man" in AEW. Critics have sneered at the former Bulgarian Brute in the WWE being reduced to a blond-haired, video-game-obsessed flunky for mid-card nuisance Kip Sabian, regarding it as a huge step down for him[[note]]conveniently forgetting that Rusev's last story in WWE was an UnfortunateImplications-filled travesty where he was portrayed as a sex maniac by his wife, who proceeded to leave him for a [[Wrestling/BobbyLashley huge black man]], and where he repeatedly got humiliated before losing the feud and vanishing from TV up until his release[[/note]]. Supporters of the new character have pointed out that the BoisterousBruiser "Best Man" gimmick is a lot closer to Miro's real personality than the "Bulgarian Brute" ever was and, regardless of what you think of it, he's clearly having the time of his life playing it. After Miro finally ([[IKnewIt albeit predictably]]) snapped, turned on Kip and brutalised him, then defeated Wrestling/DarbyAllin to become the TNT Champion, the base skewed far harder to the positive side.

** Even after Rusev was released and Lana was split from Lashley, fans are still sick of her. Partly this is because of how WWE have booked her (going in-depth about it would fill an entire page, with her [[WinsByDoingAbsolutelyNothing "victory"]] at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 2020'' being particularly FacePalm-worthy and making the entire women's division look like a joke), but a lot of it is also because, without Rusev or even Lashley, she has to be portrayed as just a female wrestler, making the fans are much less tolerant of her shortcomings in the ring.