Lana knew early on that she'd be in for a rough start as a pro wrestler.
Lana has had a rollercoaster ride in WWE. Debuting as a valet for Rusev, Lana started wrestling in 2015. Nowadays, she is firmly seen as a professional wrestler and has become the resident underdog on Monday Night Raw.
Speaking with The Independent in the UK, Lana expressed knowing that she was going to be a failure at first when she entered the ring.
“I have been trying to get this opportunity way before [it happened]. I was training at live events or maybe working at live events but not being able to get that spot on television. Now I’ve been given that opportunity and am trying to make the most of it and trying to run with it. I believe that luck is when opportunity meets those that are prepared. So I was constantly coming in early, training at live events and not seeing television, hoping that one day, I would get that opportunity and that, when I do, I’m as prepared as I can be.
“The cool thing for me is that I can take the WWE Universe with me on my journey... it’s really wild, my very first match in my entire life happened at Wrestlemania, it happened in front of you. WWE wouldn’t allow me to have a match before Wrestlemania, so [it was] in front of 101,000 people.”
She added, “I’ve always wanted to be an in-ring competitor, from the very beginning,” she went on to say. “I’ve always been drawn to things that are a lot more physical, so even when I danced and was a professional ballerina, I became obsessed with break dancing, because there was only one girl and ten guys as it was a lot more athletic and hard-hitting. When I got the opportunity to start training [to wrestle], I was obsessed with it, but WWE had a different route for me.
“At the end of the day this is a television show and we’re characters, so I was very fortunate to be The Ravishing Russian with Rusev. I take all opportunities as that’s really important for longevity in WWE - as people we evolve and change so as characters we should evolve and change.”
Lana recently discussed her bouts with depression on a recent WWE Chronicle. Learn more here.
