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The WWE Universe was left shocked yesterday when the company announced the release of six more superstars. This comes just six weeks after mass cuts back in April and saw some of the company's biggest stars on its release list.
The likes of Aleister Black, Braun Strowman, Ruby Riott, Buddy Murphy and Lana were all names released as part of yesterday's cuts, which ended Lana's eight-year run with WWE.
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The Ravishing Russian achieved many personal milestones in WWE but left the company having failed to lift a championship in her career.
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Despite this, the future looks bright for The Ravishing Russian following her WWE release, and the following list looks at just five facts about the former Total Divas star to bring fans up to date.
#5. Lana was the first female wrestler to make her WWE in-ring debut at WrestleMania
Lana may have officially joined WWE back in 2013 after auditioning for the Diva Search, but she didn't make her in-ring debut with the company until WrestleMania 32 in 2017.
The Ravishing Russian worked as a manager for her husband Rusev for several years until the couple went their separate ways. Lana was then able to focus on her own in-ring career.
Lana worked her way up through WWE and was finally given the chance to step in the ring at WrestleMania when she teamed up with Naomi, Summer Rae, Tamina, and Emma to take on Alicia Fox, Brie Bella, Eva Marie, Natalya and Paige.
Lana's team came up short and the match was one of the highlights of the kickoff show. It also made Lana the first-ever female wrestler to make her competitive debut on The Grandest Stage of Them All.
Lana later went on to wrestle for the Women's Championship in only her second WWE match when she took on Naomi in a losing effort at Money in the Bank. This was also Lana's first-ever televised singles match. It allowed her to show her in-ring improvements to the WWE Universe.
In the years that have followed, Ronda Rousey also made her in-ring debut at WrestleMania, so Lana is in good company.
#4. The former WWE star once dated wide receiver Isaiah Mustafa
It's become common knowledge throughout Lana's WWE career that she is in a relationship with current AEW star Miro. Lana and Rusev debuted in NXT together and would later marry after three years of dating back in 2016.
Lana and Rusev have also appeared on several episodes of Total Divas together, but the former United States Champion isn't the only athlete that Lana has dated.
The former WWE star was once in a relationship with former footballer Isaiah Mustafa, who is perhaps now best known as the face of the Old Spice TV commercials. Mustafa was known for his short football career before stepping into the acting business and landing the Old Spice role alongside screen legend Terry Crews.
The couple's relationship went on to become part of an episode of Total Divas where Lana bumped into her ex whilst out with Renee Young and Naomi.
Mustafa went on to marry on 2018 just two years after Lana and Rusev officially became husband and wife.
#3. Lana has struggled with eating disorders throughout her WWE career
Many current female WWE superstars have talked about their struggles with eating disorders recently, including Alexa Bliss and Bianca Belair.
These women looked to raise awareness and help other youngsters who are struggling by speaking out. Lana is another star who has talked about the issues she had growing up as a dancer and needing to retain a certain weight.
The former WWE star sat down with Lilian Garcia on her Chasing Glory podcast and revealed that she struggled with an eating disorder from an early age:
"I was called fat. When I was 14, I was 90 pounds and like 5’4″. They said that my butt was way too big and they [ballet instructors] would give me exercises to try to get rid of my butt. I had really bad eating disorders. I was hospitalized when I was 17. I had really bad eating disorders. I was bulimic. I was anorexic. When I was 14, I counted my calories. I didn’t eat more than 400 calories a day. All I would eat or drink was Diet Coke, or coffee, and I’d have a little bit of chocolate. I was very very unhealthy and I hid it from my mom because my mom, if she knew, would have taken me out of that school. That was her biggest fear is that world would give me eating disorders. I had major major eating disorders."
Lana was dancing for Latvian National Ballet when she was just 14 years old, so the former WWE star has become accustomed to being under pressure.
#2. Fellow WWE Superstar Naomi is Lana's best friend
Lana spent much of her WWE career as a manager for her husband Rusev before she was given the chance to train to be a wrestler.
In recent years, Lana has been part of a tag team with Naomi, who is also a former dancer. The two women have been able to bring their dance backgrounds into their tag team characters and work together quite effectively.
It was only a few weeks ago on RAW that the two women could have become Women's Tag Team Champions for the first time, but this wasn't meant to be.
Lana and Naomi had so much chemistry as a tag team due to both their similar backgrounds and because the two women are best friends off-screen. The two women have been part of the Total Divas cast together, trained together, and even shared a ring on numerous occasions which has led to a very close connection.
It will be interesting to see what direction Naomi goes in following Lana's recent WWE release.
#1. Lana spent both her birthday and Valentines Day this year training for WWE because she wanted to be the best
Throughout her WWE career, Lana has made it clear that she isn't afraid of failing as long as she inspires others to follow their dreams.
In recent years the former WWE star has shown improvements in the ring and this has obviously come at a cost. The Ravishing Russian has shown through updates on her Instagram page that she has sacrificed family time with her husband and even spent her birthday training at the Hart Family dungeon.
Lana has shared videos of her training with Natalya's husband Tyson Kidd as well as wrestling stars like Naomi and Liv Morgan so that she can improve in the ring.
The former WWE star made a lot of sacrifices over the past few years to show that she was serious about being the best in WWE. It's sad that Lana was never able to lift a championship and prove that all of her hard work was heading towards something before her release.
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