5 Unexpected WWE romances (and what the Superstars really thought about the storylines)

#4 Rusev & Summer Rae and Dolph Ziggler & Lana

Rusev, Lana, Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae were involved in a lengthy romance storyline on RAW and SmackDown in 2015.

The story began when Rusev ended his alliance with Lana after Payback in May, prompting her to slap him. In the weeks that followed, “The Bulgarian Brute” attempted to reconcile with “The Ravishing Russian”, but she had already moved on with new boyfriend Dolph Ziggler.

This led to Rusev finding a new partner of his own, Summer Rae, and the four Superstars went on to feature prominently in various matches and segments over the course of four months.

In October 2015, the storyline developed to such an extent that a possible marriage between Rusev and Rae had been teased, but WWE then suddenly dropped the story after news emerged that Rusev and Lana had become engaged in real life.

Speaking on Ring the Belle in 2019, Rae revealed that the storyline was “Vince McMahon’s baby” and she apologised to the writers when it ended, even though it was not her fault.

“I feel bad that there was never anything for them [the writers]. Like, for us, we’ll all be okay. It was amazing. It was Vince’s baby. I know it got worst storyline of like two-thousand-whatever, but it was Vince’s baby and no girls at that time were really getting any full stories. It was three months or so. It was crazy.”