Lana is set to "marry" her hot, hot man Bobby Lashley on Monday's WWE Raw. The cheating storyline between Lana, Lashley, and Rusev has been subject to much controversy since it began in September with sex addictions, fake pregnancies, and restraining orders being involved in the storyline.
Speaking to Scott Fishman of TV Insider, Lana discussed the online backlash from the storyline, revealing that fans have taken things too far in their comments toward her.
"I have to tell you it has been eye-opening to me how mean people are and what type of bullies people are in the world. I can’t express enough of how mind-blowing it is. People don’t have to agree with my decisions in life, that’s fine, but if they don’t agree with me that doesn’t give them the right to come on my Instagram and call me a whore or a slut. I’ve been called a prostitute on there. What are you even talking about, really? That I’m 'ugly, fat, the worst human.' Cyber-bullying is incredible. I knew it existed, but I never really thought it was to this extent. It’s really wrong. I would consider myself a strong individual. I’m a pretty resilient individual. I have tough skin. It still sometimes get to you. I took a step back thinking, “If you’re doing this to me, are you doing this to other people? People at your school or your work? Your kids?” When I was in fifth and ninth grade, I was dealing with a lot of emotions. If people are coming at me calling me names, that could really affect you," she said. "Calling you fat, ugly, stupid, dumb. People have told me to jump off bridges. That’s really wrong. You do that to people who are going through their own insecurities you can really have a negative affect on people. You see people in result of being cyber-bullying who have harmed themselves, cut themselves, even taken their lives. Do people want to be responsible for that? I just want people to make a stand and say that is wrong. Just because you disagree with someone’s lifestyle doesn’t mean that you should come and be mean to them in life or on social media. Go talk to your friends about it if you are criticizing, but don’t come on my social platform and talk about it. To me, it makes me wonder if these individuals are miserable with themselves. It has been eye-opening. People casting stones. How about taking a look at your own life before judging me?"
Lana and Lashley both previously revealed that they have received death threats over the storyline, leading to the FBI getting involved.
In November, Lana signed a new five-year deal with WWE, which she says is a multi-million dollar deal. In the interview, she discussed her decision to remain in WWE.
"I’m so incredibly grateful. I love WWE so much. It has given me so many different platforms of storytelling and entertaining. Form Total Divas to dedicating my matches to being with so many different people from Tamina, Dolph Ziggler, having mixed match challenges, dance battles with Naomi. I feel like I’m living my dream. My whole life I’ve wanted to entertain and tell stories and wanted to put smiles on people’s faces. I get to do that here. I get to tell compelling stories. If people like me or hate me, at the end of the day, I’m still entertaining people."
She continued, "They may not like it, but they are still talking about me and what I’m doing. That’s the whole point. The WWE universe has this love-hate relationship with me. At the end of the day I’m making people feel something, I’m connecting with them. If they love it or hate it, at least they are feeling something towards me. That’s my goal and why I’m in the business of story-telling and entertaining is for them to feel a passionate emotion. If they are doing that, I’m doing my job."
WWE producer Kurt Angle is a big fan of what Lana has been doing in the current storyline, saying she is currently in her element. You can find his full comments by clicking here.
Fightful will have live coverage of the wedding between Lashley and Lana, and the rest of WWE Raw, beginning at 8 p.m. ET.
