WWE: Rusev and Lana Engaged
It was reported today on TMZ that Rusev, aka Miroslav Barnyashev, and Lana, aka Catherine Joy Perry, are engaged.
The two had been dating for some time. Perry often posted pictures of them on various non-wrestling trips together on her Instagram account. Eventually they bought a house together in Nashville.
The TMZ report said that the engagement took place last month, and that the engagement was filmed at the pool in their backyard.
Earlier this year the two broke up in storyline, which historically does not bode well for real-life relationships. Barnyashev later suffered an ankle injury, and instead of staying home to recover traveled from city to city with Perry and the rest of the crew.
This probably was the impetus to the angle where Rusev and Summer Rae somewhat got engaged on Raw. Summer asked Rusev to marry him, and at first he said yes, but then stated, “not yet.” He said before she could put gold around her finger he needed to put gold around his waist, meaning he needed to win a title. The belief is that this was a way to drag the storyline out since Perry suffered a wrist injury and won’t be able to return to physical action for awhile. Dolph Ziggler, who is also involved in the storyline, also took time off to film a movie, so the only person involved who has not missed TV time is Summer Rae.
Dave Meltzer is the founder and lead writer on the Wrestling Observer Newsletter, the weekly constant when it comes to news and reviews in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts for more than 40 years. Dave also co-hosts Wrestling Observer Radio with Bryan Alvarez and had had bylines for The National, Yahoo Sports, MMA Fighting and others.