Ryback Believes WWE Is Trying to Hurt Rusev and Lana's Marriage With Ongoing WWE Raw Storyline

Rusev and Lana have been locked into one of WWE's strangest storylines in recent memory for more than four months now, and former WWE Superstar Ryback has a theory behind why it's been happening. The feud between the two started back in late September when Lana, now a full-blown heel, revealed she had left Rusev and had started dating Bobby Lashley. What followed were weeks of promos where "The Ravishing Russian" claimed Rusev had cheated on her, had tried to sabotage her career by getting her pregnant, was a sex addict and even faked a pregnancy. This culminated in an infamous wedding segment between Lana and Lashley, which was interrupted by numerous people — including Liv Morgan.

Lately Rusev has taken a backseat to the story while Lana feuds with Liv Morgan. The two are still married in real life, but "The Big Guy" believes WWE has been making the two take part in the story in order to put a strain on their actual relationship. The two have been married since July 2016.

"This isn't the angle to go into with a contract negotiation," Ryback said (h/t Fightful for transcript) on a recent episode of the Conversations With The Big Guy podcast. "They put you in that position to cause strain on your real-life relationship. I really believe there's a reason behind why they do that stuff. It's very odd and the angle was odd. But it puts you in a weird position. He does this angle and I don't think it's helped anybody. Then they pull him off TV because he hasn't signed the contract. If he doesn't sign, he'll either stay off TV or they'll bring him back to embarrass him. They do stuff with your character based off you not signing."

Lashley took part in a triple threat match last week for a shot at Brock Lesnar's WWE Championship, but wound up getting pinned by Ricochet. Rusev was kept off television, but is expected to be back this week.

WWE's next pay-per-view, NXT TakeOver: Portland, takes place this Sunday on the WWE Network. Check out the full card below:

• NXT Championship: Adam Cole vs. Tommaso Ciampa
• NXT Women's Championship: Rhea Ripley vs. Bianca Belair
• NXT Tag Team Championships: The Undisputed Era vs. The BroserWeights
• NXT North American Championship: Keith Lee vs. Dominik Dijakovic
• Finn Balor vs. Johnny Gargano
• Dakota Kai vs. Tegan Nox (Street Fight)