Lana On Being ‘The Good Stubborn’, Growing Up Christian In Russia

WWE Superstars Lana and Rusev were recent guests on the Chasing Glory with Lilian Garcia podcast. The duo talked about a number of topics including growing up in Russia and then learning to adjust to life in America. Lana opened up about body issues and eating disorders she developed while growing up in Russia, while Rusev talked about his current frustrations in WWE.

(Transcription Credit: Michael McClead, WrestleZone) 

Lana On Interacting With People In Bulgaria & Russia:

Lana: You don’t say hi to people you don’t know. You don’t smile.

Lana On Why Russia Is The Way It Is Culturally:

People think Americans are really fake, so it’s more like, ‘Why are Americans that way?’

It was really strange for me coming to the United States. Everybody says hi and smiles, especially in the South. I was really suspect, ‘Why are you talking to me?’ It’s still hard for me to make banter with people I don’t know. [I’m socially awkward] because I grew up there. When I say I’m Russian American it’s because my formative years were over there. So much of my life was formed from that culture. When I moved back, it was a huge shock and I still identify to a lot of things that are Russian and Eastern European culture, but at the same time there are things I really identify with because of my parents, who are really American. When I was told that I was stupid or dumb, and would never be anything, and was a fat cow, my dad would keep saying, ‘The sky is the limit. You can do anything you set your mind to.’ [Lana cries] I wouldn’t be anywhere I am now, if it wasn’t for my parents. There were a lot of times my whole life, whether it was WWE, or entertainment, or the ballet world, where people won’t believe in you or say that you aren’t good enough…if it wasn’t for that in my head, ‘The sky is the limit. The sky is the limit. I can do anything I set my mind to,’ I wouldn’t be where I am today. I am very very thankful. He calls it the good stubborn. That’s the Eastern European was of saying, ‘Never give up.’ He goes, ‘We’re the good stubborn. We don’t give up.’

Read More: Lana Opens Up About Severe Learning Disabilities, How An Episode Dedicated To Them Was Cut From Total Divas

Lana On Being A Christian In Russia:

As a little girl, I never felt I fit in because I was American in European culture and on top of it, I was Christian in an Atheist society. That was even more like, ‘Woah!’ I was the only person. It wasn’t like the South where everyone goes to Church or people in America, when they get an award, they go, ‘I want to thank my Lord & Savior. I just want to thank Jesus, or I want to thank God.’ No, that’s not how it is over there. It was communism and if you believed in God, and you went to the Orthodox Church, or the Lutheran Church, you were sent to Siberia, so it is an atheistic country. They would look at me and go, ‘You believe in God? You’re just scared of dying and that’s why you created God. That’s why you created heaven. It’s because you’re scared of dying. You’re just a weak person.’ On top of everything, that’s another thing that made me weird and strange. I went to church every Sunday. My parents were ministers, they were missionaries. On top of all of that, my parents were non-denominational, and my dad, to this day, works in the ministry and he believes all denomination come together and pray. That was a cult there and one time they accused my dad of being a religious terrorist and we were kicked out of the country. They wouldn’t grant him a visa and we were kicked out of the country for two months until we got a visa from my mom for being a dance professor because they accused him of being a religious terrorist.  That just added more to things.

Listen to “Lana & Rusev – Dealing with Frustrations & Past Traumas” on Spreaker.

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