Lana has a complicated relationship with the WWE Universe.



She revealed on The Matthew Aaron Show on Thursday that the WWE Universe feels strongly about the popular mouthpiece. She said she is thankful for the love - hate relationship she has with the fan base.



"They so passionately hate me but also can on a switch, like a light switch, can passionately freaking love me," Lana said.



Lana appreciates the connection she has with the audience and believes her commitment to being a truly hated heel helps foster that connection. Lana said she thinks WWE doesn't have enough heels that commit to being hated.

She said to have a true babyface for the fans to get behind, they need their heel rival to be a true foil.

"To have a good guy, if you need to have a super good guy or a superhero, you don't need one unless you have a hate hated villain," she said. "To be a hated villain you do have to be selfless and understand at the end you are going to lose. At the end you are going to lose. At the end you might be the laugh of the joke, but the more you commit to it, the reaction is gonna be at the end when you lose or you know you're being laughed at, you're in control of that reaction.

"The more you commit to everything throughout, you're in control at the end, and so really understanding that like, I have the responsibility to be hated so much, the more I commit to being hated, then the more people are going to cheer for the person going against me."

Lana said her commitment to being hated in her storyline with Bobby Lashley and Rusev helped get the latter over as a babyface again. The passionate hate she receives due to her unwavering commitment to being hated has an unwanted side effect.

Lana is quite active on multiple social media sites and said she had to stop posting pictures of her family members because the WWE fan base would transfer their hate for her onscreen character onto those family members.

"It was back in like 2014 when we were doing the super Rocky IV, you know, very patriotic towards Russia, to me there's nothing wrong with being patriotic to your country. Well all of the United States of America decided to come onto my Instagram, and if I would post a picture of my nephew that was like literally three weeks old, they would be like, 'He's the ugliest baby in the world! We hope he dies! USA! USA!'

"It's like, oh my God, you are so sick. People are sick, like what is wrong with you? Really people can be such bullies and it's insane to me. So I stopped posting anything of my family because... normal people are not as tough as a WWE superstar."

If you use any of the quotes in this article, please credit The Matthew Aaron Show with a h/t to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.

