By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor

WWE issued a statement to Prowrestling.net on Monday in response to how WWE handled the tragic Malaysian Airlines plane attack in relation to Russian heel characters Lana and Rusev at the Battleground PPV.

"Last night's segment during WWE's Battleground event was in no way referring to the Malaysia Airlines tragedy. The storyline with characters Rusev and Lana has been a part of WWE programming for more than three months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night's segment and was offended," WWE stated.

During a full-length promo at the PPV, Lana's character referred to "recent current events" setting up an anti-American promo. Lana followed by introducing a photo of Russian president Vladimir Putin on the Titantron.

The next night on Raw, WWE pulled back on any Putin or Russia-related references, as Lana's typical pre-match promo for Rusev was interrupted by Great Khali ahead of a singles match.

Caldwell's Analysis: The issue is not that Rusev & Lana have been playing up a U.S.A. vs. Russia theme as heel characters for three months (although, WWE has been pushing and pushing and pushing with the program), but the new verbiage scripted for Lana's promo on Sunday. What other "recent current events" would Lana have been referring to in her promo at the PPV? It was reasonable for the average viewer to see that Lana was referring to the tragic plane attack, but WWE did not outright acknowledge it so they could attempt to have plausible deniability. WWE tacking on a fake apology with an insult to people's intelligence makes WWE sound even worse. All-around, it's a messy statement that conveys a lack of understanding, sensitivity, and maturity from WWE to be a decent corporate citizen.

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