WWE's Lana -- References Malaysia Air Tragedy in Pro-Russia Skit

WWE's Lana References Malaysia Air Tragedy During Pro-Russia Skit

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The WWE is getting the smackdown from some fans after two "Russian" characters ripped Americans for blaming Russia for the MH17 tragedy.

Right before Alexander Rusev's pay-per-view bout last night ... his manager Lana teased hecklers with a very thinly veiled reference to the Malaysia Airlines crash, saying ... "You blame Russia for current events?"

Lana added that America is to blame for "war-mongering in Afghanistan and Iraq."

MH17 Reference ...

Of course, the whole bit was scripted -- like every WWE event -- but mentioning a real disaster, less than a week after it happened ... has generated some backlash.

By the way, Lana is played C.J. Perry -- an American actress with a shaky Russian accent.

A rep for the WWE tells TMZ the segment was not about the Malaysia Airlines crash in specific. The rep pointed out, "The storyline with characters Rusev and Lana has been a part of WWE programming for more than 3 months. WWE apologizes to anyone who misunderstood last night’s segment and was offended.”