WWE wrestler Lana reveals her character was inspired by Game of Thrones

(Photo by Joachim Sielski/Bongarts/Getty Images)

Game of Thrones has spawned a slew of imitators over the years, from shows attempting to ape its “slow build” style to the over-the-top and unexpected violent deaths. For a recent example, just look at the opening credits to Netflix’s new show Frontier and tell me you don’t get GoT vibes.

Sometimes, inspiration pops up in places you don’t expect, like the WWE. It turns out that owner Vince McMahon, along with professional wrestler Dusty Rhodes, is a huge fan of the show, or at least that’s what one wrestler claims in a new interview on The Tomorrow Show with Keven Undergaro. The female wrestler and hype manager know in the ring as “Lana” (real name Catherine Joy “C.J.” Barnyashev) spilled the beans that her controlling Russian diva character was originally inspired by Daenerys Targaryen, and later by Cersei Lannister.

"The whole idea of me controlling the brute was Dusty’s idea, which is an interesting spin, so it becomes not just like Russian, but it was like I was in charge of the brute, and the more conniving character, was Dusty’s idea from Khaleesi — she controls the dragons … Dusty was so brilliant [and] he basically predicted everything that me and Rusev eventually did on TV."

Yes, like many who are not major fans of the show, Barnyashev thinks Dany’s name is Khaleesi. (We know. Yell about it in the comments.)

"He was like, ‘You are going to control the brute. Control him, control him, but at one point, if you push him too far, he will turn on you.’ And that’s exactly what we ended up doing. I was always the intense one, and then at one point, I pushed him too far, and he tried to kick me back to Russia…Vince got that whole idea from [Cersei Lannister]. I remember having that whole conversation with him and saying, ‘What about her, being conniving?’ He was like, ‘Yes!’ And that whole Dolph Ziggler story came from her, from Game of Thrones!"

Who knows where the show’s influence will turn up next? On the Food Network perhaps? The descriptions of meals in A Song of Ice and Fire are very details, after all. Or maybe HGTV: “How To Renovate with Wildfire And Blood.” Or on Animal Planet: “How To Raise Your Dragon.”

In other funnies, Stephen Colbert had some fun skewering Stephen Miller, a senior adviser to President Donald Trump, on a recent episode of The Late Show. Miller recently claimed that he would go on “any show, anywhere, anytime” to defend President Trump’s statements about illegal voters…so Colbert inserted him into any show, including Game of Thrones.

He’s a talking head. Geddit?