WWE Taking Major Risk by Giving Lana SmackDown Women's Title Match vs. Naomi

Lana won't be climbing the WWE mountain to get to the SmackDown Women's Championship. She'll be taking a gondola lift to a career opportunity against Naomi.

WWE is putting a rookie in the heat of the limelight right away. It's rushing the introduction of Lana's new gimmick. And it's taking quite the leap of faith with a manager-turned-wrestler. 

After weeks of vignettes hyping a new version of Lana (she danced atop a chair in a ballgown) she stepped onto the SmackDown stage on Tuesday night.

In her re-debut, Lana demanded to be a part of the upcoming Money in the Bank ladder match. The blue brand's commissioner, Shane McMahon, denied her request. She did, however, rile up Naomi later by interfering in her match. 

That led to Naomi challenging Lana to a title match on the June 18 pay-per-view.

A title bout is now set. If Lana wrestles on next Tuesday's SmackDown, the clash with Naomi will be just her second real match on the main roster. If she doesn't, it will be her first.

Lana spent the early part of her career instructing and advocating for Rusev. She was a compelling, heartless figure at the bruiser's side. The Ravishing Russian thrived as a manager but only recently began to strap on a pair of wrestling boots.

She competed in an eight-woman tag team match at WrestleMania 32. However, she only contributed to the action for a few seconds.

She's since been busy working on her mat game at the WWE Performance Center and its developmental brand NXT. But even on that level, her experience is extremely limited.

Lana has only 15 singles matches to her name, per CageMatch.net. 

None of those have been in a building the size of St. Louis' Scottrade Center. None of those have been under the glare of a PPV spotlight.

Naomi is athletic and fun to watch, but she's not the kind of wrestler who can carry a rookie. Pairing her with Lana is a recipe for a sloppy showing. Lana's first impression as an in-ring star could easily be a rancid one.

And with the PPV arriving so quickly, there will be only one more SmackDown episode before Money in the Bank to showcase her character.

We still don't know who the new Lana is. Those pre-debut videos suggested she was a burlesque dancer. Her appearance on Tuesday's night showed us something else.

A.V. Club columnist LaToya Ferguson wrote afterward, "Does she have a dancing gimmick? She wears a ballroom gown and shimmies (she shimmies) to the ring, with the latter causing Becky Lynch (self-proclaimed cornball) to react with the type of face you make when something's corny as heck."

There will be little time to cast away the confusion about who she is and minimal opportunities to sell her as a threat to Naomi.

Even Jinder Mahal's recent hurried rise had more room to stretch its wings. We saw The Maharaja win a Fatal 5-Way match, defeat AJ Styles and steal the WWE Championship before facing Randy Orton.

Lana's journey will be far more truncated. And that's going to hurt the power of her story.

There's a distinct feeling she doesn't belong in the title picture as a result. The folks at the Over The Ropes podcast mocked the logic of her path to contendership:

Plot holes like that are commonplace on WWE TV, but this one is especially glaring.

What Lana does have going for her is that she has a relationship with the audience, even if it's not as a wrestler. Fans saw her flourish as The Ravishing Russian. They saw her stride into WrestleMania 31 holding Rusev's United States Championship, flanked by two rows of soldiers carrying the Russian flag. They saw her deride all things American.

They know her, even if they don't know this Lana.

She'll likely get a solid reaction as a result. Many will want her to succeed. But WWE has done her no favors in setting her up for a great start to the next phase of her career.

Lana is foregoing the usual plowing through midcarders phase. She's not getting a chance to sharpen her skills in less high-profile bouts. She's not going to be able to garner much momentum before Money in the Bank.

She instead will find herself asked to do too much, too soon, a novice swimmer thrown into the depths of the ocean.