WWE IS FACING heavy criticism after using a reference to the MH17 air disaster during a major show last night.

During the WWE Battleground event in Tampa, a character called Rusev was scheduled to fight ‘patriotic’ American wrestler Jack Swagger.

Rusev is cast as a pro-Russian character who, along with his “manager” Lana, worships Russia and Vladimir Putin, and wants to “crush” the USA.

During his entrance last night, Lana appeared to refer incredulously to the MH17 disaster as part of their act to hype up the rivalry between the pro-US and pro-Russian wrestlers.
https://vine.co/v/M2bMaYpPIJj

There was an instant backlash on Twitter.

And the WWE was accused of exploiting the tragedy.

The WWE is no stranger to controversy in its references to current events. Even before last night’s match, fans had begun to speculate over how WWE’s writers would handle the Rusev/Russia relationship in the wake of the MH17 disaster.

One pundit even speculated that they could be eliminated entirely - recalling the end of Muhammad Hassan, who portrayed a character with Arabic roots and left after a controversial storyline involving terrorism.

via Buzzfeed

More: People are getting email reminders about the Garth Brooks concerts>