Rusev was at Wrestlemania this year wrestling the company’s top star. He had Lana by his side and was seemingly unstoppable. His character was built up all year. Rusev seemed like a super power. He was a Russian super power. Though he didn’t really have a victory/feud that overly impressed me, the WWE was persistent in trying to prove that he is something.
He was built up all year. Before Wrestlemania, you knew Rusev wasn’t going to lose. It just wasn’t going to happen. He beat Zack Ryder a lot. He beat Big E. He beat Swagger. He almost won the Rumble. He won the U.S. Title. The point is, he was on quite a roll. Now here we are. The poor guy was treated as a big deal, and now seems less than that. Three losses to Cena? That seems like bullying. You have a younger guy who is on a big run and you make him lose three times in a row to Cena? Couldn’t have made it two losses? Sure Rusev won at Fastlane but that PPV is weak. We knew that Cena was going to win the feud, but by Payback it seemed like overkill. It didn’t help that the first three matches were boring. The last match probably shouldn’t have happened. I guess it added to the tension with Lana, but the losses may have taken away something as well.
His girl even was taken from him. Now we all are sort of jealous of Rusev because he is actually in a relationship with Lana, but we all know of stories where this has happened to other wrestlers. There are reports that they(Vince) are actually trying to break the couple up outside of the ring. Now I don’t know how true that is. If that is true, then that’s messed up. On-screen, it could work out. Lana with Dolph makes no sense for Dolph’s character. It makes sense for Rusev to want to destroy Dolph for being with Lana. I really don’t have a problem with it. Rusev probably has a problem with the split…the poor guy.
When he started he was the Bulgarian Brute. Then he became the Russian super athlete. He became the “Hero of the Russian Federation.” That added heat for sure, but after losing to Cena three times he showed up on Raw with a Bulgarian flag? Why all of a sudden just turn back to the Bulgarian Brute gimmick or stop with the Russian angle? Then on Smackdown he hurt his foot and is out of action.
He came back this Monday on crutches which seemingly keeps his “feud” with Dolph alive, but when he returns what will Rusev be? His career seemingly nosedived. All these things happened in a short amount of time. It seems like bad luck, and maybe even poor booking. The Lana stuff seems sketchy because I don’t want to believe that Vince would want to intentionally break up an actual couple, but I guess you never know.
This guy is still young and can be one of the most hated people in the business. Hopefully he’ll bounce back after this injury. I like his theme song too, so I hope they don’t change that. Right now in the WWE there are so many heels that get cheered. (Which they probably should because they’re awesome). Seth Rollins usually gets booed, but there are also some cheers. He’s so good that sometimes it’s difficult to boo him. I cheer him. I went to a Live event a month ago and was one of the few people not booing Seth. Kevin Owens is another guy. His character has done some awful things but because of his history and how good he is, he often gets cheered. Rusev is supposed to be booed, and always does. I’m not saying he sucks. I’m just saying that it’s nice sometimes having the bad guy get booed. His character can’t really be cheered. It’s sort of refreshing.
Rusev is a big guy who can draw heat. After having a good run he’s had a rough couple of months. Injuries are unfortunate, but losing to Cena three times and losing your girl may be worse. (Okay losing Lana is definitely worse). When he comes back I would expect to see him become dominant again, even at the expense of Dolph Ziggler or whoever else he faces. It really is amazing how far he seems to have fallen since Wrestlemania though.
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