WWE Opinion: Rusev Is Just Another WWE Big Man Who Will Fail To Have A Long Term Future

WWE Superstar Rusev came into WWE in impressive fashion. He has yet to be beaten, and just won the WWE United States Championship. The streak he has right now is undeniable, the man simply cannot be beaten despite the competitor he faces. While this is good for now, many have panned the matches for Rusev. He began taking on smaller guys, and this ended up getting old for fans, so WWE gave him established guys.

Since then, Rusev has beaten various former World Heavyweight Champions in his last few storylines. It is impressive, but the entire thing, from my perspective, has become quite dull.

Rusev is on a winning streak now, but once he loses, what will be special about him? He is similar to Bill Goldberg at this point in that, after the winning streak is up, would there be much of anything to go with?

On top of this, he has a manager named Lana, who is quite gorgeous. She is Russian by storyline, while Rusev is from Bulgaria. Apparently, due to her Russian affiliation and the bigger name that Russia is for hate, WWE had Rusev jump to being Russian. He was apparently also given an award from Russian top guy Vladimir Putin, even before he did much in WWE. Which made a lot of sense, right?

WWE basically had to convert him to being Russian, despite still calling him “The Bulgarian Brute,” simply because Russia is a better antagonist than most other places currently. First dumb move. Why not have him labeled Russian right away rather than changing up his story part-way through?

Rusev is not the best with English, which is why WWE gave him a manager in the first place. Lana fits well as the mouthpiece for Rusev, as she is good looking and has the ability to speak, especially in a Russian accent. The problem is that Rusev is nothing special himself.

In fact, we’ve seen his exact type before.

Anyone remember Vladimir Kozlov? A Russian wrestler who came in originally with no music and was undefeated for months, then he was finally beaten and he ended up being a mid-carder — or worse — for the better part of his career with WWE. Minus the manager, Rusev is a carbon copy of what Kozlov was. The body is the same even. Some would argue that Kozlov was a better wrestler than Rusev as well.

Once Rusev loses, what is the plan? His dominance is in question because he was beaten. From then on, he cannot call himself anything of note. He is then just another WWE big guy. While WWE is not relying on Rusev’s streak like WCW was on Goldberg’s, the streak ending ruined what Goldberg had going. WCW was never able to truly make him into anything more despite his potential. While WWE has the potential to do a lot with Rusev, the issue is that Rusev is just another big guy with little to no charisma and sub-par ring ability.

While his wrestling is as good as other guys his size, that is not saying a lot. Without Lana, he would not be able to tell a story on the mic either. Some would argue that without Lana, Rusev would be done in WWE right now. She is very helpful for him, but eventually even she cannot help him out. Rusev’s flaws are glaring, and once he loses they will take over.

He has to lose eventually because everyone does, and some would argue that the person who beats him will get a nice push out of it. The issue is that, since the loss hurts Rusev, WWE has continued the streak idiotically. Having him beat bigger guys than him makes him look strong, which makes sense. However, WWE at one point claimed that one punch by Big Show would end everything. They even showed us on SmackDown that Show would just need one punch and Rusev would be out. Yet in the match they had, Show couldn’t throw one dang punch? Seriously, WWE?

It has gotten to a point where people aren’t caring. Rusev wins again and he says something about America or another country — and then the same thing happens again the following week. It is dull, and fans are tired of it for the most part.

While there are some who like Rusev, most do not care for him, according to an online poll. Sure, Rusev has some talent that could be harnessed and used well in some capacity. However, WWE is trying to make a mid-carder at best look like some sort of future monster heel in the company, and he is just not that good.

He has a lot of random wins, and WWE is having him come across like something new and dominate, when we’ve seen this so many times before. It is old. We’ve seen the dominate big guy. We’ve seen the Russian character who was actually a Russian. We’ve even seen the American hate before. Heck, Iron Sheik anyone?

How much longer can WWE drag things out with Rusev? Up until he wins the WWE World Heavyweight Title? Eventually, if he keeps beating people, WWE would go that direction. Many would hate the idea of it though because few people want to see him hold the gold when people far better are on the outside looking in.

It seems like WWE is pushing Rusev down our throats and having us believe that his talent is worthy of praise. He is a big guy, that is his thing. However, he is nothing but a winning streak. Without it, what is left? Fans know this, which is why we’re waiting to see it end. WWE can’t keep it going Andre the Giant-style, so when it happens, Rusev’s character will take a nosedive. Simply because it has to. At the end of the day, Rusev’s type has been seen and heard. He is just not worthy of the continued push in my eyes.

[IMG Credits: 411mania.com, wrestlenigma.com, wwe.com]