shoe Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 With Meltzer reporting that Vince sees Lana as a big star and what happened at Mania I fear for Rusev. Obviously Vince is missing the boat . Rusev is ready for a main event run. I just think he'll ruin him. What do people see going forward for Rusev? Quote
Mad Dog Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 I think he'll get lost in the shuffle or they'll bring in a part timer to give him something to do. Quote
Shining Wiz Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 A slow drop down the card, then morphing into a comedy gimmick. Quote
Matt D Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 He could have a great indy run in five years. He's like the ideal Chris Masters opponent. Quote
shoe Posted March 31, 2015 Author Report Posted March 31, 2015 I see him pairing with Zeb to turn into a real American after losing to Cena at Extreme Rules. He realizes the American way of life is the only way of life. Quote
The Chief Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 When it's said that Vince sees Lana as a star I always wonder exactly what that means since as far as I know she's not a wrestler. I'm thinking she might get pushed how Sable was in 1998? I can't see her getting paired with anyone else. I don't think Rusev is in danger of turning into a comedy wrestler or getting fired or anything like that. He will probably get a rematch with Cena at the next PPV but if he's wrestling Swagger or Rowan at the PPV after that I would be worried. Quote
Dylan Waco Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 I think he's fucked. There is no logic face with him to work with right now, at least none who can afford to lose (Ziggler, Ambrose, Ryback all need wins now). That means he's staying with Cena and will lose that feud just as Wyatt did. Then like Wyatt he is going to use the other part of his act (Lana). They are burning him to the ground. The only heel that matters to this promotion is the guy working a "defender of the faith" gimmick against WCW and now UFC. Quote
The Man in Blak Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Rusev's cheesy foreign heel schtick has never been interesting to me, but he has gradually won me over by kicking people in the face, so I'm taken aback that Lana (who's done even less with a more over-the-top character) is somehow perceived as the bigger superstar out of the two. They should be using the loss to Cena to fuel even more ridiculous foreign heel shenanigans with these two at this point, not breaking them up. I think he's considerably better off than Wyatt, though, if only because I think he could excel as a midcard comedy act. Give that man a miniature American flag and bring Jimmy Hart back in to do a new recording of "He's An All-American Boy." Oh, that wacky Rusev. Quote
Steenalized Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Lord, I fear that comedy gimmick career path, but it seems all too real. Cena couldn't afford to eat that loss though, so this has to be. Quote
The Chief Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 If you had to pick a new opponent for Rusev right now who would it be? Would Sami Zayn work or does that kill Sami right away? Quote
Matt D Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 If you had to pick a new opponent for Rusev right now who would it be? Would Sami Zayn work or does that kill Sami right away? RVD Quote
Lust Hogan Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Lana should stay with Rusev. Sheamus and Barrett should sync up with them and they should be called The Foreign Legion. Rusev goes for the World Title, Sheamus and Barrett team and go for the Tag Team belts, and everyone watches each other's backs. Quote
shoe Posted March 31, 2015 Author Report Posted March 31, 2015 Zayn isn't established in the WWE, I'd personally have Orton put him over, but he has a program with Rollins. Quote
Grimmas Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Why can't Rusev just beat everyone else on route to taking the title and facing a babyface Lesnar at next year's Mania for the title? I'd even take a Brock match at the Rumble and Reigns at Mania. Quote
Bierschwale Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 I wonder how much they could change the gimmick. I can immediately think of him working as an oligarch-type... except that they tried that with Del Rio and failed. As entertaining as the "super-patriotic evil Russian" stuff might have been, it really narrowed the character. I've always thought that the most interesting aspect was that he's a native Bulgarian and that he's still referred to as such on occasion, they just don't elaborate on it. So why can't we think of him as not the "super-patriotic evil Russian" but "completely unprincipled dude who abandoned his home country to score with a hot girl"? He can be a real craven bastard, there's definitely something there. But his card positioning is now a total mess. Orton IS the only guy he can work with right now. Quote
Grimmas Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 I wonder how much they could change the gimmick. I can immediately think of him working as an oligarch-type... except that they tried that with Del Rio and failed. As entertaining as the "super-patriotic evil Russian" stuff might have been, it really narrowed the character. I've always thought that the most interesting aspect was that he's a native Bulgarian and that he's still referred to as such on occasion, they just don't elaborate on it. So why can't we think of him as not the "super-patriotic evil Russian" but "completely unprincipled dude who abandoned his home country to score with a hot girl"? He can be a real craven bastard, there's definitely something there. But his card positioning is now a total mess. Orton IS the only guy he can work with right now. Orton, yes. However, you need someone as a top heel. Rusev is the best candidate, so screw everyone else. Make Rusev and Reigns your two guys that beat EVERYONE. Rusev can crush Bryan, Ambrose, Orton, Rollins, Ziggler, Rowan, Triple H, Sting, etc... and it will be fine, because you need to make someone. Actually, Sting would be a great opponent. Quote
Matt D Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Yup, if Sting had gone over HHH, he could help to make Rusev bigger. Alas. Quote
Bierschwale Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Most of those guys shouldn't be losing, though. I think that this is as big of an indictment against destroying the tag division as there can be. Rusev is kind of in a limbo state. Harper has nothing going on. We've seen them as a two-man team in one match, a friggin' house show fancam, and they were excellent together. Why in a sane world would them as a tag team be a bad thing? Except that it'd be seen as a demotion on the card when it absolutely shouldn't be. Quote
(BP) Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Rusev and Lana should be the Savage and Liz of their time. There's no reason to break them up besides that they get bored and break every act up regardless of whether it's the right move or not. I think he could survive a lot of bad booking with Lana by his side, but alone he's screwed. Maybe they should turn Wyatt face and have him work Rusev. It'd be different, and Rusev's so good he could probably carry Bray. Quote
anarchistxx Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 An archaic, corny gimmick as evil foreign heel. Did people expect him to have any shelf life? The best he can hope for is the Mark Henry role, credible enough to be thrown to the top if the card when they need a monster heel or to get someone over, but generally floating around in midcard obscurity. Worst case scenario he becomes a comedy character. Can't say I am too concerned either way. The repetitive way he was presented and the endless boring squash matches and outdated, tedious anti-America rubbish turned me off to the point where I always fast forwarded his television segments. On PPV he never struck me as the fantastic worker people argued he was. Crazy people on here arguing he should crush every face on the roster. There was certainly no way he should have beaten John Cena at Wrestlemania, given how the feud was built and the match was presented. He had to lose sometime, and that was the logical, cathartic end. Considering they kept him strong by having him lose through the Lana confusion and not in a clean, conclusive finish you have to think they have some plans with him going forward. Roman Reigns perhaps. Quote
El-P Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 Youshoot with "Miroslav of WWE fame" in 10 months. Quote
GOTNW Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 I wonder how much they could change the gimmick. I can immediately think of him working as an oligarch-type... except that they tried that with Del Rio and failed. As entertaining as the "super-patriotic evil Russian" stuff might have been, it really narrowed the character. I've always thought that the most interesting aspect was that he's a native Bulgarian and that he's still referred to as such on occasion, they just don't elaborate on it. So why can't we think of him as not the "super-patriotic evil Russian" but "completely unprincipled dude who abandoned his home country to score with a hot girl"? He can be a real craven bastard, there's definitely something there. But his card positioning is now a total mess. Orton IS the only guy he can work with right now. Orton, yes. However, you need someone as a top heel. Rusev is the best candidate, so screw everyone else.Best as in "better than Luke Harper?". Yeah, no. Quote
Zoo Enthusiast Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 At least he's not Bray Wyatt. Quote
Grimmas Posted March 31, 2015 Report Posted March 31, 2015 I wonder how much they could change the gimmick. I can immediately think of him working as an oligarch-type... except that they tried that with Del Rio and failed. As entertaining as the "super-patriotic evil Russian" stuff might have been, it really narrowed the character. I've always thought that the most interesting aspect was that he's a native Bulgarian and that he's still referred to as such on occasion, they just don't elaborate on it. So why can't we think of him as not the "super-patriotic evil Russian" but "completely unprincipled dude who abandoned his home country to score with a hot girl"? He can be a real craven bastard, there's definitely something there. But his card positioning is now a total mess. Orton IS the only guy he can work with right now. Orton, yes. However, you need someone as a top heel. Rusev is the best candidate, so screw everyone else.Best as in "better than Luke Harper?". Yeah, no. Luke Harper is great and can be a great guy near the top of the card, but Rusev has proved he has something really special. Quote
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