3. Rusev - #8
In fairness to Rusev, he has been in the spotlight a lot more than many fellow entries in this article. He probably does deserve a position somewhere near the top of the PWI 500, but nowhere near as high as eighth. Rusev exemplifies the clear WWE bias that affects much of the PWI 500. He enjoyed a fairly successful year, placing second in the Royal Rumble and scoring a (cheap) win over John Cena at Fastlane. However, a series of subsequent losses against Cena ruined his momentum somewhat, and the recent feud with Dolph Ziggler and Lana has almost relegated him to comedy midcard status. The Bulgarian Brute certainly deserves some sort of recognition, but the caliber of non-WWE names placed below him is astounding. Hiroshi Tanahashia won the mammoth G1 Climax tournament in NJPW, Prince Puma, Alberto El Patron and Mil Muertes helped transform Lucha Underground into the hottest new promotion in wrestling, and Ethan Carter III made himself the hottest new heel in TNA. All have achieved far more than Rusev, who has comparatively been little more than a glorified upper-midcarder in the WWE so far. Wrestlers He Outranked: Dean Ambrose, Alberto El Patron