10 Quick WWE Fixes To Save Rusev

2. Antihero

Rusev WWE Champion
WWE.com

Surviving WWE's schizophrenic booking for over three years now, Rusev has proven himself dynamic and flexible even during the most trying of times. Rather than finding reward for his resilience though, he's instead endured endless neglect and toxic mistreatment.

Despite this, he somehow remains immune to the level of apathy that has been able to sink countless disregarded talents over the years. This durability implies that he may indeed have the vaunted intangible Vince McMahon constantly searches for in his endless quest for superstars, and with that in his back pocket, it may be time to attempt an as-yet untested babyface turn.

In the modern era, it's a minor miracle that he hasn't at least straddled the middle ground typically occupied by John Cena, Roman Reigns and to a lesser extent, Bray Wyatt. Towards the back end of 2014, a large section of the fanbase gravitated towards him in such a manner that a turn looked inevitable when he eventually shed the worst excesses of his foreign menace persona.

And yet somehow, his tenure as a heel has persisted. From boisterously hugging Vince McMahon to seething with rage at his cake-drenched wife, he's shown peerless comedic presence, and has more than enough in his physical arsenal to outmatch and outmuscle the company's best heels. It's time to make the turn official.

Contributor
Contributor

Michael is a writer, editor, podcaster and presenter for WhatCulture Wrestling, and has been with the organisation nearly 8 years. He primarily produces written, audio and video content on WWE and AEW, but also provides knowledge and insights on all aspects of the wrestling industry thanks to a passion for it dating back over 35 years. As one third of "The Dadley Boyz" Michael has contributed to the huge rise in popularity of the WhatCulture Wrestling Podcast and its accompanying YouTube channel, earning it top spot in the UK's wrestling podcast charts with well over 62,000,000 total downloads. He has been featured as a wrestling analyst for the Tampa Bay Times, GRAPPL, GCP, Poisonrana and Sports Guys Talking Wrestling, and has covered milestone events in New York, Dallas, Las Vegas, Philadelphia, London and Cardiff. Michael's background in media stretches beyond wrestling coverage, with a degree in Journalism from the University Of Sunderland (2:1) and a series of published articles in sports, music and culture magazines The Crack, A Love Supreme and Pilot. When not offering his voice up for daily wrestling podcasts, he can be found losing it singing far too loud watching his favourite bands play live. Follow him on X/Twitter - @MichaelHamflett