10 Times WWE Dropped The Ball With Ryback
3. Not Beating Rusev For The United States Championship
After his arrival on the WWE roster in April 2014, Rusev was built up as a monster heel. He knocked off the established likes of Sheamus, Mark Henry, and Big Show in addition to picking up the United States Championship, and it seemed as if no one could pose a legitimate threat to the Bulgarian Brute.
Enter Ryback.
The two briefly crossed paths during the Team Cena vs. Team Authority match at Survivor Series, but their feud didn't officially kick off until the night after TLC where Ryback confronted Rusev in the middle of the ring. They had instant chemistry together and fans were anxious to see Ryback give Rusev a real challenge.
Their rivalry was progressing nicely up until Ryback was unceremoniously "fired" from WWE programming at the hands of The Authority, putting the program on the back burner for several weeks. Once Ryback was reinstated at the end of January, WWE had already aborted the storyline and gone in a new direction with Rusev and John Cena, leaving him without a dance partner yet again.
On the bright side, Cena beating Rusev for the star-spangled prize did give fans the critically acclaimed U.S. Open, but Ryback would have benefited greatly from being the one to hand him his premier loss in WWE.