10 Times WWE Totally Dropped The Ball On Rusev
1. Rusev Day
In what should come as no surprise, Rusev got himself over with the audience at a time when WWE showed little interest in using him to his full potential. Originally, "Rusev Day" wasn't meant to be anything more than a one-off, but the fans took to it and caused the random segment on SmackDown to become an overnight sensation.
It's worth noting that even after Rusev Day took off, WWE refused to turn Rusev (along with Lana and Aiden English) babyface until almost a year later. He competed for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, United States Championship and WWE Championship multiple times throughout 2017 and 2018 but fell short on every occasion.
Rusev was on the verge of becoming a breakout babyface before being turned heel out of nowhere in early 2019. By all accounts, his Rusev Day merchandise sold well, but WWE apparently were not interested in fully capitalising on the phenomenon, nor pushing him to the main event scene where he belonged.
Rusev has since tried to bring it back in his ongoing angle with Lana and Bobby Lashley, but Rusev Day will never be as hot it was once was due to WWE doing everything in their power to cool it off. Yet another example of the company not striking while the iron was hot.