10 Times WWE Totally Dropped The Ball On Rusev
9. Losing The United States Championship
The aforementioned feud with Roman Reigns over the United States Championship was the peak of Rusev's 2016. He regained the gold from Kalisto months earlier at Extreme Rules but didn't defend against any credible competition until he crossed paths with Reigns that summer.
Despite that, Rusev's United States title reign did a lot to rehab his character after his pointless stint in League of Nations (more on that later). He was booked to look dominant, had Lana back by his side and was having quality matches with the likes of Kalisto, Zack Ryder and Titus O'Neil.
Although his high-profile program with Reigns led to an increased amount of television time for him, it did more to help The Big Dog than it did Rusev. Their SummerSlam match never got started due to the two brawling beforehand, but their rematch at Clash of Champions resulted in a decisive victory for Reigns, ending Rusev's run at 126 days.
Their Hell in a Cell clash was equally entertaining but, again, only further solidified Rusev as being inferior to Reigns. That should have been the time for WWE to transition him into a more prominent role higher on the card, but he instead went on to settle for a nonsensical storyline with Enzo Amore while Reigns did nothing of note with the star-spangled prize.