10 Worst Anti-American Wrestling Gimmicks
9. Rusev
Outside of the problems WWE had in deciding if Rusev was representing Russia or Bulgaria, his original run as an unbeatable heel destroyer played into the hands of the company's laziest trope.
The formula for the character was the straight-out-the-box evil foreigner they'd employed for generations. A Mr and Mrs Ivan Drago for the modern age, the 'Ravishing Russian' Lana would emerge to antagonise crowds with lengthy rants about America being generally dreadful, before championing Russia (and later Bulgaria) and paying grandiose tribute to hard right president and topless horse-rider Vladimir Putin.
Rusev would then emerge, crushing opposition at the behest of his cruel wife.
After steamrolling through the roster deadweight of the era (at that time, R-Truth, Zack Ryder and Xavier Woods, mainly), the 'Bulgarian Brute' contested his first major programmes with Jack Swagger and Big E Langston.
The angles were cringeworthy, with Swagger and Langston turned into flag-waving babyfaces in order to look credible before falling to the unbeaten monster's 'Accolade' submission hold.
The angle would culminate in Rusev winning the United States title and going on an impressive run with the gold until a WrestleMania 31 dethroning from John Cena. The defeat marked his first in over a year on the main roster, and at long last brought partial closure to the dated concept.