10 Wrestlers Who DESPERATELY Need Something New In 2026
2. Rusev
Someone who goes by the moniker of "The Redeemer" shouldn't need his fifth or sixth career redemption, but that is where Rusev is at after what has largely been a failure of a return to WWE.
The Bulgarian Brute had grown stagnant in WWE and left for AEW, where he struggled a bit, started to gain some ground with his TNT Championship run, and then fizzled out completely.
Upon returning to WWE after a long absence, that was his chance to be reinvigorated, but he ran into the same problem that effected Andrade and to an extent, Aleister Black: they were just the same presentation as they've been for years, except hoping for a bigger push.
Rusev in 2025 wasn't the monster he used to be, nor the fun "Rusev Day" gimmick. He's just another guy who goes out once in a while, wrestles, and sometimes wins. Put him in a tag team with Sheamus, who is in a similar position. Make him a mentor to a guy like Jasper Troy.
Or, if you want him to still do the Redeemer gimmick, put him on NXT and have him be the obstacle the younger talent needs to go through.