10 WWE Superstars Who Have Been Hurt The Most By The Wild Card Rule

1. Rusev

The Miz Shinsuke Nakamura
WWE

It's no secret that WWE typically aren't fans of Superstars who get themselves over, which is why it should have come as no surprise that they squashed the Rusev Day phenomenon almost as quickly as it started.

That isn't to say Rusev had a terrible 2018 by any stretch, as he found success alongside Aiden English, broke out as a babyface and even held the United States Championship for a brief period. Unfortunately, his momentum fell off a cliff coming into 2019 and he has hardly been a focal point on WWE TV since.

After his short-lived partnership with Shinsuke Nakamura went nowhere, Rusev and Lana apparently requested time off and haven't been seen on SmackDown Live for months. They actually left before the Wild Card Rule went into effect, but you have to imagine that if the company has something notable for them to do, they would have been back long ago.

Thankfully, Rusev finally returned to Raw this past week, but then again, it was to be a part of that atrocious angle with Mike and Maria Kanellis. He might have been better off sitting out the rest of his contract, but hopefully the upcoming WWE Draft will bring him good fortune.

Contributor
Contributor

Since 2008, Graham has been a diehard pro wrestling fan and, in 2010, he combined his passions for WWE and writing when he joined Bleacher Report. Equipped with a master's in journalism, Graham has contributed to WhatCulture, FanSided's Daily DDT, Sports Betting Dime, and GateHouse Media. Along the way, he has conducted interviews with wrestling superstars like Chris Jericho, Edge, Goldberg, Christian, Diamond Dallas Page, Jim Ross, Adam Cole, Tessa Blanchard, Ryback, and Nick Aldis among others.