20 DUMB WWE Gimmick Changes (That We Didn't Want To Admit Were GENIUS)
13. Happy Rusev Day
Say hello to a silly catchphrase that was likely meant to last for a few weeks at most.
After beating Randy Orton in 2017, Rusev declared every day "Rusev Day" and began aggressively barking that at fans. This routine heel move played before gentle boos for a while, but then people started enjoying the Bulgarian's OTT presentation. It was something totally fresh for him, and that mattered to fans.
WWE cut the legs off the idea instead of running with it. Being more specific, Vince McMahon didn't like that "Rusev Day" was playing before cheers and trashed the gimmick rather than continuing to make cold hard cash aplenty from merch for as long as possible. That was dumber than Rusev, Lana and Aiden English going overboard by inventing fake holidays could ever hope to be.
Attend any WWE show between 2017-2018 and you'd likely see a "Rusev Day" t-shirt in the crowd. The catchphrase was over as heck for a year or so before McMahon buried it. It's wild that something so silly clicked then got binned because it was never meant to gain traction.