7 Ups & 3 Downs from WWE Raw (19 May - Results & Review)

Downs…

3. Not Exactly Confidence-Inspiring

On the Raw after WrestleMania 41, Rusev returned to WWE for the first time in five years, decimating Alpha Academy. While not an Earth-shattering return in terms of initial targets, the thought of the Bulgarian Brute quickly disposing of the duo and moving into a real feud seemed promising.

Fast-forward a month, and Rusev has had just one match – a six-minute defeat of Otis – and is slated for a bout next week against Akira Tozawa. When that happens, it will be five weeks into his return with two matches and a few pre-recorded promos.

Admittedly, the videos of Rusev essentially replicating his “Redeemer” character from AEW are fine, and he’s still being featured on television, but it’s hard to shake a feeling that Rusev is going to be mired in the midcard doing stuff like this for a while rather than making inroads with weekly matches or in-ring promos to inject life into his return.

The next few weeks could easily turn this around, and there could be “ups” praising how WWE has handled Rusev, but the blind faith WWE earned during the past couple of years has waned a good bit.