7 Wrestlers WWE Punished For Getting Over

You get the impression that WWE only intended Rusev Day to be an ephemeral, not quotidian celebration - that's if they ever intended for it to be a thing at all.

In late 2017, Rusev, his early aura all but evaporated following a drastic 'love-square' programme and the insipid League of Nations, found solace in fellow lost soul Aiden English, himself left rudderless following the dismissal of Vaudevillain partner Simon Gotch. Mere days after the period was put on Rusev's prolonged depush via a 10-second squash at the boot of Randy Orton, the Bulgarian totally reversed his fortunes with the aid of English.

Making the most of legitimately being offered the freedom of the city in hometown Plovdiv, Rusev declared the occasion a holiday in his honour. Rusev Day was born - and it was to be observed every day.

With the help of English literally singing his virtues, soon everybody was celebrating Rusev Day, and the phrase began unintentionally interfering with every aspect of programming, as the pair's popularity skyrocketed.

But Rusev's drastic pay-per-view record failed to improve. WWE either didn't realise what they had on their hands - or didn't want to. Tellingly, Rusev revealed that he'd originally devised the whole bit to draw heat; that is was garnering the best babyface reactions in the company probably had his employers' heads spinning.

Though not quite a 'burial', there was little attempt made to capitalise on the self-generated phenomenon. The failure of Rusev's WWE Title tilt at Extreme Rules was gesture more than generosity. The team were eventually disbanded in October last year, leaving them largely back where they were.