Right now, this is one of the unofficial WrestleMania matches. In a confusing twist last month, WWE booked John Cena and Rusev for Fastlane, noting that the Authority was going to do this match for WrestleMania but bumped it up a month. Of course, the match ended with some shenanigans, so a Mania rematch seems imminent. This might seem like a minor point, but will Cena still want a U.S. Championship title shot at Mania? Despite it making perfect sense from the get-go, the title defense was tacked on to the feud after it was well underway. Now that Rusev has (technically) successfully defended the title, will it be on the line at WrestleMania, or will it just be a prop for Rusev to wear? If WWE truly wants to build Rusev up as a monster to be slayed, the Bulgarian Brute should be putting the U.S. title up more often including at WrestleMania and continue to hold it beyond March 29.
Scott is a former journalist and longtime wrestling fan who was smart enough to abandon WCW during the Monday Night Wars the same time as the Radicalz. He fortunately became a fan in time for WrestleMania III and came back as a fan after a long high school hiatus before WM XIV. Monday nights in the Carlson household are reserved for viewing Raw -- for better or worse.
