Man With ZERO Main Roster TV Matches In 2026 Says He Left AEW To Wrestle More (WWE News)
Rusev said he missed "the grind" of WWE life and feeling "like a real professional wrestler".
Rusev says he left AEW for a return to WWE last year because he "wanted to wrestle" and "mix it up with the best". The Bulgarian told Chris Van Vliet's 'Insight' show that he "wanted to wrestle more and more, and all these European tours and everything" - Rusev missed "that grind" badly when he was on Tony Khan's side.
He's wrestled exactly 3 matches this year so far. Twice vs. Joaquin Wilde on the 29 January and 5 February episodes of Main Event, and in the 30-man Royal Rumble over in Saudi Arabia. There, Rusev lasted 32 seconds before being eliminated by rising star Oba Femi.
This yearning for, "We were five days on the road; Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, you go home Wednesday, you’re out on the road again on Friday" hasn't really happened for him. In fact, Ru's last match on main roster TV (other than the Rumble) came on the 21 November 2025 edition of SmackDown when he lost to Jey Uso.
It's cool that the powerhouse wanted to wrestle more, but the relentless schedule he worked first time around in WWE doesn't exist these days. Triple H's company runs limited house shows, so if wrestlers aren't booked regularly on Raw, SmackDown or NXT then they're actually not clocking up too many in-ring minutes.
Nobody would argue that Khan was using the then-Miro to his full potential during a mediocre 5 year run over in AEW, but it shouldn't escape attention that there's a difference between wanting to wrestle more and being given those opportunities.
Thus far, WWE hasn't done much with Rusev. Again.