The Complete A-Z Of Wrestling In 2017
9. R - Rusev Day
'The Bulgarian Brute' was staring down the barrel of his worst ever year on the main roster having conclusively lost a worthless post-summer feud to Randy Orton after shared squashes and a boring payoff encounter.
He'd already been made out to be a bullsh*tting liar following his empty threats to walk out on SmackDown Live! if not given a WWE Title shot, a nationalistic fraud against John Cena (again) and an unwelcome loner chasing scraps on the undercard, but the dulcet tones of Aiden English changed everything.
Sidling up to the struggling star, English became the latest mutually beneficial sidekick to Rusev's overlooked hilarious antics. September 26th became 'Rusev Day' in the storyline at the time, but it grew life and legs as a catchphrase and philosophy, almost overnight anointing the former United States Champion as the biggest babyface on the blue brand.
The culmination of years of abuse from the creative team to a character WWE audiences have been dying to get behind, 'Rusev Day' is a phenomenon in the vein of the 'Yes Movement' just waiting to explode. Only the company can determine if, like Bryan's own revolution, it will go off in their faces.