After two years of being a heel, it’s time to change Rusev’s character.
Upon his WWE main roster debut in 2014, Rusev looked like a monster heel in the making. He ran over the roster, won the United States Championship, and ascended up the roster. John Cena even opposed him at WrestleMania 31 just one year after arriving on Raw and SmackDown.
Since that night in Santa Clara, CA, though, The Bulgarian Brute has struggled. He lost three of four matches to Cena, which took away his luster as WWE’s next big-time heel. Then, there was that horrible love story with Dolph Ziggler, Lana, and Summer Rae, which damaged everyone involved’s career. It took Ziggler one year to regain his momentum, and that had been by putting his employment with WWE on the line.
From there, Rusev got placed in the foreign stable known as The League of Nations. The group featured Alberto Del Rio, King Barrett, and Sheamus, the former two of which are gone from WWE. Their purpose seemed to be to put over Roman Reigns (a seemingly impossible task), and nothing else. They disbanded shortly after beating New Day at WrestleMania 32.
The one who benefited most from this split had been Rusev, though. He captured the United States Championship at WWE Extreme Rules and ran with it throughout the summer. In came Reigns, however, who took the belt away at Clash of Champions and retained at Hell in a Cell.
The boiling point for Rusev came on the October 31 episode of Raw. He got sent out to make Goldberg look strong by taking a jackhammer, which put a second dent into any momentum he had left after the pay-per-view.
After these tumultuous years, it’s time for a change with the two-time United States Champion. Here are five reasons why he should turn face for the first time in his WWE career.
WWE.com
5. Rusev Has Been Replaced
When he debuted in WWE, Rusev seemed to be the next monster heel. It stayed like this for about a year, but as noted, John Cena’s victories over him changed his perception after WrestleMania 31. The idea of him being this feared heel started to wane and only continued into 2016. This got emphasized by The League of Nations and the Roman Reigns feud.
More from Daily DDT
In the meantime, WWE has been building up someone else, the former Wyatt Family member Braun Strowman. He seemed to be in line for a push last winter, but that cooled off around WrestleMania 32 season.
Things have changed, though. Strowman got repackaged after the WWE Draft as a standalone singles star. He hasn’t lost a match since and mauled his way through a plethora of opponents, even if they were jobbers. This momentum has carried over into WWE Survivor Series, where Strowman will be part of Team Raw in their elimination match.
The push of Strowman has made it clear that he’s going to be WWE’s next monster heel. He’s got the size at 6-foot-8 that WWE loves, and the look. It’s kind of like Big Show and Kane, back in their heyday.
With the path Strowman is one, he probably already has the spot that Rusev had. He’s the monster heel WWE thought they were going to push two years ago, but backed off in doing so. It puts Rusev in an awkward spot, one that makes him the odd man out. This should necessate a change for him since he’s not going anywhere.
WWE.com
4. Long Overdue Since WrestleMania 32
Rusev probably needed a character change after losing to John Cena three times, and after that disastrous Dolph Ziggler feud. Getting punked out at WrestleMania 32 may have been the worst of it, though.
The disappointing thing for Rusev and Co. was that they actually beat New Day, the soon-to-be longest reigning WWE Tag Team Champions ever. It even set them up for another shot at the tag titles after WrestleMania. However, moments later, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Shawn Michaels, and Mick Foley all entered AT&T Stadium and obliterated The League of Nations into obscurity. Most notably, Rusev took a pounding from Austin.
Shortly after the show, this stable broke up. No one really changed their character, though, as all of them stayed heel. To get someone momentum, one of them should have turned babyface to send everyone in a different direction and see what would work. Alberto Del Rio and Sheamus were already disliked, but Rusev may have been the most favored one of the three or the Superstar that had the most potential. So, if WWE went in another direction with him, it would have been intriguing.
Months later, Rusev’s stock is at an all-time low. There’s still a chance to reboot it with a face turn, but something should have happened months ago.
Credit: WWE.com
3. Time to Experiment with a Change in Character
For the entirety of Rusev’s time on the main roster, even in NXT and FCW, he has been a heel. First, he was Bulgarian, then became the Hero of the Russian Federation. Now, he’s back to being Bulgarian, but a bit more toned down from the previous gimmick. The flag waving doesn’t happen as much, if ever. Instead, it’s stomping down on the entrance ramp and yelling at the top of his lungs.
Outside of a lack of flag waving and shaving his beard, there hasn’t been much character development.
There has been one small sign of a babyface, turn, though, which WWE can try experimenting with after Rusev turns face—fighting for Lana. He noted this multiple times during the recent Roman Reigns feud. He had been all about going to the ring to battle for his wife, which has face written all over it. This even made fans wonder who the real good guy of this feud was.
While making Rusev’s change be all about fighting for his wife may seem soft and lovey-dovey, it’s a basis for making the switch. Anytime a male star tries to target The Ravishing Russian or talks anything bad about her, it could enrage him to fight. This could make the 300-pounder a fan favorite for fighting for something, which is clearer than other faces. What exactly is someone like Seth Rollins wrestling for as a good guy?
WWE.com
2. Goldberg’s Jackhammer Destroyed Rusev’s Momentum
Roman Reigns took Rusev out of any title picture for the time being. Losing two pay-per-view matches hurts, especially against the same opponent and for a championship. Sometimes, the only way for that Superstar to go is up, but on the Raw after Hell in a Cell, that didn’t become the case.
On the October 31 episode of Raw, Goldberg opened the show to talk about his match with Brock Lesnat at Survivor Series. However, Paul Heyman interrupted to trash-talk Goldberg. This lasted for a few minutes until Rusev surprisingly made his way to the ring.
After a minute or two of his own trash-talking, he tried to attack the former WCW star. This ended poorly for The Super Athlete, who had his punch no-sold and got hit with multiple right hands. To finish him off, Goldberg hit his trademark Jackhammer for the first time in 12 years, leaving Rusev laying on the mat and his momentum being nonexistent.
We have seen these moments where heels get punked out, which leads to a face turn. It looked like Bray Wyatt was going to be the beneficiary of this in April after he got beaten down by The Rock and John Cena. An injury stalled this, though.
Rusev is the latest one to be destroyed despite being a heel. He got used as a pawn for a legend, which stings. It hurts what he had done throughout his U.S. Title run and puts his booking at square one. WWE has to reboot the 30-year-old by giving him easy matches to win and a feud where he goes over. To start this, he would be best served becoming a face, which is about as fresh of a start as he can get.
WWE.com
1. A New Universal Championship Challenger Will Be Needed
As WWE Universal Champion, Kevin Owens has defeated Seth Rollins twice, and looks to be facing Roman Reigns for the title soon. Chris Jericho is probably in line for a future title shot as well, especially with this “best friends” storyline.
After Reigns and Y2J, though, there is a dearth of babyface challengers for the Universal Title, if Owens walks out of both feuds with it. A new, credible opponent would have to be created, which may be difficult. Sami Zayn could be an option, but WWE hasn’t shown much interest in using him since the Brand Extension.
However, could a babyface Rusev be an option?
If The Bulgarian Brute turns to the good side, he could be built into a challenger for the Universal Title, which is about as fresh of an opponent as it could get. Time would be needed for this to happen with everything that has happened to him over the past month, even throughout 2016. One or two successfully won feuds would be needed for Rusev to go through before he gets to this point, so a title opportunity may not come until 2017. KO may not even have the title by then either.
There’s always worth in creating a credible title contender, though, even if it’s a slow build to get there. WWE has struggled to properly do this for a while, so maybe this could be a sign of things changing, if they go through with Rusev in the title scene.
This article originally appeared on 
