R.I.P. Rusev (STD Title Approved)
 

We will miss you :'(

He'll prob suffer another pinfall loss in the chamber too :/

Hoganesque feud, build up foreign monster, feed to champ, destroy his previously feared finisher, squeeze all mileage out of feud until its absolutely clear that he is inferior.

Even an IC title win won't halt the slide IMO. Another mini build until a face beats him for that too and then into comedy...

Come on people.... he is doing fine.... Heels lose.... get over it.... no shame in losing to one of the top names of the company.... if he starts losing throw-away matches to Zack Ryder or something, then you can worry...

Thought he did great last night on his own, yelling "THERE IS NO LANAAAA"

It'd be semi ok if Lana was actually attractive.

Instead of using the Titan Tron, they should just use a projector on Lana's giant forehead.

"her second toe is like half an inch longer than her big toe!"

Lana is also turning into a whore so yey for that. :|

When was the last time they did something like this for the monster heel to regain momentum?

Yes but WWE fumbles everything,

See "Sandow", or "the womens division"

Rather than a cobra sock puppet, we should be prepared for the Russian bear sock puppet.

It tires me to argue, so instead of arguing, I will just say...

R.I.P. Crazy Edgar

RIP Kamala

Isn't really an argument. Its more like a question. Maybe there is something I am not seeing.

Also, Crazy Edgar came back from the grave.

FIRST HOUR: "I care for you, Rusev! I was doing what was right for us!"

SECOND HOUR: "I"m going to make out with Dolph Ziggler."

That's what bothers me.

My thoughts exactly. Really annoying.

I wouldn't say whore but just a terribly weak person character wise.

A woman who spoke so passionately of her convictions such a short time ago, reduced to an aimless harlot without an authoritative male figure to drag her by the hair. Really blurs the lines of what's a heel and what's a face.

Chicks dig scars, she couldn't help herself....

I agree with this. How many times did a guy like Chris Jericho job to the likes of Triple H, Chris Benoit, Kurt Angle, etc., and yet still had a few terrific runs as a World Champ?

Y2J is a different type of wrestler than Rusev.

I get what you're saying but Y2J was the first undisputed champion in the company. He was put over The Rock and Austin in one night. It might not have been clean, but he used it and reminded people of it for the rest of his career.

There was still enough doubt before Payback, why couldn't they have left it there? Payback just 100% confirmed that he wasn't good enough to beat Cena. 3 straight PPVs was too much. Add to that they made it clear on Raw that he did quit. Imagine how he could have used this win for his career, even if he cheated. Could have talked about it for years imo.

His feud with Cena was hurt the most by having too many stipulation/gimmick matches and Cena needing to hold the US belt for a long time to rebuild its prestige.

No way the WWE was going to let Cena take a big loss in any of those matches that went completely against his character or let the "Evil foreigner" get the final laugh in a US vs World feud. Same for Rusev not getting any of the real glory for rebuilding the US title even though he helped out a lot.

Probably going to go the way Bray did post-Cena feud in having a few months of decline but still be salvageable enough to be instantly rebuilt as a threat for a future need.

Not that again. Why do people feel that the US Championship needed to be re-established? Rusev did a tremendous job with that before Cena got involved in the feud.

To think, they could have had a program between Rusev and Ziggler over the affections of Lana. The match could have featured Rusev absolutely DESTROYING Ziggler, but features Dolph showing all the heart in the world and refusing to go down because he cares too much for Lana. Ultimately, Rusev wins the match but Lana actually sees what it means to have someone care about you and leaves the Bulgarian Brute for the Show Off. And the kiss could have been the pay off.

But fuck that. Let's do a meaningless thing like this.

THERE IS NO LANA

ONLY ZUUL!

RUSEV WILL BE FINE!

RUSEV UDREA!

RUSEV MASCHKA!

Besides he's still hitting that so he's good no matter what.

But how many wrestlers have it done and their potential is put into mid/low card for the rest of their career. Rusev was not established at all. His biggest win was over Jack Swagger I think. Look how long it took Ryback to rebound.

I'm gonna write the story for this despite WWE probably not really thinking about an explanation for that.

She spent months trying to enjoy herself and take in the adoration from the crowd and Rusev shut it down every time. When Rusev let her go, she was crushed (RUSEV CRUSHED) and then eventually realized (albeit only an hour later) she was free. She could do what she wants. So she did.

It's also possible they could go with the idea that she did it to try to make Rusev jealous.

None of this will happen because WWE. I'm just saying. That part didn't bother me because there are easy explanations to be given.

Sooner lame ass Rusev is dancing with Fandango the better.

They weren't boyfriend/girlfriend in story. She meant us as in business.

The Rusev/Lana relationship was NEVER made clear. If they weren't "together", then what prompted Rusev to come break it up? Surely he wouldn't have cared, right?

Almost think that's part of the story; Lana is making Rusev realise what he's throwing away or an element of "I don't want you, but I don't want anybody else to have you either" type deal on Rusev's part.

Shit. This is all leading to a Rusev face turn and inevitable slide into midcard comedy act territory.

I'm just mad Rusev is saying shut up now instead of Lana.

RIP Vicky Venom

And Bobby Jaggers, of course.

Rusev is going to be pinned by Dolph in the Elimination chamber and then again in the next ppv. Its going to be tragic.

"It's ok, people have suffered pin losses before, look at chris jericho"

Was talking to a buddy about this and he brought up a good point: Could Lana be using Ziggler here? Making him "let down his guard" so Rusev can CRUSH him?

Not that Rusev needs anyone to be softened up or anything, but it'd be a better story. He could be furious about not being able to CRUSH Cena, and resort to "mind games" and stuff.

I don't know, I just don't want Rusev to vanish.

I thought about that but it makes no sense. She would have done that to Cena if that was the case. Dolph posses no threat to Rusev as of right now. He holds no title and have been very little contact between the two. If not Cena then I could see them doing it to Ryback because he is another "big" guy. But Dolph? Really? Dude is a ant to Rusev currently.

Would enjoy Rusev getting the IC title and saying it better because USA is the worst place ever.

After that the worst would happen though. This would prompt Cena to come out and win the IC title and uniting them into the USA #1 Title.

Lana kissing Ziggler didn't make sense. This way, at least that would have been for a reason.

I know it's silly, but this is WWE here. It doesn't have to be realistic. Plus, this would mean Rusev and Lana stay together to fuck with people and piss. Fuck yeah.

so did Rusev lose

am I out of the SURVIVAL SEASON 18 pool

Well I see both sides of the argument and you guys make good points. But here's the thing, if Lana was supposed to be a heat magnet for Rusev and she becomes cheered, that's a problem. Granted I know about the Heyman Lesnar thing, but that's different. We cheered Heyman's brilliance on the mic. Lana was supposed to be booed. So when she got face pops, that caused the issue.

In fact, the argument can be made that this might hurt Lana more than Rusev. What is she going to do, she doesn't wrestle, she's got the accent (which I know is a Kofi Kingston work), and the fact that Lana and Rusev in real life are an item.

Lana will be on Total Divas within the next two seasons...

I believe Lana does wrestle. But the point in Lana needing to grab heat could be the real reason behind this. If she does turn on Dolph then she turned on one of the internet darling wrestlers which could bring the heat.

lol but your reason doesn't make any sense.

None of it makes sense.

Like I said, it came out of the blue. They are starting at the end of the story, which is stupid. If Lana is getting cheered and the company wants the package to be booed, roll with it. Have Rusev talk down to her, disrespect her, and RUSEV CRUSH anyone who even shows her an ounce of sympathy. That builds all the heat on Rusev and makes the crowd want to see her leave for someone who would treat her decently. Enter Dolph.

You could stretch out the Lana-Rusev abusive thing for months, leading to the payoff where she finally leaves him, leading to the big kiss that they stupidly threw away on a Raw after a PPV.

Never though "rasslin" fans would be so upset AND heavily discussing the ramifications of a kiss :(

This is what happens when we don't get our MKM Drave!

I know :(

*Does dance of shame*

Maybe Rusev can become a Paul Heyman guy while Brock is out. Think about Brock coming back with Rusev in his corner against Rollins and the Authority.

Also, is the Big Show injured or retired? Seems like he put Reigns over then went away.

Rusev before WrestleMania vs Ryback when he was still being booked amazingly well would be incredible.

Rusev will hopefully be fine. He really drew me into the I Quit Match, and it's not like he was jobbed out. I think this time of year is bad for him though, because he's likely going to be jam-packed into two huge multi-man matches. If a more traditional PPV was coming up, Rusev vs. Ziggler would be a hot match. I've been saying these two should feud since they first wrestled.

This is a good idea...

It's Savage-Elizabeth with the dimension of, instead of him realizing what she means to him and changing his way, she just quit putting up with his shit.

I can't come up with original characters, I just remember things that work. And why they work. And how to tell a decent story. That puts me ahead of WWE creative. :yes:

Dropping the Russian angle from his gimmick is the first step towards him becoming the next Kozlov

They ran this match on a house show I went to prior to WM. It was boring as shit. They're definitely not compatible in the ring.

Rusev dropping the Russian gimmick is actually perfect for right now. Lana was his connection to Russia. He was their adopted champion. Now that he's kicked down the door, he has no need for Lana, no need for Putin and only needs to depend on himself. He should cut promos about how he was poor in Bulgaria until he worked out he was put on this Earth to fight and hurt people. He will never be poor again, because he will keep winning.

But then he needs to win.

Lets edit this until Friday.

Where is this injury report coming from?

The was talk of it on smackdown but that might be storyline wise.

Spoilers. Thanks for nothing.

Haha, I just seen the picture on my Facebook feed. No idea what happened.

Well, there is also a headline on TPWW.net front page. Guess I will edit my thing until Friday since ABT is going to throw a hissy fit and ban me.

We need somebody who speaks Bulgarian to judge if he said I quit or not for Survivor! Cannot judge it on what stupid Lana says who threw away her gimmick for stupid American fans who will be bored in a week.

They could have booked weeks and weeks of TV around the KOTR tournament, instead they announced and executed it within 24 hours.

I feel ya. I think they should replace one of their dumb gimmick PPVs with KotR. Have a 16-man tournament. 4 1st round matches on RAW, 4 on SD!. Then have the remaining 7 matches on PPV, along with an obligatory WWE title match (not a title shot for the winner of the tourney, to clarify...) and 1 or 2 pre-show, mid-card title matches.

That's what happens when you replace bookers with writers with ADD. They could write more decent storylines if they could pace things even halfway decently.

Was that a hissy fit?

Oh my, this may be a miracle! Rusev may be injured and this could be his saving grace. Could give him a extended break from the program while Lana manages Dolph. Dolph keeps gaining momentum but starts turning heel do to Lana being evil. Then Rusev comes back as the Bulgarian Brute for his revenge on Lana. He goes on to explain his love for Russia was because Lana brainwashed him and he wants to ensure no one else becomes a pro-Russian brainwashed idiot like he was.

If Rusev will be out for a few months then maybe put someone with Dolph and Lana. Maybe Jack Swagger or Mark Henry is either of them are still alive. This would be a extra person for Rusev to crush.

Seems a little like Ziggler with AJ and Big E. He was champ at that time though.

It is but it's setup to get Rusev over. Let him gain some momentum before being done with the Lana angle.

I like it but maybe a NXT talent as his muscle instead of Henry or Swagger.

Very possible but I don't watch NXT to know that. Would be a really nice way to have Lana's character to basically brainwash people to be pro Russia or just anti USA. Which is why I would like Swagger there because it let's his character grow.

Swagger can never go anti USA, I just don't want to see it. Swagger as the e the People gimmick is solid enough to get him over.

He is over but he is Zack Ryder over. He won't be seen as a true threat to anyone if he keeps doing what he is now. You can always bring him back to be USA #1 after Lana losing control over him (Like with Rusev). Could even go into a comedy gimmick from there where he over does the Pro USA thing.

Him breaking his ankle was the best thing for his character.

The Russian gimmick sucks though, too generic

They had a golden opportunity to get Rusev off tv and make him fresh again but nope. They went ahead and blew that out of the water.n

He looks like Sylvester Terkay now

http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb2...r_Terkay_1.jpg

I kinda like what's happening with Rusev now. It's adding some dimensions to his character.

That isn't even "bad" funny. :|

"But maybe he will get in a long feud with Cesaro and then win!!!"

It's official, RIP Rusev. Thanks for giving us the year long build up only to be given the John Cena kiss of death.

ok, owen.

SHUT UP YOU FUCKING TERRORIST!!!

Why is it the "John Cena kiss of death"? Do guys who get pushes and don't face Cena have their pushes sustained any more?

That was in reference to this thread:
How many people has John Cena given "The Kiss of death" to?

As far as your question goes WWE has a problem pushing anyone in the midcard. This is why I'm sad Rusev is now in the midcard, unprotected.

If he was losing to to Adam Rose or Ryder them it would over, but he's fine. So stop having pissy panties over a few loses.

There is a difference between being fine and being great. Being in mid-card hell is not where anyone should want to be.

I thought that 3-way match was one of the best I've seen in a long time. And then to add the Cena match. It was 45 minutes or so, of excellent writing and performance. Rusev came out looking great and Cesaro looked even better.

What is the difference from losing to Cesaro and Adam Rose? Not THAT much of a difference honestly.

when was the last time adam rose got a pop like cesaro gets? or the last time john cena put adam rose over in front of a crowd after a great match? it's a bit different. both have been booked poorly, but cesaro is definitely above rose's level.

He's the 3rd or 4th top heel, depending on where you slot Wyatt

That says a lot for how poorly they are booking heels.

Hes above Rose yes but hes no where near the top either. Sure he gets a huge pop when he comes out but so does Zack Ryder.

i didn't say he was near the top. but how would you suggest getting him there? a feud with rusev is a good start, and doesn't necessarily have to make rusev look bad. yes, i know internet wisdom says it will, but it doesn't have to.

Rusev right now is on the Bray track of "recovering" from a Cena feud but at a faster pace. Bray didn't really do anything meaningful until the feud with Ambrose while Rusev went from a a nowhere feud with Ziggler to now against Cesaro/US title hunt scene.


Who's #2, Sheamus?

Rusev is basically the best thing in WWE

and Kevin Owens

and Cesaro

So basically that triple threat the other day

But for real Rusev is like the most complex character WWE has had in forever, which is amazing given the seemingly one-dimensional "evil foreigner" gimmick

He's like the fucking beast from Beauty and the Beast

Just this fucking beast full of emotions he doesn't know how to express

He's directionless until he meets Lana

She gets him to move to Russia and pledge allegiance to Vladimir Putin who rewards his amazing skill with a gold star

He valiantly and cleanly beats all of his "AMERICAN" foes exposing the crowd's programmed xenophobia

dude is just so sympathetic

he has his heart broken and his legs literally cut off at his peak

moves back to Bulgaria, dejected

fuckin his girl is using some douche to make him feel jealous all the time

and everyone is just like USA! USA!

meanwhile dude is just trying to put his life back together

but he's learned how to channel his emotion and still can kick the shit out of people because he's that good

he doesn't need the bitch anymore

he's learned that

but it pains him deeply

Yup

The next step is him turning that pain into a love of singing opera.