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For those who don't know about Rusev, he's an extremely popular Superstar in WWE today. Rusev made his main roster debut back in 2014 and went on to have a winning streak spanning over a year.
During that time, he won the United States Championship and was an absolute monster in the ring. After losing his United States title to John Cena at WrestleMania 31, he went on to have a rough run in the WWE. He wasn't getting booked right and the fans weren't invested in him at all.
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That all changed when Rusev started the "Rusev Day" gimmick. It quickly caught some steam as fans started chanting it every week and the chants get louder and louder. In 2017, he finally got his own 'Rusev Day' t-shirt. He became a fan favourite in 2018.
It was quite surprising that Rusev only got his first WWE Championship opportunity in a singles match in July 2018.
Let's take a look at Rusev's career up to this point and look at something's you didn't know about the Bulgarian Brute.
#1 Lana was not his first manager
If you've followed Rusev's life and career, then you must be used to seeing Lana by his side one way or another. She's been his manager for a good chunk of his career and she's married to him in real life. So, to find out he had a different manager is quite the surprise.
For those wondering who's in the picture above, that's Shaul Guerrero. She's the Daughter of Eddie and Vickie Guerrero. She's also married to Aiden English in real life as well. It's a small world.
Back in 2010 when Rusev signed with the WWE for developmental, he had Shaul Guerrero as his valet. Rusev also had two other managers before finally getting paired with Lana. He was managed by Nick Roger and then with Sylvester Lefort when Rusev made the jump to NXT.
#2 Trained by Rikishi and Gangrel
Rusev started training to be a wrestler over 10 years ago. Those who trained the man were wrestling legends Rikishi and Gangrel.
For those who don't know who these two are, you should revisit the Attitude Era. Gangrel was a vampire-inspired character that would be remembered for being apart of a stable he made called the Brood. Those involved with the group were the Hardys boys and the Edge and Christain. Gangrel still wrestles to this day.
On the other side, we have Rikishi. He was famous for his dancing and his stink faces. He was apart of a group called ''Too Cool'' with Scotty 2 Hotty and Grand Master Saxay. Rikishi is also the father of the Usos.
These two men trained Rusev and he had his first match back on November 22, 2008. He has been a delight to watch ever since.
#3 First Bulgarian Wrestler to sign with WWE
Rusev is the very first Bulgarian Superstar to sign with the WWE. It's unclear if more will sign down the road, but for now, Rusev is the only one. Rusev's real name is Miroslav Barnyashev and he was born on Christmas in 1985 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.
He first came to the United States in 2007 and has done well for himself since then. Rusev did a lot of rowing and powerlifting when he was young. The powerlifting has stuck around it seems! There you go, these are a few things you didn't know about Rusev.
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