5 Superstars who could dethrone Rusev for the US Championship

#3 Randy Orton

Orton & Rusev have had a rivalry before

The Viper is another superstar that Rusev has plenty of history with. Prior to Wrestlemania 34, we saw Randy Orton involved in a rivalry with Rusev, Bobby Roode and Jinder Mahal as the four superstars faced off at Wrestlemania 34 with the US Championship on the line- in a match where Mahal gained the win.

Orton and Rusev have also had previous matches before, such as Summerslam 2017 when Orton defeated Rusev in 10 seconds. During the build-up for the next PPV, we then saw Rusev also defeat Orton in 10 seconds, exactly the same as their Summerslam result to make things even. But then at Hell in a Cell 2017, Orton defeated Rusev once again in a normal singles match to end the feud. However, Orton was a babyface during this feud- whereas Rusev was a heel.

Now that the roles are reversed, the possibilities of reviving this rivalry could be interesting. Orton is now playing a victim hunting character, and Rusev would make the perfect prey for The Apex Predator. Orton could attempt to target Rusev with the opinion that he has always been weak, and Rusev has lost most of his matches against Orton.

Another factor could be the fact that the fans turned on Orton, but yet they still cheered Rusev even though he didn't care about the WWE Universe before turning face. Orton is definitely at his best on the mic when he's performing as a heel, and Rusev has seemed very comfortable with promos recently so this rivalry could potentially be a very good one as Orton seems like a very good fit to become the next US Champion having held the title once already.