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Former WWE Superstar Rusev holds a special place in the hearts of pro-wrestling fans. Even after being released from WWE a few months back, he continues to be in the headlines and engages in conversations with his fans on social media from time to time.
Rusev recently spoke about his Casket Match with The Undertaker at WWE Greatest Royal Rumble in 2018. Interestingly, there was a lot of confusion on The Deadman's opponent for the show. WWE first announced Rusev to be in the match but then replaced him with Chris Jericho, before roping him in once again.
Rusev revealed what actually happened and why he was initially removed and then added back to the match.
"They took me out, and everybody was thinking why did they take him out. Oh yeah, that's what they said, they took me out because I commented on Twitter - 'Bury me softly brother'. So that has nothing to do with anybody being in or out or whatever. I just said that because you know it was a casket match and I thought got to be buried and all that, that's why I said bury me softly. And everybody took it to somewhere. Nowhere near this universe where it was supposed to be."
"And then they took me out because the original idea was Vince was gonna turn me babyface, the good guy. And they did not want me to lose to 'Taker if I was gonna be a good guy. Which is great, I was like well it's s***** but it is what it is. And then they put (Chris) Jericho in."
"But then what happened is, the prince called and he said 'Why is Rusev out of this match? I want Rusev back in this match.' And guess what happened? Rusev went back in the match. And Rusev went to the dinner with the Saudi prince (laughs). Rusev was over in Saudi Arabia, brother. I'll tell you that!"
Rusev's WWE career
Rusev made his main roster debut at the 2014 Royal Rumble. Lana worked alongside him as his manager and Rusev managed to go undefeated for a decent period. Through the course of his WWE career, Rusev won the United States Championship thrice and was highly over with the fans, thanks to his "Rusev Day" gimmick
After the strange love triangle storyline with Lana and Bobby Lashley, Rusev was released from WWE in April as part of the many releases due to the budget-cutting measures as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. It remains to be seen where Rusev heads to next - AEW, IMPACT Wrestling, or somewhere else!
