What we learned from the WWE this week: July 03, 2017

#3 Rusev’s character hasn’t progressed at all since he left

Same old story.

Despite his many shortcomings, it does always feel special when John Cena makes his return to WWE. Love him or hate him, he is by far the biggest celebrity the company has at the moment, and he is able to remind you of that every time he picks up a microphone.

His return this week to Smackdown Live was well received. We learned that he would be a free agent, meaning he is free to fight members of the RAW roster as well as Smackdown’s, and we also found out who his first opponent would be.

When Rusev’s music hit during Cena’s promo, fans were initially excited. This is a return we have been anticipating for quite some time, after all. But the reality of the situation soon hit when we realised what the timing of this return actually meant.

For months now, the WWE Universe has been speculating as to what role Rusev will play when he comes back. Is he going to go after the WWE Championship immediately? Will there will a programme involving him and Shane McMahon? Some fans even predicted we would be getting a Rusev face turn, allowing him to feud with Mahal over the title.

All of these hopes were soon dashed, however, when we realised that Rusev, at least for the time being, is going to be playing the same role we’ve seen him play since his debut a few years ago.

Being the 4^th of July, it did make sense for some anti-American villain to come out and interrupt the US hero, John Cena. But thinking more long term, this is unlikely to do anything for Rusev. The two will meet at Battleground in a Flag Match, which Cena is probably going to win. Even if the unthinkable happens and Rusev does come out victorious, the point still stands that we will be getting progress whatsoever in the Rusev character when so many fans think he should be in a higher position than his Anti-US gimmick allows him to be.