What’s the story?
Former WWE United States Champion Rusev is making waves upon his return from his injury, demanding a WWE Championship match at the upcoming Money In The Bank pay-per-view. And, if he doesn’t get his way, he’s going to leave WWE and head back to his home country of Bulgaria. You can watch his segment that aired on SmackDown below:
The background
Back in March, prior to WrestleMania 33, Rusev had to undergo shoulder surgery to fix a nagging injury. Before that, he was working an angle on Raw as part of a team with now-Smackdown’s #1 world title contender Jinder Mahal – a partnership that imploded shortly before Rusev went under the knife.
While he was on the shelf, Rusev found himself sent to Smackdown Live! during the “Superstar Shakeup” a few weeks ago – the same show Mahal is now on.
The heart of the matter
Now that Rusev is back from injury, he’s made it clear that he’s not happy about being traded to the Blue Brand. As we can see by the video below, Rusev has demanded a Championship match at the Money In The Bank PPV– regardless of who the champion is – or else he’s going to go ahead and go back to his home in Bulgaria.
Granted, his wife, Lana, is already making a name for herself on that same brand, which might throw a monkey wrench into the works if things don’t go Rusev’s way (isn’t kayfabe awesome?)
He even posted a tweet to vent his frustrations out:
What’s next?
It will be interesting to see how Daniel Bryan and Shane McMahon react to Rusev’s demands next week on SmackDown.
Author’s take
Ever since they made Jinder Mahal the #1 contender for the WWE Championship, I knew things were about to get weird for the main event scene on the Blue Brand. Now that Rusev is back and demanding a title shot, as well, I can’t help but think that things are about to get even more interesting.
I still feel like there’s more about to happen that we – as both reporters and fans – aren’t anticipating. And I, for one, am anxious to see what that is. What do you guys think?
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