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What's the story?
Over the past few months, Rusev has become a fan favorite on the WWE SmackDown brand after aligning himself with Aiden English. It seems that Rusev's new "Rusev Day" pitch is one of the main reasons for his rise in popularity, but it wasn't actually supposed to work this way.
In case you didn't know...
Despite being seen as a fan favorite, Rusev is actually a heel. He has been seen as a heel on the main roster ever since he was promoted alongside his wife Lana and the duo entered into a feud with John Cena, which led to a United States Championship match at WrestleMania.
Rusev missed last year's WrestleMania after it was revealed that he needed surgery and was written off TV back at Roadblock before he returned to the SmackDown roster on Independence Day to once again step into a feud with Cena. Poor Rusev is without a win on a pay-per-view throughout 2017 and it seems that fans have reached the point where they want to back him to do well, even though it's going against the grain. Rusev Day has also become a catchy phrase amongst fans of the 'Bulgarian Brute'.
The heart of the matter
Aiden English uttered the term "Rusev Day" a few months ago on WWE TV and it seems that ever since then it has become a huge part of Rusev's character with all of his new merchandise centering around the phrase and WWE even releasing a Rusev Day calendar.
It seems that this wasn't actually the plan for the term, Rusev recently spoke to ESPN about his current character and revealed that the origins of "Rusev Day" were very different.
“I never thought in a million years it was going to be what it is today… But it just caught on fire ever since then. Nobody expected that.”
The former United States Champion stated that the phrase was supposed to be something that put more heat on him. Usually, when a heel declares that there should be a day for him to honor himself, it allows fans to hate them even more. In this instance, it seemed to have the opposite effect.
He also talked about the fact that he and Aiden English are now cheered by the WWE Universe and it's strange since he's been booed for the past four years since he was a believable heel.
“I’ve been booed out of the building for the past four years. So finally the people now appreciate me. But I’m just having fun, I’m just doing me."
What's next?
Rusev and English don't yet have a match announced for Fastlane but it seems that if their popularity continues to rise over the next few weeks then it's likely that WWE will add them to the card ahead of the event.
Author's take
Rusev is a talented superstar and he is one that many fans have been enjoying watching on Total Divas in recent months. He hasn't been given the boost he deserves on WWE TV recently so it seems that fans are attempting to force WWE into taking Rusev seriously and giving him the push he deserves and it seems that it's working right now. Heel or not, Rusev is a great character and a great wrestler and he deserves all of the attention that he is getting right now.
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