What’s the story?
Vince McMahon has a reputation for being strangely vindictive over seemingly innocuous actions. Based on a report from Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer, Rusev has drawn the ire of the WWE Chairman. Rusev’s recent haircut could possibly cause the Bulgarian Brute to miss out on the Showcase of the Immortals.
In case you didn’t know...
Rusev has been languishing on Monday Night Raw since losing the WWE United States Championship in a feud with Roman Reigns. Recently, he has been involved in a thrown together tag team with Jinder Mahal. As we reported previously, Rusev recently drastically altered his appearance when he got his long hair cut very short.
Rusev debuted his new look for the WWE Universe at Fastlane, where he was unceremoniously beaten by the Big Show in an unannounced match.
The heart of the matter
Based on the report, Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer recently stated that Rusev may have upset Vince McMahon due to his drastic haircut. Apparently, WWE higher-ups require that all contracted performers inform them of any plans to change anything about their appearance.
If that is indeed the case, and Rusev didn’t inform WWE of his desire to cut his hair, he would be bringing down trouble on himself. It is also possible that WWE could be upset with Rusev for his support of Jack Swagger, who has asked for his release from WWE.
It is doubtful that has anything to do with Rusev’s backstage heat, as several other current Superstars have voiced support for the All-American American on Twitter, as well. It was previously rumoured that Rusev had heat due to Lana announcing their engagement on TMZ.com.
What’s next?
We should find out more in the coming weeks, as there are three episodes of Raw left before WrestleMania. If Rusev is going to appear at WrestleMania, it would likely be as a participant in the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal.
Sportskeeda’s take
This isn’t all that surprising. Vince is infamous for having ridiculous overreactions for much less than a superstar drastically changing their hairstyle. However, we also feel that Rusev deserves his fair share of the blame here.
If it is common knowledge that Superstars are meant to clear appearance changes with, “the office,” first, then Rusev honestly deserves some form of punishment.
Then again, he should incur a fine at the most. WrestleMania paydays are considered the biggest checks of the year for performers based on the bonuses that are given out. Including the pre-show, WrestleMania is scheduled to be over six hours long.
The Andre The Giant Battle Royal is specifically designed to get all talent a payday at WrestleMania, so if he’s going to be punished, at least have him eliminated first by Jinder Mahal or something.
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