Posted on 2/17/126 by Bob Magee
Rusev sat down with Chris Van Vliet at West Coast Creative
Studio in Hollywood, California to discuss his journey from
Bulgaria to WWE, how he was paired with Lana, wrestling John
Cena at WrestleMania 31, and making his entrance in a tank,
the success of Rusev Day, being in the League of Nations and
taking a Stunner from Steve Austin, the Bobby Lashley and
Lana romance storyline, his Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook
match with Sheamus in Paris, and more!
Rusev Day was so hot. When did you start to realize that
Rusev Day was getting over?
“I don’t know. It was never meant to be over. It was never
supposed to be anything. It was just supposed to be a
celebration and here’s the key from the mayor of Plovdiv, my
hometown. And it just worked for some reason, I was a heel,
but then I started to relax a little bit, show more of my
personality and I guess people started buying that. Then
Aiden [English], of course, Aiden is such an essential part
of this, with the songs, with introductions, with
everything. Without him, probably wouldn’t even be the same.
But just the combo work, man, it was just me having fun and
doing the backstage with the New Day, and then the first
shirt. Oh my God. They did one shirt of Happy Rusev Day,
which is the first one. I remember putting it out in a
backstage promo and there’s the huge reaction from the
crowd. What? It’s just a shirt. It’s not that big of a deal.
But then it just starts picking up steam and people love
chanting Rusev Day and celebrating Rusev Day. I got that
sweet treatment. I have a beach towel, I have sunglasses now
that says Rusev Day. I have all these things that say Rusev
Day. I was like, what is happening here? I couldn’t believe
it. And then, yeah, we’re just getting over little by
little. It was a good time, even to this day, Hey, happy
Rusev Day.”
Was there ever talk of making you a full babyface?
“I don’t know if there was any direction for it necessarily.
I remember I’ve been off TV, and I’ve never been off TV. I
remember being off TV for a couple of weeks, and I was like,
What is going on? Why are we off TV? Before the shows, these
people are chanting Rusev Day, and it’s not like, oh, let me
get my sh*t in. I thought it was good for the show. If these
people were chanting something, we should give them what
they want. That’s why I started fighting for it, hey, let’s
do something. Then it was getting a little more traction.
But I became a United States Champion.”
Just felt like it could have been so much more.
“A lot of things could be. I went over there, I talked to
the boss, and I laid my cards in front of him. Everything I
can, I did, but what comes after that is not up to me.”
What brought you back to WWE in 2025?
“I wanted to wrestle. I wanted to mix it up with the best. I
know that the roster is stacked. I don’t remember the last
time it was this stacked, but I just want to mix it with
everybody. I wanted to wrestle more and more, and all these
European tours and everything. I love all that, I love the
grind. Because when we first started, we were five days on
the road, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, you go
home Wednesday, you’re out on the road again on Friday. And
that’s just how life was, as hard as it was, that’s how you
get better, just by putting in the work. Because every day
you work different towns, you travel. Now the people can
only hear about that and be like, Oh, really, that’s what it
was. It was so cool. Wrestling, getting beaten up, getting
the rental car driving three hours to the next town, getting
the hotel, waking up, working out, doing the same thing,
makes you feel like a real professional wrestler. I miss the
grind.”
League of Nations, they come up with this idea. So it’s
Sheamus, Alberto Del Rio, Wade Barrett and you
“I think they needed somebody for Roman, to be honest. I
think that’s how they came up with it. It was not like, oh,
we have this great idea for these four guys. I think they
needed somebody for Roman to be a babyface, and that’s why
they put us together, which was fun. We got a WrestleMania
match. I got to eat the stunner from Steve Austin, which was
another dream come true.”