5 wrestlers who should but may never win the WWE Championship or Universal Championship

#4 Rusev

Rusev

Why we love Rusev: This one hurts. Has there been an arbitrary holiday more adored than “Rusev Day”? In our household, we are waiting for the day our Bulgarian Brute final brings home gold to truly allow the festivities to begin. Unfortunately, Rusev’s day may never come, and we are here getting lit off goblets of mastika celebrating a country and a champion we’ve never known.

And what tells us the eponymous holiday will never be? Because our beloved Rusev has travelled the dark, downward path from “monster” to simply “man”.

Does anyone remember when Rusev moved from NXT to the main roster? The guy was simply unstoppable. Intense as hell with no wrestling boots, and hair that makes AJ Styles pry to figure out “what conditioner are you using?”, Rusev was literally crushing any opponent in his way with a stomp to the lower back and a swift locking in of the Accolade. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen that level of domination.

Why he won't be Universal or WWE Champion: But as Rusev became “handsome”, his tenacity and integrity as a fierce competitor went out the window with that beautiful hair. Think I’m lying? Let’s look at Rusev’s last 6 nationally-televised matches.

WIN October 31: Smackdown Live, Rusev Defeats Big E

LOSS October 10: Smackdown Live, Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura Defeat Rusev and Aiden English

LOSS October 8: Hell in A Cell, Randy Orton Defeats Rusev

WIN September 19: Smackdown Live, Rusev defeats Randy Orton

LOSS August 29: Smackdown Live, Randy Orton & Shinsuke Nakamura defeat Jinder Mahal & Rusev

LOSS August 20: SummerSlam, Randy Orton defeats Rusev (in less than 10 seconds)

Not the record nor the progress of a world champion, sorry. It may be awhile before we see Rusev back at his "crushing" peak - the booking just isn't screaming "champion."