5 reasons why WWE has made Rusev lose 18 PPV matches in a row

Rusev has been one of the most prominent Superstars on WWE television ever since he made his main-roster debut in 2014.

During his first year on Raw and SmackDown, “The Bulgarian Brute” went an entire 12 months without losing via pinfall or submission. He then faced John Cena in one of the featured matches at WrestleMania 31, where his undefeated streak finally came to an end.

Over the next 18 months, he remained a regular presence in WWE storylines, facing Superstars including Dolph Ziggler and Roman Reigns, but his unstoppable aura disappeared and he gradually became just another guy on the roster.

In December 2016, he picked up a win over Big Cass on the Roadblock: End of the Line kickoff show. The match was relatively meaningless, hence why it was on the kickoff show, but it turns out that his countout victory over the 7-footer was the last time that Rusev won on pay-per-view.

Throughout 2017, 2018 and the first few months of 2019, he racked up an unprecedented tally of 18 consecutive pay-per-view defeats, breaking the unwanted record of 17 that was previously held by The Great Khali.

In this article, let’s attempt to find out the possible reasons why WWE has made the three-time United States champion lose on so many occasions.

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#5 Was WWE unaware of the losing streak?

From 1991 to 2013, The Undertaker built up a history-making 21-0 undefeated streak at WrestleMania before he was finally beaten at the event by Brock Lesnar in 2014.

WWE producer Bruce Prichard recently discussed winning streaks on his ‘Something To Wrestle With’ podcast, and he revealed that those within the company did not originally plan for ‘Taker to remain undefeated for so long at ‘Mania. In fact, it was not until he faced Randy Orton at WrestleMania 21 in 2005, at which point his record was at 12-0, that ‘The Streak’ became a thing.

With so many weekly television shows and monthly pay-per-views in WWE, it is only natural that Superstars, fans and even the company’s most important decision-makers lose track of who wins at which events and who loses the most often, so perhaps Rusev’s 18-match losing run has built up without those in WWE even realising.

After all, his tally of PPV defeats is never referred to by the announcers, so it’s not as if this is part of an ongoing storyline.

#4 Winning streaks often become losing streaks

Remember when Ryback had a lengthy winning streak in 2012 before he faced CM Punk for the WWE Championship at Hell In A Cell? Well, including that main-event loss, his run of victories became a run of defeats and he ended up losing his next eight matches on pay-per-view.

A similar thing happened to Asuka following the end of her 914-day undefeated streak at the hands of Charlotte Flair at WrestleMania 34. Within two weeks, she lost a tag match on SmackDown Live against The IIconics, and within three months she had lost two singles matches against Carmella.

In Rusev’s case, his one-year winning streak in 2014-15 turned into a mix of wins and losses between 2015-16, and from 2017 onwards he has only ever lost on pay-per-view.

Granted, his losing streak has lasted a lot longer than Ryback and Asuka’s winless runs after their undefeated streaks came to an end, but there is definitely a running theme in WWE where these unstoppable Superstars begin to lose a lot more than expected when their streaks are over.

#3 Long-term punishment?

The dreaded ‘backstage heat’ words have often cropped up in headlines alongside Rusev over the last few years.

This first began in late 2015 when WWE was forced to abruptly end a relationship storyline with Rusev & Summer Rae and Dolph Ziggler & Lana after news was leaked to TMZ that Rusev and Lana, who had split up on WWE programming, had become engaged in real life.

From that moment on, “The Bulgarian Brute” had a lesser role as part of The League of Nations, while his “Ravishing Russian” wife-to-be hardly featured on WWE television for the next six months.

After a relatively successful second half to 2016, which saw him have a lengthy rivalry with Roman Reigns, Rusev was reported to have garnered backstage heat again in early 2017 after he cut his hair short without getting permission from WWE.

It may simply be a coincidence that the former United States champion has not won a PPV match since he changed his look, but it seems utterly bizarre that he did not pick up at least one PPV win when “Rusev Day” was the hottest thing going in WWE at one stage.

#2 He always looks strong in defeat

Rusev is one of those Superstars who can lose several matches in a row and suddenly be catapulted straight into a title storyline.

Why? One simple reason: he always looks strong in defeat.

In 2018, for example, he had not won a match on pay-per-view in 18 months, yet he was able to emerge with the victory in a gauntlet match on SmackDown Live to become the #1 contender for AJ Styles’ WWE Championship at Extreme Rules. He went on to lose, of course, but the fact remained: once again, he looked strong in defeat.

Former WWE Superstar Ryback has mentioned on his ‘Conversation With The Big Guy’ podcast how the larger Superstars in WWE (e.g. Sheamus, The Big Show, himself) were often made to lose matches due to the shock factor in seeing them suffer defeats against smaller opponents.

While Rusev is not among the tallest Superstars, he still has a presence about him which, to the casual fan, will cause an element of surprise when he loses.

Perhaps that could be one of the main reasons why WWE regularly books him to be on the losing side.

#1 Wins and losses do not matter to WWE

When AEW officially debuts, the new promotion will take more of a stats-orientated approach to the outcome of its matches, with wins and losses meaning more than they ever have before in the wrestling business.

In WWE, wins and losses matter as far as title victories go, but they are largely considered meaningless in non-title matches on Raw, SmackDown Live and even on pay-per-views.

During Rusev’s 18-match winless run at PPV events, his only important title match came at Extreme Rules when he lost a WWE Championship encounter against AJ Styles. Other than that, he was also involved in matches for the United States Championship and SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but neither of those titles have been seen as a priority over the last two years, so the matches were not exactly meaningful.

Given that perennial losers Zack Ryder & Curt Hawkins and The IIconics currently hold Tag Team titles in WWE, perhaps it will not be long before Rusev ends his losing run and suddenly becomes a champion once again.