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

#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.