5 Superstars who were one second away from becoming WWE Champion

#2 Rusev almost became WWE Champion

While WWE took advantage of the “Yes Movement” and “KofiMania” phenomenons, it is fair to say that the company did not fully capitalize on Rusev’s “Rusev Day” craze in 2017-2018.

At the start of 2018, the three-time United States Champion received some of the loudest babyface reactions on the entire WWE roster, despite the fact that he was supposed to be a heel.

With Aiden English and Lana by his side, Rusev gradually turned into a babyface throughout 2018, but he was still booked in matches against good guys for the first half of the year.

Rusev’s biggest opportunity came at the Extreme Rules pay-per-view in July 2018 when he challenged AJ Styles for the WWE Championship. The match outcome seemed obvious, despite Rusev’s overwhelming popularity, and Styles retained his title following a mistake from English.

Towards the end of the match, Rusev connected with a Machka Kick on his opponent, almost earning a 3-count, before Styles landed a 450 splash and Phenomenal Forearm to pick up the win.