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Know this, if you didn't shed tears on Smackdown Live as Aiden English struck a blow to Rusev and broke up their partnership, then you're not human. The super popular Rusev Day is finally done. After teasing us with dissension among their ranks and the supposed redemption of Aiden English. It all came tumbling down this past Tuesday in a horrifying set of circumstances.
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Sometimes, even at their most incapable WWE has this ability to pull at your heartstrings. So much so it prompted the WWE youtube team to compile its own list of betrayals through the years. We cried all over again.
Regardless the beauty of this is how sometimes WWE is able to just book the right angle to get a crushing emotional experience out of WWE fans. Yet, fans also can't stand behind; what if Rusev Day hadn't broken up? What if Rusev Day could have led Rusev all the way to the main event?
This 'What if?' always creates an interesting conundrum, since there are so many ways WWE can take any arc. It's a fun concept to play with and nothing is more interesting to a fan right now, then finding a way back for English to sing the praises of Rusev Day!
The
Story so far...
Let's get this out-of-the-way first, the beauty of the current trajectory in the Rusev Day arc is that neither party is in the wrong. Sure Aiden committed a heinous act of attacking Rusev, but it came from a place relatable. He feared being kicked out, just for releasing his just frustrations.
It's a human thing to expect relationships to have only the good, but no relationship is perfect.
For all the good Aiden English has done, all Rusev can see are the damages he has caused. This is simply because Rusev never did or has seen Aiden as an equal in their relationship. On the other end, Aiden has never given him any sign of that.
Relationships begin to fail the moment we stop communicating with one another. The brilliance of WWE is that they plopped Lana into the midst of this relationship and didn't really have her say much or instigate it directly (apart from that ill-advised backstage promo, early into the story).
It has thus resulted in a break up that seems typical WWE on the surface but has the potential of nuanced layers to crop up with the subtext all three characters have presented to it. Rusev Day has a chance to revive itself if these two men can just come to terms with what they mean to one another.
WWE United States Championship; Rusev vs. Shinsuke Nakamura (c) vs. Aiden English, at WWE Super-Showdown Australia
Like the feud between Randy Orton and Jeff Hardy, Shinsuke Nakamura seems like he is once again a periphery to another heated battle of foes. Not this time though. Nakamura should get involved in this feud to give it an interesting wrinkle of his own. After all, the King of Strong Style loves to court CHAOS.
Paige will rightly give Rusev two things he desires after this unexpected betrayal. He will get a shot at the United States Championship and Aiden English, come to the Australian Super-Showdown.
A riveting contest either on the main card or pre-show, which will witness Rusev trying desperately to get his hands on English. This distraction and blood feud will provide Nakamura with a great dose of entertainment and a sneaky way to walk out the champion.
He will do this with an interesting twist as English makes a late comeback against Rusev, only to hand Nakamura the victory and the pin. While Nakamura will retain, English will find another warrior far more capable than him to take table scraps from.
A new ruthless alliance forms, welcome to Nak-America!
Aiden Day is Born in Nakamerica!
To understand why Aiden English would give Nakamura the win against Rusev in Australia. One has to understand the nature of his character. Aiden English came into Rusev's world as a presenter and eventual tag partner. He's always been on the lower rung and though somewhat frustrated by his treatment, he wouldn't willingly escape that role.
In fact, it came with a lot of thought for him to deck Rusev and start this long winding road down a darker path. Aiden in a twisted way is in search of a master, a keeper and Nakamura provides the perfect opportunity for this.
Not only will English be able to prop up Nakamura and feel in a comfort zone, but Nakamura will also provide as his protector. Rusev is bound to get his hands on Aiden English and a match to, but Nakamura's consistent interference will lead to Aiden picking up a shocking win over Rusev.
At every turn, this newly formed duo (more like master and slave) shall find a way to turn the table on Rusev. Yet destiny always finds its way to bite back at those that try to evade its grasp.
WWE World Cup, @WWE Crown Jewel Saudi Arabia
The WWE World Cup is coming soon. While details remain under wraps, it's the format to tie down WWE's latest event in Saudi Arabia, just a few months short of WWE's Greatest Royal Rumble. Hopefully, unlike the former, this latter version sticks as it provides a competitive angle for some dream matches.
Yet who's to say stories find a resolution within the randomness of this tournament. That is exactly where the end of sorts will come to Rusev's feud with Aiden English. Taking into account an elimination round tournament of let's say, 32 competitors. Rusev will defeat Shinsuke Nakamura in a first-round qualifier match shocking the world, to reach the top 16.
Aiden English will also surprisingly make it to that sixteen and be faced with the prospect of having to face Rusev. With Nakamura busy and the dynamic of their relationship established with Aiden on a far lower rung, he won't find help from his so-called 'boss'.
On the Smackdown before the big show, Rusev will vanquish Aiden English to land his spot on the top eight of the PPV. This will finally put to rest Rusev's quest for revenge, but not exactly end this feud.
Aiden English: The Virgil to Nakamura's Dibiase
Chalk it up to WWE to not let things easily go, so while Rusev will have his revenge; he will likely flounder for a few months before WWE finds him anything of substance. As such WWE will find a way to fill bodies come Survivor Series by extending this feud past its natural expiry date.
Here Rusev will find himself on the opposite end of a ten man tag contest with Nakamura facing him down. Rusev will get ruthlessly eliminated by Randy Orton, only to thrash Nakamura and an ecstatic English. He will find his way out of the story, finally.
Meanwhile, now the curtains shall reveal to the viewers the extent of control Nakamura has found on Aiden English. Nakamura will further screw in the twisted relationship between the two, becoming a harsh master to Aiden English; a man suffering from a horrible case of 'Stockholm Syndrome'. Aiden might not see it but the world does, as Nakamura has every chance to become a monster many know all too well.
Two Roads Diverged in A Wood
For now, then Rusev/Lana and Aiden/Nakamura will diverge towards two different paths. In the ensuing months, it is Aiden who will most realize what his choice of a path has cost him. Similarly, a direction Rusev will go on a free-fall through the rest of the year up to the next. Ruthlessly dismantled by Randy Orton, Rusev and Lana might seek comfort in their shared failures.
This is so they also understand the value of friendship as much as Aiden English learns the idea of compassion. It is so both may become worthy of the other, a classic romantic trope.
Nakamura shall move on as champion from rumoured opponents such as Rey Mysterio to a classic rivalry with former friend Daniel Bryan. These two are well aware of one another, but the x-factor is the ably supportive Aiden English.
Even then English shall bear the brunt of Nakamura's frustrations as a loser beyond title matches, with English coming back to form to help him retain gold at the TLC PPV. Aiden shall remain on thin ice with his master, the relationship falling down an even deeper rabbit hole.
Why I Stayed?
WWE can't dare to broach a controversial and complex topic like 'domestic abuse'. The way they go about things, there's a chance creative botches this up. It can lead to an unbelievable furore among not just the WWE universe but social media and the world in general as well.
As such Aiden English acting as a proxy to this could form a tamer and somewhat less controversial route to the story. Of course, alert fans will notice the subtext of this narrative. Aiden English is suffering in a relationship he feels proud of with love for Shinsuke Nakamura. This is even though Nakamura abuses him beyond reason.
For that psychological abuse to ramp up, once more Aiden English must fail his master to the point of no return. Come the Royal Rumble, Aiden English will end up costing Nakamura his chances, that too at the hands of Rusev. Nakamura will use this as an excuse to once again tear into his underling, questioning his loyalties.
For Nakamura, another opportunity at the world title will provide itself at Elimination Chamber. Even there what Aiden will do as a gesture of good will, shall turn into another failure and a horrifying reason to destroy English.
Even then Aiden will stay because in such abuse; an individual broken is an individual kept.
Lana Becomes the Bridge to A Glorious Rusev Day!
The lone spectator to this isn't a downtrodden Rusev, still holding onto his own ego but rather a worried Lana. Somewhere Lana is at fault for the breakdown of Rusev Day, even though she may not admit it. She will bear the brunt of the guilt of the path Aiden English has fallen to.
Repeatedly Lana will reach out to her former friend, wound tightly on a leash held by the ever confident and violent Shinsuke Nakamura. Thus providing the impetus for a very interesting road to Wrestlemania.
A Smackdown battle royale will take centre stage for this final push, as Nakamura defends his title against a hoard of competitors. He won't make it to the match, sending Aiden English as a proxy. English will fail in the final stretch falling victim to Rusev. Yet Rusev won't get the title thanks to the sneakiness of Nakamura.
Once more English will face Nakamura's violent retribution. Paige shall intervene, forcing Nakamura to defend his title against Rusev at WrestleMania. In the midst of this Lana having shown the effect of Nakamura on English, shall force Rusev to let bygones go.
A wily Nakamura shall use this as bait to get Rusev's guard down on the final Smackdown before the show of shows to brutalize the Bulgarian Brute (ironically) making him less than 100% for their match. Meanwhile, a remorseful Aiden English watches on, having won back the favour of his master.
WWE United States Championship: Shinsuke Nakamura/w Aiden English (c) vs. Rusev/w Lana, at WrestleMania
Now comes the grand daddy of them all, where this story comes full circle.
Walking in with Lana, Rusev is neither physically nor mentally a hundred percent. The same is for a subdued yet still remorseful Aiden English even though he may never show it outright. He will present Nakamura in grand fashion, the chaotic master cleverly sidestepping Rusev with some early psychology.
A furious match with some interesting chemistry as well as combustible elements on the outside, English will slowly grow less and less involved with Nakamura to a point where he will pay the price for it At this moment, Rusev shall intervene in a blistering fashion causing even Lana to take a fall at the hands of Nakamura.
The distraction of taking Lana away, which English will help shall keep Rusev distracted long enough for him to take the loss. In the end, Nakamura shall celebrate but not be finished, destroying Rusev in a post-match fury just for fun. It is at this point a returning English will find the strength to fight back at his master, for his friend.
Rusev will have lost the title but that night he will renew a beautiful friendship, in homage to the iconic Randy Savage-Elizabeth reunion at Wrestlemania 7. A hurt but ecstatic Lana shall join them, as the sun rises on a new Rusev Day!
