Rusev reveals why WWE rejected his pitch for a match with Kurt Angle at WrestleMania

Modified Sep 09, 2020 04:14 GMT

Former WWE Superstar Rusev recently posted a new video on his official YouTube channel, and opened up on WWE Hall of Famer Kurt Angle's latest comments about wanting to wrestle him in WWE. Rusev revealed that he had pitched the idea of a showdown between the two at WrestleMania during his first year on the main roster.

The first year I was with WWE I pitched for Kurt Angle to come back and wrestle. That was before I knew about the John Cena situation.

I wanted to wrestle Kurt. I talked to two people. I'm not gonna say who they are. They're really up there. I said, how about we bring Kurt, I think it's gonna be great. One, he's the greatest professional wrestler ever. Two, just USA coming back and I was still the Russian, like I was still doing the Russian flag, Putin and everything.

They told me no. This is verbatim for the person who told me. He said, "We don't wanna feel responsible if he comes back and dies."

Rusev ended up having a feud with John Cena on the road to WrestleMania 31

Rusev kicked off a rivalry with John Cena as WrestleMania 31 came closer. At The Show of Shows, we saw Cena defeating Rusev for the United States title, following which he started the weekly US title open challenge on RAW.

Angle was brought back to be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 2017, and was later given the position of RAW GM. Angle was later cleared to compete, and wrestled a handful of matches until he was retired by King Corbin at WrestleMania 35.

About the author

Abhilash Mendhe is a pro wrestling journalist at Sportskeeda with nearly five years of experience. He completed his MBA from the Symbiosis Institute of Telecom Management in 2016 and worked with multiple banking institutions, including Tech Mahindra. While he started writing WWE articles for Sportskeeda in 2019 as a hobby, it eventually became a significant part of his professional journey.

Abhilash checks his articles thrice before sending them to the editing team, ensuring his work is highly accurate and reliable.

He has interviewed prominent pro wrestling personalities like Noam Dar, Angry Miz Girl, Brendan Cobbina, and Jesse Lambert. Abhilash is a big fan of AEW star Orange Cassidy, as he believes the former International Champion’s on-screen gimmick of an extremely lazy guy resonates with him.

Given the opportunity to script WWE’s next big storyline, Abhilash would treat fans to the second installment of The Bloodline Civil War. He would book Roman Reigns to re-form The Bloodline with The Usos and Sami Zayn upon his comeback. The angle would see The Tribal Chief-led group go head-to-head with The Rock, Solo Sikoa, Tama Tonga, and Jacob Fatu in a blockbuster family feud.

When not reporting on pro wrestling, Abhilash likes to work out, go on walks, read, and explore new eateries.

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Edited by Alan John