What’s the story?
Rusev lost to Big Show in a singles match at Fastlane 2017. The loss came in quick fashion as Big Show absolutely destroyed Rusev and nailed him with three chokeslams and a KO punch, this lead to speculation about whether Rusev had legitimate backstage heat coming into this match, resulting in the way the match turned out.
According to PWMania, the backstage heat on Rusev might have come as a result of him having cut his hair recently.
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In case you didn’t know...
Rusev is a former pro-powerlifter and rower who made the transition to the squared-circle, winning the WWE United States championship twice.
Back in 2015, during the couple-storyline featuring Rusev, Lana, Dolph Ziggler and Summer Rae, Rusev and Lana were accused of breaking their kayfabe split and going against the WWE head-honchos’ orders by making their real-life relationship public on social media.
The following weeks saw both Rusev and Lana receive Nuclear Heat backstage from the entire locker-room, owing to their unprofessionalism.
Although the couple’s hard work helped them get back in the good books of their bosses and co-performers, the apparent backstage heat towards Rusev, as evidenced by his Fastlane squash match against Big Show, has once again raised questions about the Bulgarian Superstar possibly having gotten into trouble backstage.
The Heart of the matter:
After having a disagreement with his tag-team partner Jinder Mahal, ‘The Bulgarian Brute’ Rusev faced Big Show in a singles match at WWE Fastlane this Sunday and lost. After distracting Mahal and costing him his match against Cesaro, Rusev mauled him with punches and kicks against the apron, finishing him off with a Machka kick.
That’s when the Big Show’s music hit and the matchup between the two behemoths officially began. The World’s Largest Athlete absolutely rag-dolled Rusev, beating him from pillar-to-post and at one point, even going as far as choking Rusev with his gigantic legs against the second rope.
The fight ended with Show’s KO punch finisher that he, oddly enough, hit Rusev with when the Bulgarian was on the ground.
This was a bit out-of-character act for the WWE’s most famous giant, leading to speculation amongst pro-wrestling fans and pundits alike as to whether the heat on Rusev is a part of a future storyline or a result of genuine backstage issues.
The speculation from PWMania has furthered these rumours, Rusev recently cut his hair and posted a picture of it on Instagram:
It is also being rumoured that due to him not having a spot on the WrestleMania 33 card, Rusev might take some time off from the WWE. Here’s a tweet from his official account last week, hinting towards the same:
It looks like Rusev might not be on the best of terms with the WWE.
What’s next?
Despite the rumor-mill swaying back-and-forth on a possible Shaquille O’Neal and Big Show face off at Mania, Show’s recent destruction of Rusev is definitely an indication that the bosses have something big planned out for the big man.
On the other hand, it seems that the WWE aren’t too keen on promoting Rusev as we inch closer to WrestleMania 33.
Sportskeeda’s take:
Let’s face it, Rusev-Big Show was a weird match with a rushed ending, making the two established Superstars look like nothing more than time-fillers.
Nevertheless, considering the fact that Rusev has indeed faced (non-kayfabe) issues backstage in the past, his Fastlane matchup being a consequence for backstage issues isn’t out of the realm of possibility.
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