Rusev has denied rumors about his time in AEW.
The Bulgarian Brute has been featured regularly since his return to WWE earlier this year. This is in sharp contrast to his time in the Tony Khan-owned promotion, where he would disappear from TV for months without an explanation.
The former US Champion addressed this difference during his recent interview with CBS Sports. He recalled putting a lot of effort into his match with Jey Uso during the company’s Japan tour last month, explaining that it was a result of his experience at the rival promotion:
“I had a period of time where I’d have one match, not knowing when the next match is coming.’ That’s a very scary situation. Now we have this hot crowd in Japan. Let’s freaking go! Let’s give it 150%.”
We Can’t Do This Job Forever: Rusev
Rusev has wrestled a total of 25 matches since making his return to the Endeavor-owned promotion in February this year. This is more than double the number of bouts he had in AEW between 2022 and 2025, where he only competed in 11 matches in the time period before his departure.
Talking about this decline in matches compared to his early run in AEW, Rusev denied the reports that refusing to put over people was the reason for this treatment. He discussed how talent have a limited in-ring career:
“In the past five years, I have had 20 or 30 matches. Back in the day, I had 30 matches in 30 days. The dead time sticks out the most. We only have this body and age for so long.
We can’t do this job forever, so we must take advantage of it while we’re young. I sat on the sidelines for so long, unable to do what I love, which is performing for people in professional wrestling.”
Apart from this, Rusev talked about evolving his character after his 2020 release and how having his back against the wall became the catalyst for this change.