Rusev appeared as a guest on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet for an in-depth interview covering all things pro wrestling.
During the discussion, the WWE Superstar spoke about his popular run with Rusev Day, if there was ever talk of a babyface turn, what led to his return to WWE and how much longer he wants to wrestle.
Featured below are some of the highlights from the interview where he touches on these topics with his thoughts.
On popularity of Rusev Day: “I don’t know. It was never meant to be over. It was never supposed to be anything. It was just supposed to be a celebration and here’s the key from the mayor of Plovdiv, my hometown. And it just worked for some reason, I was a heel. But then I started to relax a little bit, show more of my personality and I guess people started buying that. Then Aiden [English], of course, Aiden is such an essential part of this, with the songs, with introductions, with everything. Without him, probably wouldn’t even be the same. But just the combo work, man, it was just me having fun and doing the backstage with the New Day, and then the first shirt. Oh my God. They did one shirt of Happy Rusev Day, which is the first one. I remember putting it out in a backstage promo and there’s the huge reaction from the crowd. What? It’s just a shirt. It’s not that big of a deal. But then it just starts picking up steam and people love chanting Rusev Day and celebrating Rusev Day. I got that sweet treatment. I have a beach towel, I have sunglasses now that says Rusev Day. I have all these things that say Rusev Day. I was like, what is happening here? I couldn’t believe it. And then, yeah, we’re just getting over little, little by little. It was a good time, even to this day, Hey, happy Rusev Day.”
On if there was ever talk of a babyface turn: “I don’t know if there was any direction for it necessarily. I remember I’ve been off TV, and I’ve never been off TV. I remember being off TV for a couple of weeks, and I was like, What is going on? Why are we off TV? Before the shows, these people are chanting Rusev Day, and it’s not like, oh, let me get my sh*t in. I thought it was good for the show. If these people were chanting something, we should give them what they want. That’s why I started fighting for it, hey, let’s do something. Then it was getting a little more traction. But I became a United States Champion.”
On what led to his return to WWE: “I wanted to wrestle. I wanted to mix it up with the best. I know that the roster is stacked. I don’t remember the last time it was this stacked, but I just want to mix it with everybody. I wanted to wrestle more and more, and all these European tours and everything. I love all that, I love the grind. Because when we first started, we were five days on the road, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, you go home Wednesday, you’re out on the road again on Friday. And that’s just how life was, as hard as it was, that’s how you get better, just by putting in the work. Because every day you work different towns, you travel. Now the people can only hear about that and be like, Oh, really, that’s what it was. It was so cool. Wrestling, getting beaten up, getting the rental car driving three hours to the next down, getting the hotel, waking up, working out, doing the same thing, makes you feel like a real professional wrestler. I missed the grind.”
On how much longer he wants to wrestle: “I said 45 and then reevaluate the body, see how it feels. But so far, I feel great. I haven’t felt that good in a long time, because it’s not like you have matches every day. So the body is way more protected. I take care of my body a lot more. I do a lot of stretching and massages. I eat a lot better. I train a lot smarter. So I just take care of my body, and I know that the body’s going to take care of me.”
