Rusev has opened up on his decision to return to WWE in 2025.
After being missing in action from AEW TV for over a year, Rusev was released from his contract with the promotion in February 2025. That April, he returned to WWE, making a statement by taking out Alpha Academy.
Since then, Rusev has regularly featured on Raw, first feuding with Sheamus and then chasing the Intercontinental Championship. More recently, the three-time United States Champion has been seen on Main Event, facing the likes of Joaquin Wilde and Otis.
In a new interview with Chris Van Vliet on Insight, Rusev explained that the reason he returned to WWE rather than staying in AEW was that, having only wrestled sporadically in AEW, he missed “the grind.”
“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. 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.”
Rusev Seen As A “Huge Disappointment” In WWE
While he has been wrestling more in WWE, Rusev’s run so far has reportedly been seen as a ‘dissapointment’ in the company. On Wrestling Observer Radio, Dave Meltzer pointed to the change in plans on display in WWE Unreal to show that the company originally had big plans for the star, but it fell flat when he didn’t get over with the fans.
H/T to Fightful for the above transcription.
