Summary
- Rusev says he owes much of his success to John Cena, learning a lot from their feud.
- WrestleMania 31: defending the U.S. title vs Cena and riding out with Lana was a surreal highlight.
- After AEW, Rusev returned to WWE in April 2025 and impressed in a Clash in Paris match vs Sheamus.
As John Cena’s Farewell Tour nears the end, many who have worked with him in the past and present have been sharing stories. One of Cena’s former rivals, WWE Superstar Rusev, has opened up about how Cena helped him in his career, even owing him for his success.
Rusev Thankful For John Cena
In an interview with VoxCatch , Rusev spoke about how his feud with Cena was one of the highlights of his career. It taught him a lot. He spoke about how important their match at WrestleMania 31 was to him. The match saw Rusev, the then-WWE United States Champion, defend his title against Cena. The match ended with Cena capturing the title. He said:
“I learned a lot from John Cena. You know, I got to wrestle him quite a bit throughout my years in WWE. And I owe a lot of my success to him, because I got to learn from him, wrestling him, beating him as well. So I’m always going to be thankful for that. And that moment was special. You know, it’s WrestleMania, that’s the pinnacle of every professional wrestler. And to go out on a tank with my wife Lana in front of 75,000 people was absolutely a dream that you can’t even have when you’re a kid, because — especially in Bulgaria where I come from, it’s very hard to dare to dream. So this was like a very surreal moment. And I’m thankful to God and Jesus because he made it all possible.” (h/t: F4Wonline)
Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, and just a year later was in a match against Cena at WrestleMania. The WWE United States Title was the first title Rusev earned in WWE. Before the WrestleMania 31 match, Rusev had retained the title against Cena at Fastlane.
Rusev Recently Returned to WWE
WWE released Rusev in April 2020, and just a few months later, in September, he would debut in All Elite Wrestling as Miro. He lasted with the company until February 2025. During that time, he held the TNT Title. Kind of what happened to him later in his WWE career. He got lost in the shuffle.
He departed AEW in February 2025, returning to WWE on the April 21, 2025, episode of WWE RAW. Most recently, Rusev had a fantastic and intense match against Sheamus at the Clash in Paris PLE. It was one of the best matches on the card. So, hopefully, this second run for Rusev goes better for him. Maybe WWE can bring Lana back.
