WWE Superstar Ryback recently returned from injury this past week on WWE RAW in an open challenge from Bo Dallas. At this point, I don’t get why wrestler’s do open challenges. They never work out anymore. Ryback missed months due to needing hernia surgery, something similar to what Roman Reigns recently had to undergo. As we saw, WWE had “The Big Guy” return using his old mannerisms and gimmick. It appears that WWE will be pushing Ryback as a babyface going forward.

That also means he would be working singles and most likely not teaming up with his partner Curtis Axel again. WWE had a gem in Ryback in 2012 and 2013. He had a ton of momentum that WWE was building more and more on. Despite losing, Ryback still was able to come out strong most of the time. WWE was really gearing Ryback up to make a run as WWE’s second babyface only behind John Cena.

For the most part, Ryback was doing well. Fans were chanting “feed me more,” and he fit everything the WWE wanted in a top guy. The problem was, Ryback had issues backstage. His wrestling work was sub-par, and he was not giving us what we needed after a while. WWE tried to help his character out by turning him heel, but that only seemed to hurt his position more as fans simply lost interest in him. WWE even tried pairing him with Paul Heyman, but nothing seemed to work.

This past week, it became apparent that WWE was trying to give us the old Ryback that landed well with fans.

Now it appears that WWE might be trying to push him as they did before. There is a rumor going around that Ryback could be ending Rusev’s undefeated streak. The Bulgarian Brute, fighting under the Russian banner, has been undefeated for months. He has taken out some of WWE’s “biggest” stars. It seems at this point, no one can beat him in a match.

Due to WWE wanting to push Ryback again, it appears that WWE will have Ryback go over Rusev in an effort to get The Big Guy some love from the WWE fans and hopefully push him back into main event status. Many are not fans of Rusev these days. People are annoyed with how his matches have ended, and most want to see him lose. This is not just an American thing; several fans across the world want to see him go down.

There was a mini-rumor that WWE wanted to bring in Kurt Angle, who would then beat Rusev. However, that was mostly a hopeful thing by fans. Angle claims he was offered a full-time deal by WWE, but declined. He is expected to go back to TNA and work a part-time schedule for a year or so.

That being said, now that Big Show and Mark Henry are out and Jack Swagger will not get another chance….Rusev needs someone to face. The logical choice would be another big patriot, however, Ryback fits the bill. He is an American and of similar size. Original plans were to have Rusev face off with Sheamus for the United States Championship, defeat him, and hold the title until someone beat him for the title. All the while he’d be bragging about how he’s the champion of the country and no American could ever beat him for the title.

While this plan could still happen, the thought is that whoever beats Rusev would come off well. That is why Ryback is the most likely candidate. The problem many see is that like Goldberg before him, Rusev’s “thing” is his winning streak. If he loses, how does that make him look? How does he recover from such a thing? Goldberg, one of WCW’s biggest stars, never seemed to recover after his loss.

WWE knows all too well about bringing in foreigners and having them go undefeated, only for them to lose and them lose all momentum from it. Vladimir Kozlov anyone? That being said, his loss and recovery will certainly need to be handled delicately.

There is no exact timetable for Rusev to lose, and he may not even start a program with Ryback right away. Plus, this is only a rumor for now. However, it makes a lot of sense by WWE standards and it would not be surprising if we saw it happen relatively soon. Personally speaking, at this point I don’t care who beats Rusev… anyone would work. Just have him lose, please!

[IMG Credits: imageshit.blogspot.com, deadspin.com]