Rusev is one of the most popular WWE Superstars on the current roster. In fact, the fans love him so much that he has become one of the top merchandise sellers at live events and on WWEShop.com.

So, it’s baffling to think that he was originally scheduled to be in the Andre The Giant Memorial Battle Royal on the WrestleMania Kickoff show instead of being in a featured match on the main card.

Plans changed and he was added to the United States Championship match with Jinder Mahal, Randy Orton and Bobby Roode. It turns out that there might be more to the story on why he was moved. Dave Meltzer reported last week that Rusev was moved to the U.S. title match because of his strong merchandise sales but PWInsider reports that there was talk that he had asked for his release a few weeks ago.

I have reached out to people in WWE to get further confirmation on this story but apparently, he was unhappy with how he was being used and that is when WWE made the decision to move him into the U.S. title match.

It is worth noting that just a few weeks ago, Rusev jokingly asked if he was getting released.

LOL Am i getting released or something !?! https://t.co/7LlYaLpbwO — RusevFromRusevDay (@RusevBUL) March 2, 2018

Hopefully, the support from the fans will force WWE to rethink their long-term plans for him and he’ll be used in a more meaningful way in the coming months.

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