Matthew Rehwoldt On WWE Being Hesitant To Push Rusev Day, Denies That It Was Intentional

In an interview with WrestlingNewsCo (via Wrestling Inc), Matthew Rehwoldt spoke about WWE’s hesitancy to push the ‘Rusev Day’ team as babyfaces, but denied that WWE tried to intentionally bury them.

He said: “I don’t feel it was a case of them spiting us. I think there’s a misnomer that if there’s a popular idea they didn’t intend, they just want to stomp it. No, because that’s bad business. If they truly felt that way, they would have split us up, squashed it, and Rusev would have gone on to do something else. They kept booking us, putting us on shows, and giving us promo time. So, they acknowledged that there’s something not to ignore. However, where the issue came in, and I stand by this, is that once Vince views you in one way, it’s very hard to change that view, especially if he likes you as XYZ. I think he liked Rusev a lot — as The Bulgarian Brute. So, that’s where our conflict came about, with how the booking went or whatever you want to call it. Because, again, they made merch for Rusev Day, they put us on the shows. They just never really pulled the trigger. There were so many matches where Rusev would do the whole babyface comeback but he’d get yelled at: ‘You’re not a babyface!’ Again, it’s just how Vince saw Rusev. Vince legitimately thought they were making fun of us…like the audience was just mocking us with Rusev Day chants. That’s the kind of mentality we were butting up against.“