Does Rusev Regret Leaving AEW? A Look At His Terrible Booking Since Returning To WWE
In pro wrestling, there are times when wrestlers jump ship to different promotions looking for better opportunities. However, when wrestlers make that jump, there’s clearly a hint that they may regret that choice. WWE pro wrestler Rusev may have these thoughts, as ever since he left AEW to rejoin WWE in 2025, his booking has been horrendous. After what we saw at the Royal Rumble, it definitely hit rock bottom in his 2nd tenure.
His Debut Was Solid, But They Gave Him Horrendous Theme Song
Even in the first few weeks, WWE messed up with Rusev. In his return during the Raw after WrestleMania 41, he went after the Alpha Academy group, attacking Akira Tozawa and Otis. That seems like a good start, but the problem is the Alpha Academy is not a credible or important faction.
Akira Tozawa is a future endeavor candidate, Otis hasn’t been the same in years, and Maxxine Dupri is terrible. Yes, it made him look strong, but the problem is nobody cares about the Alpha Academy.
What made this worse is that he came out with garbage music. Not the great music he had during his prime in WWE when it was Rusev Day. No he got the awful Def Rebel music that didn’t make him stand out.
His Feud With Sheamus Was The Peak
After a few extra matches putting over his dominance and trying to make him a credible threat, Rusev moved on to a Feud with Sheamus. Now, look, the matches with Sheamus were okay, but this felt like a feud where creative had no plans for either wrestler. It dragged on for way too long, and the only great match they had was the Donnybrook Match they had at Clash at Paris. This was the peak of Rusev’s second tenure in WWE, and did WWE capitalize? Nope.
What Else Has He Done Since?
Not joking before writing this article, I completely couldn’t remember a single thing Rusev did since his feud with Shemus ended. Doing a Bing search, I completely forgot he was once in a feud with Dominik Mysterio and Penta for the Intercontinental Championship. The blow-off match even happened at one of the Saturday Night Main Event shows. Rusev even took the pin in that match too.
Rusev was in the Last Time is Now Tournament, but he didn’t impress at all. Ever since that he’s been on Main Event shows. Yes, those WWE Main Event shows are still going on, and they’re the most worthless shows that they stream on there Youtube page.
His Royal Rumble Performance Is pretty telling
Now we get to the Royal Rumble, and yeah, it’s pretty telling that WWE has zero plan for Rusev. He had the worst performance in the Royal Rumble and barely lasted 32 seconds in the match. He was thrown out by Oba Femi, and it was really sad to see, as not a few months ago, he was poorly presented as a powerhouse. He was given a jobber elimination.
Remember when Rusev was the runner-up in the 2015 Royal Rumble? Imagine saying 11 years later, he would be tossed out like this in 2026. His stock has fallen so much, and it’s depressing to go back and see the potential he had then, to what he is now in WWE. That’s the type of elimination that shows WWE has zero plans for you both in the present and in the future.
With How Bad The Booking Has Been, Does Rusev Regret Leaving AEW?
Honestly were never going to know the answer to whether he regrets leaving AEW, until the man himself speaks. However, it can’t be denied that he was booked better there than in WWE. That goes for his first and second tenure in WWE. Yes, the last year in AEW wasn’t good, and it’s clear something happened between him and Tony Kahn. However, he was at a key heel as the Redeemer character.
On WWE, he’s pretty much just nobody who doesn’t stand out there. It really is sad to see the fall of Rusev aka Miro. At one point he was on top of the world and was one of AEW’s notable champions in the early 2020s. Now he’s just a depth piece on WWE and at the age of 40, he’s never going to a main eventer. I wonder after what we have been seeing lately, does Rusev regret leaving WWE?
