During the most recent episode of Insight with Chris Van Vliet, WWE’s Rusev talks on getting noticed, his WWE return, Rusev Day and John Cena.
At what age he moved to the United States:
“20 years old. So I had to go to college for a little bit so I can do this work and travel thing over the summer. So as soon as I was able to do that, landed here in Richmond, Virginia.”
On how he ended up in Richmond:
“So when you sign up for these programs, they give you a job. My first job offering was to paint houses. I’ve never painted anything in my life, maybe at Easter some eggs, that’s about it. But they say, Hey, if you deny it, you may not have another shot. So I was like, I just want to get there. So I came in painting houses, got fired a month later, walked out on the streets because it was a community house for the workers, and after they fired me, they kicked me out, so I was literally on the street a month in with $100 in my pocket...there’s a couple of guys that I met through work, and they were really cool guys, and they accepted me in their apartment, and we lived in a two-bedroom apartment. I think it was six of us sleeping on the floor, whatever you got to do.”
If we was already training to be a wrestler after coming to the United States:
“No, there was the first month. Then I started working cleaning stores, Dollar General stores, traveling around half of the country with these chemicals, we were cleaning Dollar Generals. I worked in Wendy’s for a week. It was the weirdest place I’ve worked at. Especially with the burger they tell you to draw a W on it. I’m like, ‘Well sir, if you turn it the other way, it says McDonald’s, M for McDonald’s.’ They were looking at me like I was reinventing the hot water. But then it was even embarrassing to go get my check back because I was there for a week, I didn’t call because I was so embarrassed. I didn’t want to go back to work, but I didn’t want to call, Hey, I’m not coming back to work. So that was weird. And then my friend said, ‘Hey, I’m moving to California. I’m gonna drive cross-country with this 1988 Oldsmobile.’ I said, count me in brother, all the dreams are in California. I left, I jump in the car with him, and we drove for three days, I think, to San Pedro, California.”
How long did it took him to get noticed by WWE:
“So I remember getting pulled in the office in the school one day. At this point I’ve been training not even two years, probably. They said, ‘Hey, you may have an opportunity to go with TNA or WWE.’ I said No freaking way. These guys are giants, man. They’re Titans. What am I? A 24-year-old Bulgarian gonna go through that? I just didn’t think it was a possibility. Then I just kept training, kept training, kept training. Then Rikishi pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey, we’re gonna have this [try-out].’ Because I trusted him, because a lot of people like to go out there and do their own thing. I trusted Rikishi. I trusted his training, trusted Gangrel and his training, and I know that when I’m ready, they’re gonna set me up for success. And they set up a tryout for me. Was 2010 Summer Slam in LA. I went out there with a torn ACL. Had to go through the bathroom, wrap my knee with duct tape because it was giving up. I wrapped the motherf—, hiding away from everybody and going to the tryout, almost in a fight with one of the other guys.”
Rusev Day and when he realized it was getting over:
“I don’t know. It was never meant to be over. It was never supposed to be anything. It was just supposed to be a celebration and here’s the key from the mayor of Plovdiv, my hometown. And it just worked for some reason, I was a heel. But then I started to relax a little bit, show more of my personality and I guess people started buying that. Then Aiden [English], of course, Aiden is such an essential part of this, with the songs, with introductions, with everything. Without him, probably wouldn’t even be the same. But just the combo work, man, it was just me having fun and doing the backstage with the New Day, and then the first shirt. Oh my God. They did one shirt of Happy Rusev Day, which is the first one. I remember putting it out in a backstage promo and there’s the huge reaction from the crowd. What? It’s just a shirt. It’s not that big of a deal. But then it just starts picking up steam and people love chanting Rusev Day and celebrating Rusev Day. I got that sweet treatment. I have a beach towel, I have sunglasses now that says Rusev Day. I have all these things that say Rusev Day. I was like, what is happening here? I couldn’t believe it. And then, yeah, we’re just getting over little, little by little. It was a good time, even to this day, Hey, happy Rusev Day.”
On what brough him back to WWE last year:
“I wanted to wrestle. I wanted to mix it up with the best. I know that the roster is stacked. I don’t remember the last time it was this stacked, but I just want to mix it with everybody. I wanted to wrestle more and more, and all these European tours and everything. I love all that, I love the grind. Because when we first started, we were five days on the road, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, you go home Wednesday, you’re out on the road again on Friday. And that’s just how life was, as hard as it was, that’s how you get better, just by putting in the work. Because every day you work different towns, you travel. Now the people can only hear about that and be like, Oh, really, that’s what it was. It was so cool. Wrestling, getting beaten up, getting the rental car driving three hours to the next town, getting the hotel, waking up, working out, doing the same thing, makes you feel like a real professional wrestler. I miss the grind.”
If he thought he would have returned to WWE after being let go:
“Only if I wanted to. Well, look so I got fired. It sucks, right? Nobody wants to get fired, especially in the pandemic. There was just something else. But I jumped right away, I started doing the Twitch thing, because I had the three months no compete and jump on Twitch. I had fun on Twitch. I was making money. I was playing video games. I was having fun. I was gaining my audience, little by little, and that was fun. And then AEW came through, and I started wrestling there. The same thing. I just wanted a short contract, just to feel them out. Everything was great, signed a bigger contract. Then did I ever think I was going to come back to WWE? If I wanted to. I really meant that if I wanted to. If I didn’t want to, I didn’t have to come back. But I love WWE. I love what they’ve made for me, and I love how they’ve taught me since I was a young kid. And I just love the organization.”
On scaring a little kid in the front row and if he saw the kid’s reaction:
“I did. I did see he panicked, but it was his fault. At the end of the day, it’s like, you can’t blame me for that. I think I met him earlier backstage, and maybe that’s what made him so comfortable. That’s what I keep thinking. But then you can’t just be so comfortable to touch the animals, you can’t reach in the cage. And if your dad didn’t teach you that, your mom didn’t teach you that, I will. I always said don’t touch me kid, and he’s like ah! It was the most shocking face I’ve ever seen. Like before, they used to replay when The Undertaker lost. This is probably the next thing close to it.”
All quotes are courtesy of Insight with Chris Van Vliet.
Rusev also talks on WrestleMania 31, League of Nations, Lana, John Cena and more.
You can watch the full interview below: