Rusev is currently out of commission in the WWE scene, no thanks to a nasty injury he sustained last May 26 on Smackdown, the show before WWE Extreme Rules.
He was originally part of the cast who would vie for the vacant Intercontinental title, something previously held by Daniel Bryan. Bryan was forced to vacate the IC title due to injury after winning it at Wrestlemania 31.
Rusev’s dream of regaining another WWE title took a terrible turn, however, when he injured his foot. During that Smackdown episode, Rusev took a bump from the top rope of that match with Ryback. While Ryback was attended to after the match, it was obvious that the Bulgarian Brute was in a lot of pain.
The segment can be viewed below.
Rusev was visibly frustrated with the injury, shelving him for now and once again missing on a chance to cop another WWE title. He took his frustrations to Twitter after learning he would be unable to take part in the WWE Elimination Chamber PPV.
Right now, the WWE has yet to officially announce the extent of Rusev’s injury. Regardless, Rusev is expected to be out for the next couple of months to allow his foot to heal completely.
With Rusev ruled out for the Intercontinental match, Mark Henry was tabbed to take his place. In the end however, the winner was curiously Ryback – the same man he was in a match with before the unfortunate injury.
Ryback bested a group that included Dolph Ziggler, Sheamus, R Truth, King Barrett and Henry.
There is still no timetable on when Rusev would be back in action though it is believed that he may be forced to wear boots or any kind of footwear to support his feet.
The Wrestling Observer believes that this could happen to help Rusev avoid any future injuries to his feet moving forward. Ever since entering the WWE scene, Rusev has always wrestled bare-footed but with the injury, Rusev may have to use boots from here on.
The WWE did have wrestlers before who wrestled bare-footed (Jimmy Snuka, Yokozuna and the Wild Samoans to name a few) but luckily did not suffer the same fate as Rusev’s.
If and when Rusev returns, it also remains to be seen if his storyline involving Lana and Dolph Ziggler will continue.
A sidelight to the supposed match at WWE Extreme Rules involved Ziggler and Lana in what was a developing love triangle of sorts.
But an interesting angle may have developed with Ryback becoming the Intercontinental title. Rusev could return and seek payback on the Intercontinental champion who cost him his shot at another WWE title.