Rusev once had a lengthy undefeated streak in WWE, but that eventually came to an end and he started slipping down the card. There were some bright spots in his run, but the Bulgarian Brute ultimately ended up in the midst of a cuckold storyline with Bobby Lashley, Lana, and Liv Morgan.
Needless to say, no one was surprised when Rusev left WWE, and he's quickly made a huge impact as Miro in All Elite Wrestling. In fact, he's the current TNT Champion, and quickly moving up the card (which definitely makes a nice change after what we saw from him on RAW last year).
Talking to The New York Post, Miro opened up on what led to his fall in WWE.
"This is the problem with me, I'm good at everything," Miro said. "So if you give me something, I'll make it the best [of it] and that's the problem. I won't be happy until I'm the talk of the whole business, of course. But somewhere along the lines, and this is going to tie it into it, I kept saying yes. I became this circus bear. I was a killer. I came in 2013-14 [to NXT)] and killed everybody and then they gave me a little bit of something else. I showed how good I was at that, too."
"I became like a circus bear. The more I said yes, the more crap I have to eat," he continued. "I said yes to the wedding and yes to the dancing and yes to this and that, but that's not who I am, man."
"You have to go through these moments until you finally reach your destination. I wouldn't change a single step. I'll take the weddings. I'll take everything because it leads me to my destination and now being the TNT champion. WWE, who cares about that, it is what it is. I was the best there. I'm the best here."
You can't blame Miro for being confident in his abilities, and there's a lot of truth in what he says about WWE. Proving himself a dab hand at being a monster and being funny meant the company slotted him into a lot of different roles, all while missing out on the chance to capitalise on "Rusev Day."
Are you glad Miro is now part of the AEW roster?