Rusev was recently released from WWE, but prior to that he broke the cardinal rule by getting himself over with the fans.
"Rusev Day" became something of a phenomenon, with the chants echoing around every arena the Bulgarian Brute appeared in - and even a few he didn't. WWE did respond with a mediocre push for Rusev (he briefly held the US titles), but he was never given the spotlight he deserved.
Barnyashev discussed his release while appearing on The Ryback Show, and he revealed that Vince McMahon actually attempted to convince him that the fans were mocking him with the Rusev Day chants.
"[Rusev Day] was going on. There was no way the office didn't notice because it was before, after, during the show. It was everywhere. I always felt defeated because what was I doing it for? It was all competition and finally, I got to a point of, 'wow, we're doing something right.' There's no way it wasn't noticed. The first meeting it was, 'they're [frick]ing with you, they don't mean what they're saying.' I respect and I listen because I always want to listen from Vince. He had everybody on his side. In my mind, I knew it wasn't true. They started putting my segments early so the 'Rusev Day' chants would go away. I was not even supposed to be on WrestleMania, the year I lost to Jinder. I was not on TV for three weeks.
I'm sitting backstage all night and listening to people chant 'Rusev Day.' I went to one of the writers and I'm like, 'This is not right.' This is the first time I yelled at a writer, and I felt bad. He was like, 'We don't know what to do.' What do you mean you don't know what to do? Just listen. They'll tell you what to do. They're shoving me down and I don't understand why. What am I fighting for? I did everything, right? I went to acting classes, I started working on my body, I did all the extra stuff. I was just defeated. When Vince said the second time, 'they're [frick]ing with you,' I said, 'Vince, we have sold out all of our merchandise.' 'What do you mean?' 'The shirt is sold out.' 'Well, maybe they didn't make enough.' 'They didn't make enough shirts, that's why it's sold out? Not because we're doing good? Really?' Then they didn't know what to do, good guy or bad guy, come on, man."
While it's shocking that Vince would actually believe that Rusev would buy this bullshit, it's not exactly a surprise that he didn't want to push him. You get over in WWE when Mr. McMahon says you're over, dammit!
Rusev goes on to say that he's very happy to be doing his own thing now, but doesn't mention whether he's signed or is thinking of signing with another company.