Would Rusev Turn Face?
As it usually is with WWE, it’s hard to say at the moment. Right now, Smackdown’s midcard is pretty lopsided. On the face side, you’ve got Tye Dillinger, Sin Cara, Bobby Roode, and Zack Ryder. On the bad guy side, there’s Baron Corbin, Mike Kanellis, Mojo Rawley, Rusev, Aiden English, Jinder Mahal, and Dolph Ziggler. A few of these guys, such as Sin Cara and Mike Kanellis, are non-factors at the moment, but it does split down to four to seven. I do believe there’s space for Face Rusev. If he takes Aiden English with him, that makes it six to five. Add in a double turn with Roode, and that’s an even six to six.
Ideally, the whole thing would be a double turn between Rusev and Roode. WWE’s shown that they can do these. The most recent one I can think of is Alberto Del Rio and Dolph Ziggler in 2013, so they’re kind of rare, but that’s what makes them special.
By executing a double turn, WWE could have Rusev explore his character as a face, and it would allow Roode to embrace his excellent heel character (the one who called Roderick Strong’s fiancee “marginally hot.”)
