Why Vince McMahon Never Liked Rusev Day Despite Its Popularity

Miro spent several years in WWE working under Vince McMahon and organically got over with Rusev Day, but he never received the push that fans deserved, as McMahon was never a fan of Rusev Day. With that said, the reason behind Vince McMahon never liking Rusev Day has now been revealed.

While speaking on Ten Count Media, Aiden English explained why Vince McMahon never liked Rusev Day, even though it was very popular. English stated that the main issue was that Vince McMahon saw Rusev in only one way, as a big, tough, foreign bad guy who didn’t talk much.

Aiden English said that Vince McMahon had that idea, it was very hard to change his mind. Even though fans loved Rusev Day and cheered for Rusev like a babyface, WWE kept booking him as a heel.

Rusev often wrestled like a babyface, but backstage, WWE officials would remind him that he was a heel. Even other wrestlers, like The New Day and The Usos, thought WWE should make Rusev a babyface, but Vince McMahon refused to see him that way.

“The real issue, in my opinion, was Vince McMahon’s perspective. Once he sees you a certain way, it’s very hard to change his mind. He liked Rusev as the ‘Bulgarian Brute’—a big, tough foreign heel who doesn’t talk much. I think that’s where the disconnect happened. They gave us opportunities, but they never fully pulled the trigger.

I remember so many matches where Rusev would wrestle like a babyface, making comebacks, and then we’d get backstage and be told, ‘You’re not a babyface, you’re a heel.’ They kept pushing that, even when the crowd clearly wanted to cheer for him. We probably shouldn’t have kept pushing back against it, but Vince just never saw him as a good guy.

It confused even the other wrestlers. The New Day and The Usos worked with us a lot, and they didn’t understand it either. They’d ask, ‘Why don’t they just turn you guys?’ But Vince didn’t see Rusev as a babyface, and they just ran Rusev Day into the ground instead of adjusting.”

Aiden English stated that Rusev’s merchandise sold out at live events, and he was even the top seller at one point, outselling AJ Styles. When Rusev told Vince McMahon and Triple H about it, they downplayed it, saying they didn’t have many shirts to begin with.

“Rusev talked about selling out all of his merchandise at a live event. He was so excited and told Triple H and Vince about it. But instead of acknowledging the demand, they said, ‘Well, we only had one box of your stuff, so of course it sold out.’

There was even a period where Rusev was selling more merch than AJ Styles. Maybe it was for two weeks, maybe a month, but his Rusev Day shirt was the number one seller. When he told Vince about it, Vince just brushed it off, saying, ‘Maybe we just didn’t have that many shirts.'”

According to English, the biggest problem was that Vince McMahon didn’t believe the “Rusev Day” chants were real. He thought fans were mocking Rusev, just like they used to chant “You Suck” at Kurt Angle. Because of this, WWE never fully got behind Rusev Day, and over time, the act lost momentum.

“The biggest issue was that Vince genuinely thought the ‘Rusev Day’ chants were people mocking him. He saw it like Kurt Angle’s ‘You Suck’ chants—he thought fans were making fun of Rusev, not cheering for him. And that’s the kind of thinking we were up against.”

Miro even thought that WWE made him like a circus bear during his previous run in the company. Nevertheless, he has now re-signed with WWE, and now that Triple H is in charge, we’ll have to wait and see whether Miro will be able to get over organically as Rusev again.

Do you think WWE missed a huge opportunity with “Rusev Day”? Should WWE bring back the character now that Miro has returned? Drop your thoughts in the comments below!

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