John Cena Vs. Rusev - Wrestlemania 31
Added 2025-01-18 17:00:05 +0000 UTCWatch: https://streamable.com/j2b0o1
Comments
There was definitely alot of tension between America and Russia during this time because the previous summer Russia invaded Ukraine and took over the Crimea Peninsula. I would say we definitely needed this as a nation during this time because there were legit worries about World War 3 for the first time since the 1960s even though those worries are probably even greater today then they were 10 years ago.
Chad
2025-01-28 21:02:19 +0000 UTClol no. I don’t think he was on TV at all in 2024.
Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett
2025-01-27 06:53:59 +0000 UTCOh my mistake I misremembered, I thought he was champion longer, still my point about his undefeated and beating Americans remains true. The swagger match was in the summer.
David
2025-01-20 06:55:16 +0000 UTCNo he didn’t. He was undefeated for a year. He had been US Champion since November.
Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett
2025-01-20 06:53:17 +0000 UTCthe look of abject disgust when the america montage is playing lol wtf
Ethan Sofinowski
2025-01-19 20:43:10 +0000 UTCRusev held the US title for about a year at this point and was undefeated on the main roster. His gimmick was being anti-American. All his feuds were someone fighting for America. I hate to say it but it did work, his feud with jack swagger got swagger the biggest reactions he’s ever gotten. This was just the climax to an entire year of this, facing the most pro American character. That’s all the story was to be honest. Not sure what the real life tensions there were at this point. He would drop this Russian stuff not long after mania and become the Bulgarian brute(he is actually Bulgarian) as they’d explain even during this reign he wasn’t Russian just a sympathizer.
David
2025-01-19 17:27:20 +0000 UTCAJ also wore it on his head after he took it from him when he beat him at summerslam 2016
David
2025-01-19 16:42:18 +0000 UTCThe good old-fashioned foreign bad guy versus the patriotic hero, a story as old as time across all nations, and even though people don’t like to admit it, it can absolutely work tremendously, even today. I mean anytime a wrestler competes in his hometown, it’s a much softer toned down version of that thing, we are cheering for this guy because he is from where we are from, granted the story isn’t always that we hate the other guy, but at the very least, the reason the other guy isn’t being cheered is because he isn’t our hometown guy. At other times, the story is the foreigner is hated, which I think can be done well When the storyline goes beyond that they are just from another place, but they go deep into hating on America, that’s when I think it works a lot better. People can say times have changed, but I don’t believe for a second that the Iron Sheik would be a babyface nowadays, nor would he want to be, but it isn’t because he Was from Tehran Iran, I think he would still be hated because he wasn’t afraid to come here and insult everything that was America, and no matter what anyone says, when someone comes into your house and attacks where you live, you aren’t going to be happy about it, because the truth is, even if you live in a dirty rundown apartment because that’s all you can afford, if someone comes into that dirty run down apartment and tells you in a serious way that all that you have is worth nothing because you’re poor and you will always be poor, and that they are better than you solely because they are from somewhere else and they have more money than you, you are going to be mad, even if you recognize that your apartment is terrible, the fact is, it is still your apartment, the principal is the same.
Ian Hernandez
2025-01-19 05:36:08 +0000 UTCHe wasn’t the only one who used a Nazi gimmick, but yes he absolutely did. Baron Vaughn Raschke is another good example.
Ian Hernandez
2025-01-19 05:24:11 +0000 UTCThe only information I don’t see given in the comments is that Rusev and Lana had sex in that tank. Also, yes. Cena’s armband is in fact a headband. The Rock actually pointed that out in a promo of theirs.
Gai Valentine
2025-01-19 03:39:56 +0000 UTCAmerican wrestler vs foreign heel was a big draw in post war America in the early days of wrestling and it just kept getting reused. I think it was Fritz Von Erich, patriarch of the Von Erich family, who used a Nazi gimmick before becoming a face.
Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett
2025-01-19 03:02:05 +0000 UTCThe first year they pushed him hard, he got a decent push in 2016 to feud with Roman and then he languished in the mid card for the rest of his career.
Steamed Ham Champion Dillon Haggett
2025-01-19 02:59:52 +0000 UTCHe was used decently at first it was the Rusev Day gimmick with Aiden English that WWE dropped the ball on. He was so over at that point, and Vince refused to push him because he didn't like people getting over on their own.
Drew Or Die
2025-01-19 02:06:02 +0000 UTCOh snap it's the bang tank.
Noct
2025-01-19 01:23:01 +0000 UTCIt doesn't mean he wanted that gimmick Who wanted to be a Russian sympathizer as a gimmick in 2015? And then immediately jobbed out once your purpose was done Like that's ridiculous and giving Vince far too much credit imo
Paul Watson
2025-01-18 22:47:18 +0000 UTCI saw the tank and know it was the Cena Rusev match
Karen
2025-01-18 21:37:37 +0000 UTCThere’s a lot of wrestlers who weren’t from the place their gimmick was, but they made it work. Scott Colson was a football player from Minnesota and he transformed into the russian nightmare Nikita Koloff. That was in a different time but just an example for ya of someone who had no connection to Russia, but was so convincing in his role and what he did. He did it so well he goes by publicily as Nikita Koloff now, he’s not Scott Colson anymore.
John Coffey
2025-01-18 21:32:19 +0000 UTCI wouldn't say they used him exactly right... The gimmick they gave him was Russian Patriot... He's Bulgarian.
Charlie
2025-01-18 21:28:25 +0000 UTCI remember seeing Miro making a comment about being not used right in WWE it’s like dude you came out riding a TANK to fight John Cena at Wrestlemania I think they used you exactly right 😂 He’s a amazing talent but I think the guy wants too much/is a complainer.
John Coffey
2025-01-18 19:55:47 +0000 UTCOh yea. That was real
Dport
2025-01-18 19:28:40 +0000 UTCY'know bless their hearts they really did try An America rah rah storyline in 2015 sucked but Cena and Rusev tried And match wise? They absolutely succeeded Phenomenal match Storyline wise..it was mid and it's honestly a miracle it wasn't worse💀
Paul Watson
2025-01-18 19:25:52 +0000 UTCThere wasn't anything that prompted Cena/Rusev being a US vs Russia thing specifically. It was just classic wrestling storytelling. A lot of the storytelling in past years was very simple. If you remember back to the documentary about Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, for the longest time in Japanese men's wrestling, the stories were basically just Japanese wrestlers overcoming foreigners. There was a ton of that in America too. A lot of Hulk Hogan's stories were either tag-team partner turns into his rival, Hogan vs a giant or Hogan vs a foreign wrestler. Nothing complicated, but wrestling doesn't have to be when it's executed well.
John Cowheel
2025-01-18 19:18:26 +0000 UTCmerica
Wade Kruse
2025-01-18 18:45:50 +0000 UTCWWE did Rusev so unbelievably dirty in the years after this man
Charlie
2025-01-18 18:16:59 +0000 UTCDam you forgot about Lana and Bobby Lashley together in bed already🤣
WWE Jay Gaming
2025-01-18 17:47:23 +0000 UTCRemember that video that was talking about 2019 was a weird year for WWE. Well Rusev and Lana were involved with the Bobby Lashley storyline. If you know you know.
Arome 64
2025-01-18 17:41:37 +0000 UTCIDK if he was there at the time you started watching AEW but Russev was Miro in AEW aswell
Cesar Rodriguez
2025-01-18 17:29:42 +0000 UTC
