Rusev Says Dusty Rhodes Wanted to Give Him a Genie Gimmick

Rusev and Lana appeared on Chris Jericho’s podcast, “Talk Is Jericho” and Rusev had an interesting story about his start in NXT (FCW at the time), saying that Dusty Rhodes (who was a trainer and creative director in NXT) wanted to give Rusev a “genie” gimmick after noticing that Rusev’s ring gear made him look like a genie.

You can listen to the podcast at the Talk is Jericho website (or iTunes) or at the YouTube video below. The Dusty Rhodes / genie part starts at 40:46.

Jericho: You mentioned Dusty Rhodes. Did he have a lot of influence on you? A lot of advice?

Rusev: There were so many good and bad ideas…

Jericho: What are some of the bad ideas he gave you?

Rusev: He tried to make me a genie.

Jericho: We have a tradition where you have to imitate Dusty Rhodes… Can you give me a quick Dusty Rhodes telling you you have to be a genie?

Rusev: (imitating Dusty Rhodes) “Baby, I see you with that new gear. You look like a genie. I want you to work with that Russian chick Anya. She’s gonna maybe rub the lamp and you’re gonna appear.”

Rusev: [With my new ring gear] the Dream thought I looked like a genie, so he made me do genie promos for the next three weeks.

Jericho: What’s a genie promo?

Rusev: Well, he had the lamp and this kickboxing chick we had back in FCW, she rubbed the lamp and I appeared.