Rusev Comments on His WWE World Title Goal & How AEW Made Him Feel Like Best In The World
Denise Salcedo held a recent interview with Rusev. One of the topics discussed included Rusev’s thoughts about his current career goal of wanting to become a World Heavyweight Champion in WWE and praised his time in AEW for helping gain his confidence and make him feel like he is among the best in the world.
“I learned that I’m the best in the world. I was there for a few years, I beat up quite a few people, and I gained my confidence way more than I had before in WWE, all the experience from the years before. What I’ve been taught by John Cena, by the Big Show, by all these great, amazing superstars that I fought in WWE, I had to put to the test when I was in AEW. I had to use everything I’ve learned. After I did that, after I experimented, after I saw that I’m the best one there, I thought it was time to come back, no doubt, because I still have the goal to be a World Heavyweight Champion here in WWE.”
Transcript h/t: Fightful.com
Backstage Update on Liv Morgan’s Dislocated Shoulder Injury & Reason Why WWE Doesn’t Often Use Injured Talent on TV
As noted before, Liv Morgan has been out of action for WWE since this past June due to a dislocated shoulder injury and surgery.
Fightful Select reported that their sources stated that despite Morgan’s shoulder injury, there is a reason why WWE does not often use injured talent on television in non-physical roles.
Those spoken to reportedly stated that the reason is due to WWE not wanting to keep Morgan and other injured talents contracts active and running if they were to use injured talent for non-wrestling roles such as an on-screen manager or commentator. This reportedly is one way WWE can freeze contracts to make them expire at a later date than originally set.
WWE officials reportedly also favors saving a talent’s comeback after a long abscense to create a significant and impactful return moment for programming.
Backstage Update on WWE Scaling Back House Shows
WWE has been scaling back on running live house show events for the past couple of years as a way to save money and help increase the profit margins for their parent company TKO Group.
Despite WWE scaling back on the amount of house show events they run per year, they are currently on a European tour which features many house show events for the lead up to their Clash in Paris PLE in France.
Fightful Select reported that multiple WWE talents spoken to stated that the lighter work schedule has been a welcome change for them in the company. One veteran talent spoken to stated that they prefer to have more time at home, the occasional weekends off, and the ability to recover between dates. This same talent reportedly stated “I don’t miss house shows at all. They’re fun to wrestle on, but the current method is much better. It makes sense that they still do them here and there, and it makes them much more special.”
Another talent spoken to reportedly stated that with house shows being cut by two-thirds, the events feel more significant and enjoyable.
WWE high-level officials spoken to reportedly stated that there are no plans to expand the house show schedule beyond international trips. Those spoken to reportedly stated that the decision to scale back on events was influenced by multiple factors including costs, scheduling, talent health, and overall balance. It was reported that this has also helped in contract negotiations due to the reduced dates give wrestlers more flexibility.
One source spoken to reportedly stated that when WWE does run live events now, moments that stand out tend to generate even more buzz on social media than before.
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