Rusev on WWE return: ‘This is the best locker room I’ve been in’
Rusev spoke about changes he’s noticed in WWE since returning, the company’s partnership with Netflix, and his departure from AEW during a recent interview with Denise Salcedo.
At Clash in Paris, Rusev will wrestle his first PLE match since returning to WWE in May when he faces Sheamus in a Good O’l Donnybrook match. As of Friday’s issue of the Observer, just under 30,000 tickets are out for the show. Having packed crowds every night is something Rusev says is more common since he came back to the company.
“I was surprised. Well, it’s a pleasant surprise about how WWE has grown, if you would like to say that. To see the packed arenas every single night, oversold everywhere we go. It’s just something that before, it was not like that. And that’s unbelievable to see.”
He also mentioned that with WWE’s partnership with Netflix, his mother doesn’t have to pirate wrestling shows anymore to see him.
“And especially now with the partnership with Netflix that my parents can now watch me at home without just pirating from somewhere else, which is really nice.”
Regarding the current WWE locker room, Rusev says this is the best locker room he’s been in during either his WWE or AEW runs.
“I see a lot of young talent, hungry talent. I feel like this is the best locker room I’ve been in since I’ve been in WWE or AEW. I love this locker room. And I see a lot of potential for me, for people to destroy in a match.”
Rusev was also asked about his departure from AEW. He gave an in-character answer, saying he regained his confidence in the company by beating up “quite a few people” and has now returned to WWE to become a world champion.
“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’d 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 test when I was in AEW.
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.”
Rusev’s full interview with Denise Salcedo is available below: