Handsome Rusev’s recent appearance on Talk Is Jericho revealed a lot — his first job in the United States was as a house painter and eventually he worked at a Wendy’s — but the best moment is the mention that the NXT version of the Bulgarian Brute was almost a pro wrestling genie.
The quote, courtesy of Dusty Rhodes’ wonderful, Glacier-creating imagination:
“He has given me so many good and bad ideas that you have no idea! He tried to make me a genie. ‘Baby, I see you with that new gear. You look like a genie! I want you to work with that Russian chick, Anya, and she’s going to, baby, rub the lamp and you’re going to, pop, appear! … He made me do genie promos for the next three weeks. Well, he had the lamp and this kickboxing chick we had back in FCW, she rubbed the lamp and I appeared.”
It’s a shame we never got Dusty Rhodes working for Lucha Underground. The closest we’ve got to a wrestling genie is that lady who cosplays I Dream Of Jeannie to manage Sabu, but this sounds way better. He could’ve even done the Great Muta genie entrance at a WrestleMania:
https://youtu.be/RJGCzOPJBQc
Say what you want about the logistics and weird undertones of making the Bulgarian guy a wrestling genie, but that entrance is dope. Ah well, not sure I’d trade it for the tank anyway.
