We here at With Spandex are staunchly Team Handsome Rusev, now and forever. We love everything about Rusev. We love him on Total Divas, we love that he was nearly a wrestling genie, we love his irrational adoration of the Los Angeles Clippers, and we think he is a legitimate hero, the only true babyface in WWE, and he deserves a lot better.
So it is with a heavy heart that we must inform you that Handsome Rusev is reportedly out of action “for some time to come,” according to Dave Meltzer at the Wrestling Observer. Meltzer says that him being out has been known about for several weeks, which likely means around the time of Fastlane. We received word from a fan that recently took a picture with Big Show that Rusev may be undergoing shoulder surgery, but we obviously cannot confirm any part of that.
https://twitter.com/SojournerJust/status/840716265194979328
If Rusev is indeed out of action for the foreseeable future, that would make the bizarre middle portion of Fastlane make a whole hell of a lot more sense, and is definitely one way to write someone off television for a while. The week before Fastlane, Rusev tweeted that he was going to “take time off” from working out.
In Bulgaria they say The rest makes the champion. It's time to take time off working out. 30 days and counting.
— Miro (@ToBeMiro) February 28, 2017
In addition, Lana recently returned to NXT in-ring action at a live event, and right after Fastlane tweeted about returning to NXT for training.
There is no rest for the wicked …✈️Off to Orlando & @WWENXT to keep on learning 💪🏽💔
— CJ Perry (@TheCJPerry) March 7, 2017
All of the pieces would certainly seem to fit, so if true, our heartfelt sympathies go out to Handsome Rusev and hope he makes an extremely speedy recovery … and then comes back as a conquering hero.
