WWE Rumors: Tye Dillinger, Rusev Double Turn Coming?

Tye Dillinger and Rusev are two of WWE SmackDown Live’s most popular stars. Could they execute a double-turn on television in the near future?

Even though he’s been a heel for his entire career, the WWE Universe would likely come to the consensus that Rusev needs to be a face sooner rather than later. The company should have pulled the trigger on a babyface turn when they moved him from Raw to SmackDown Live in the “Superstar Shakeup”, as he was returning from an injury and had demanded a title opportunity at Money in the Bank from Shane McMahon. That never materialized, even though one-time “tag team partner” Jinder Mahal was the WWE Champion.

Meanwhile, Tye Dillinger is just as popular with the WWE fans, and he is one of the company’s prototypical babyfaces. Dillinger recently competed for the United States Championship and appeared on the “Strangerer Things” episode of the Fashion Files. Due to his crisp in-ring work, understated charisma, and “10” chants, Dillinger is as over as any mid-carder in the WWE.

However, there’s a small chance he could turn heel, as inconceivable as that may seem. According to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer News, Dillinger and Rusev executed the fabled double-turn at a house show in Raleigh, North Carolina. More importantly, this turn was successful, as Rusev received cheers and Dillinger received sarcastic “10” chants (Sportskeeda had the information from Meltzer’s report).

I thought the WWE were planning on turning Rusev babyface for a feud with Jinder Mahal, because “The Bulgarian Brute” told Mahal before a tag team match that they weren’t friends and that his goal was to pursue the championship. I also wondered if they would execute a double-turn with Randy Orton, whom the fan base is always itching to see as a heel.

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As for Dillinger, while it is hard to see him as a heel, there could be some subtle genius to changing his character. Some might worry that he won’t be able to pull it off, but it’s always good to have faith in seasoned performers. Additionally, SmackDown Live has shown that they are willing to take risks with turning people, most namely when they turned Sami Zayn heel at Hell in a Cell.