WWE SmackDown 5 Predictions: Say Goodbye to Rusev Day

Rusev Day is Canceled

Despite being a huge fan favorite, Rusev probably wasn’t anyone’s first guess as to potential winners of the gauntlet match. The WWE Universe wants to see AJ Styles go up against the likes of Samoa Joe, or Daniel Bryan. Even The Miz would be a great challenger for Styles. But Rusev? It seemed too good to be true. (Sorry, Big E, but we want Kofi to get that New Day world title match.)

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But Rusev drew the last entry, putting him in a terrific spot. And The Miz may have been overconfident after making short work of a battered Daniel Bryan. So Rusev managed to lock in the Accolade and make the A-Lister tap out, securing his WWE Championship match at Extreme Rules.

Is it very likely that this title match would be between two babyfaces? Not really. Both superstars are among the most popular in WWE, but Styles is actually meant to be a hero. Rusev, despite his very babyface-like behavior, is still most likely viewed as a bad guy by the WWE creative machine.

That means there will probably be some kind of tweaks to the booking of the Bulgarian Brute to try and push the fan support away from him. It may not be the smartest move, but it’s a very WWE move. The best way to accomplish that? Cancel Rusev Day. So look for Rusev to disavow the everyday holiday, and return to putting a focus on machka-ing instead.

Next: WWE Championship Opportunity a Long Time Coming for Rusev

There’s our predictions for tonight’s episode of WWE SmackDown Live. What do you think?