WWE: Andrade “Cien” Almas feud will finally cement Rusev’s babyface status
Andrade “Cien” Almas is the key in ensuring Rusev takes his rightful place on the babyface side of WWE SmackDown Live.
Fans have been waiting for WWE to officially flip the switch with Rusev and turn him into a full-fledged face for months now, and that just might become a reality in the not-so-distant future.
Although Rusev has always been a natural heel, his popularity with the audience thanks to his “Rusev Day” shtick dating back to late last year can not be denied. Truth be told, WWE should have transitioned him into a babyface role earlier this year, but it’s better late than never.
It was unknown what was next for Rusev following his strong showing against WWE champion AJ Styles at Extreme Rules, except for that he and Aiden English could be on the verge of a split. Tension has been teased between them since then and it certainly looks like English will be slowly phased out of the Rusev and Lana act before long.
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Of course, it isn’t uncommon of WWE to take something that works and ruin it simply because they themselves didn’t create it. Rusev and English organically got over with the audience on their own, but WWE never seemed to fully get behind the duo at any point.
Meanwhile, Andrade “Cien” Almas has been making waves since arriving on SmackDown Live in the spring. Despite suffering a singles loss to Styles on the July 17 episode, he bounced back the next week by beating Rusev thanks to an unintentional distraction from English and Lana at ringside.
It remains to be seen whether the match was merely a one-off or not, but both would benefit from feuding with each other heading into SummerSlam to ensure they have a match on the card and aren’t overlooked.
Their first-ever one-on-one encounter last Tuesday was actually quite enjoyable, especially when you consider how Rusev and Almas are both technically heels at the moment. The match didn’t necessarily signal the start of a face turn for Rusev, mind you, but it could have been a test from officials to see how he would be received against an antagonist such as Almas.
Well, he certainly passed with flying colors given how heavily the crowd rallied behind Rusev to beat the former NXT Champion. Even in defeat, Rusev came across as a sympathetic figured due to the distraction at ringside being what cost him the victory.
Seeing as how the WWE Universe has been ready to cheer him for a while now, the time is now for him to cement his status as a fan favorite.
After Zelina Vega defeated Lana this week on SmackDown Live, Rusev and Lana vs. Almas and Vega would be a logical addition to the SummerSlam card. Rusev vs. English, which has been hinted at lately, wouldn’t make it beyond the Kickoff show and wouldn’t be much more than an extended squash match for Rusev.
As seen on SmackDown, Rusev and Almas have excellent in-ring chemistry together. Although Lana hasn’t made much progress as wrestler, Vega is a trained competitor and could carry her to a competent contest.
Thus, not only would it give all four Superstars more exposure on a grand stage such as SummerSlam, the matchup itself would surely be entertaining.
Looking at the current lay of the land on SmackDown, Team Blue is very heel heavy right now. Randy Orton recently turned heel at Extreme Rules and joined the likes of Samoa Joe, Shinsuke Nakamura, The Miz and Almas on the dark side in the process.
That said, Rusev won’t find any success on SmackDown as a heel as long as those notable names are above him in the pecking order. Styles, Daniel Bryan and Jeff Hardy are the only true babyfaces on the brand and Rusev would fit right in among those fan favorites.
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Come SummerSlam, expect Rusev’s gradual transformation into a face to be complete, which will help him fulfill his potential as a top-tier talent on SmackDown.