The wrestling free agent market grew on April 15 when WWE released a handful of talent as part of company-wide cutbacks. Among the released talent was Rusev, who gained a cult following in WWE but was never pushed to the top spot that many people thought he deserved.
With other companies looking for new talent once things return to normal, Rusev is expected to be a name at the top of many wanted lists. And Michael Elgin wants him in IMPACT.
"For myself, personally, I think the number one of the free agents recently that have opened up would be Rusev," said Elgin in an interview with Gary Cassidy of SportsKeeda. "I saw so much in him in WWE that I think he can really do something special and obviously past greats of Impact Wrestling, EC3 and Eric Young, are now available and I would love to be able to show what I can do against guys who once helped put Impact at the forefront."
Elgin also mentioned FTR (formerly The Revival) as strong options as well, believing they would add to IMPACT's already great tag team division.
IMPACT is no stranger to bringing in former WWE stars veterans to help the locker room and buzz, having signed the likes of Rob Van Dam, Rhino, Tommy Dreamer, and Ken Shamrock in recent years. When asked about IMPACT using stars of the past, Elgin said, "I think it's a two-sided coin. What I mean by that is, obviously, they are taking spots that could be utilized for younger people but those younger people don't have the value that they do, so they're needed. I don't mean that as a slight towards them, I don't mean that as a negative because if someone is flipping through the channels that hasn't seen Impact for a while and watched wrestling for a while - but sees a Rob Van Dam, a Rhino, a Tommy Dreamer or a Ken Shamrock, that might make them tune in.
"Not only that, they have such experience and been to so many different places and learn from so many great people and they are in positions to be the best they are and the best they can be, so they can help the younger guys on the roster with knowledge to help us perform, you know? We have a young roster, like you said, which has a lot of people who don't have the experience of wrestling on a big stage, wrestling on a live pay-per-view, wrestling on TV weekly. But they have years and years and years, that can help provide inspiration and tools for the younger talent to be the best they can be on our product so I think they are very valuable to the company."
Elgin was set to challenge for the IMPACT World Title in a triple threat match against Tessa Blanchard and Eddie Edwards at IMPACT Rebellion, but plans changed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Instead, the status of the World Title will be addressed at night two of Rebellion with Elgin being the only present party.
Fightful will have live coverage of Rebellion beginning at 8 p.m. ET on Tuesday.
