Rusev recalls getting a major compliment from Kane after his first pay-per-view match against Big E.
Rusev was one of the first NXT Superstars to Skyrocket to the main event picture of WWE upon his arrival in 2014. His first pay-per-view match was against Big E at Payback 2014 at the Allstate Arena in Chicago, Illinois, one of the only names to make it to the main roster from NXT before “The Bulgarian Brute.”
When recalling the match on a recent Twitch stream, Rusev would call E one of his favorite people and recount Kane giving them high praise after what he considered to be a fairly generic match.
“Allstate Arena, me and Big E, I remember that match. You know, I remember that match because it was so short. It was like a probably eight-minute match, you know. That was my first initial thing when I got to WWE, like one of my first, like, pay-per-views. Me and Big E, I love E, man. He's one of my favorite humans and he's such a nice guy.” Rusev admits. “We got to work and after the match, Kane came. He's like, 'Wow, guys, that was a really good match. I was like, 'what, we just had eight minutes?' He's like, 'no, it was short, but it was so good. It was really a freaking good match.' Big E, you know, he hasn't been that much longer on the main roster than me. It's always good when a veteran comes in and tells you that you did good, especially cause, I mean, it's Glenn, it's Kane, a legend. He's been there forever. He's done it all. He won it all. For him to come and tell us this was not necessary. But he did it because he meant it. That's why I always remember this match.”
Rusev would also reveal that he would always spit blood after taking Big E’s signature spear through the middle rope to the outside of the ring.
“[Also,] I always remember working with Big E because that spear through the ropes always makes me spit blood when I land on my head and it's always another thing. But I'm the only one taking it the way I take it.”
Rusev was released by WWE back on Wednesday, April 15, 2020. Currently, he is spending a lot of time streaming on Twitch and sharing stories such as recounting the days of the League of Nations with Sheamus. You can read more about that at this link.
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