Rusev: 'Rusev Day' Was Supposed To Be A One-Off

Rusev discusses Rusev Day on Rusev Day.

On September 26, 2017, Rusev Day was born. Rusev had defeated Randy Orton on a previous episode of SmackDown, leading to a celebration the following week. During the celebration, Rusev was given the key to Plovdiv, the day was declared as "Rusev Day," and the rest is history.

Kyle O'Reilly, Rocky Romero, And Matt Menard vs. Undisputed Kingdom Added To 4/20 AEW Rampage

Speaking to Planeta Wrestling, Rusev revealed that Rusev Day wasn't supposed to be an everyday celebration.

"It was a one-off. It was supposed to just be a celebration after I beat Randy Orton," revealed Rusev. "A celebration of Rusev Day, proclaiming it, and that was it. A few weeks after, I kept saying it and people were digging it. I was backstage doing it with New Day. Aiden English singing the praises of Rusev Day helped. People just loved the whole concept of it. So it became pretty big."

Rusev Day ended up becoming one of the biggest rallying cries in WWE and helped turn Rusev from "evil foreign heel" to beloved babyface. Rusev will hope for a happy Rusev Day on Sunday when he defends his United States title against Shinsuke Nakamura at WWE Royal Rumble.

Get exclusive pro wrestling content on Fightful Select, our premium news service! Click here to learn more.