Big Show vs. Rusev: Winner and Reaction from 2014 Hell in a Cell

Rusev's dominance over the WWE roster continued Sunday night at Hell in a Cell as the Bulgarian Brute defeated Big Show.

Rusev had previously run through a number of quality opponents, including Jack Swagger and Mark Henry. He and his manager, Lana, have used that impressive streak as a platform to spread Russian propaganda while simultaneously disrespecting the U.S.

In rather impressive fashion, Rusev was tasked with overcoming both men Sunday to secure the victory, as Henry attempted to run interference late in the match—to no avail, though, as Big Show eventually tapped to The Accolade.

After, Rusev was the subject of much praise, including this note from Scott Fishman of the South Florida Sun Sentinel:

Adam Martin of Wrestleview.com noted the encouraging path of Rusev's upward trajectory:

Bleacher Report's Big Nasty echoed these sentiments:

After seeing Rusev defeat The World's Strongest Man, The World's Largest Athlete decided to step up to the plate. Big Show and Rusev proceeded to trade disqualification victories leading up to Hell in a Cell, but the most notable build came on the go-home edition of Raw.

Just when Rusev was about to tear down the American flag, a soldier entered the ring, only for Rusev to knock him out cold with a kick to the head.

After that, Big Show made no effort to hide his rage, according to WWE Universe on Twitter:

With that said, Rusev made a threat of his own as he vowed to humble his veteran opponent and improve upon his nearly flawless record:

Rusev and Lana have certainly talked the talk since arriving on the main roster earlier this year, but they have walked the walk as well. Big Show represented Rusev's most credible opponent to this point, but even he was no match for The Super Athlete.

WWE has often struggled to build compelling characters and storylines within the midcard over the past several years. That remains an issue to some degree, but the creative team has invested heavily in Rusev and Lana by giving them ample television time on a weekly basis.

In fact, the Russian antagonists were even given the rare honor of appearing in a Raw segment with The Rock a few weeks ago.

The foreign duo has generated a ton of heat as well, and beating a legitimate giant with a track record of success such as Big Show is most definitely another big feather in Rusev's cap.

Conventional wisdom suggests that Rusev should continue to win in dominant fashion between now and WrestleMania XXXI before engaging in a huge match with a transcendent talent such as John Cena.

WrestleMania is still five months away, but Rusev's win at Hell in a Cell is yet another clue that there are big plans in store for him. He may be the company's top monster heel aside from Brock Lesnar right now, and it can't afford to squander that type of momentum.

As for Big Show, he was utilized to absolute perfection on Sunday and during the entire build toward the pay-per-view. He is no longer a top guy in WWE, but his resume speaks for itself, and beating him is still a meaningful feat due to his physical size and stature within the business.

The loss doesn't do much of anything to damage Big Show, especially because Rusev has been built into a seemingly unstoppable force. Even if WWE wants to use The World's Largest Athlete in a more prominent role moving forward, it won't take much effort to make him look strong.

Since there aren't many physically imposing or U.S.-centric performers left on the roster for Rusev to face at this point, it will be interesting to see if his rivalry with Big Show carries over to Survivor Series.

It is unlikely that most fans want to see another singles match between the two combatants, so perhaps the writers can book a traditional Survivor Series elimination match with Rusev and Big Show captaining teams.

Whatever the case, WWE was fundamentally correct in putting Rusev over at Hell in a Cell. He has arguably been handled better than anyone else on the roster since his debut, and that continued Sunday night.

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