Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: WWE Getting It Right with Rusev

1. Rusev's Rise Continues to Be One of 2014's Bright Spots

WWE has nailed Rusev's rookie year.

With just over a month left in the bruiser's first year on the main roster, he is set to enter the main event for Survivor Series, momentum in his grip, the United States Championship draped over his shoulder. Hard-hitting ring work and straightforward storytelling have led the former NXT prospect to a spot Xavier Woods and Bo Dallas have every right to be envious of.

The company has built him up to be a convincing monster, a wrecking ball on the rise.

He took a logical journey that began with trouncing low-card fodder and saw him travel up WWE's food chain in search of new prey. He moved from Zack Ryder to Big E to Jack Swagger to Mark Henry. At each stage, he met more resistance.

The matches have gotten better each time as well. Rusev is establishing himself as one of WWE's most reliable brawlers, his bouts like car crashes.

WWE has leaned on a long-used method of introducing a newcomer in Rusev's early career.

Let him pile up wins unscathed until the audience is wondering who can beat him. Have him produce some hate-inspiring moments, such as blindsiding a uniformed soldier. Place a midcard championship around his waist and make it hard to imagine anyone taking it from him. 

Along the way, WWE wisely took a detour from the expected, letting him have a faceoff with The Rock. That honor would usually go to a guy like John Cena, but WWE has shown that it's committed to investing in Rusev.

That's a welcome move. WWE cannot continue to have the same rotation of familiar names at the top.  

Rusev is closing in on the upper portion of the card thanks to on-the-money booking and in-ring action that would make Dick the Bruiser proud.

2. Grumpy Cat Is Coming for Some Reason

The people in charge of selecting Raw's guest stars need to be let go.

This year, WWE has inexplicably invited Nene Leakes, Hoda Kotb, Kathie Lee Gifford and Joe Manganiello. Don't feel bad if you haven't heard of any of those people. 

The company is going with an even bigger head-scratcher next week. Grumpy Cat is coming to Raw.

This is not a headline from Kayfabe News. It comes from WWE itself:

In the midst of desperately trying to promote the WWE Network and on the go-home show for one of the biggest pay-per-views, this is what WWE rolls with? Somebody backstage is completely out of touch. This is about as far from what wrestling fans care about as you can get.

WWE might as well be opening Raw with a picture of a middle finger. 

3. The Power of the Curb Stomp

No move has been made to look as devastating as the Curb Stomp has been lately.

Seth Rollins used it (and a stack of cinder blocks) to put Dean Ambrose out of action earlier this year. When Triple H needed to punish and injure Randy Orton, he had Rollins deliver the Curb Stomp atop ring steps.

Now, Jack Swagger has gone from being on John Cena's Survivor Series team to suffering the same fate as those men. 

The Curb Stomp has been presented as a powerful weapon, one that is elevating Rollins. WWE should avoid having people kick out of it for a long time. Let it be something that makes foes fearful. Let it continue to make Rollins a dangerous man.

4. Throwback Video of the Week: Adrian Street

His bickering with The Bunny is hinting at a heel turn for Adam Rose. He's shown a nastier side of himself, a touch like his old Leo Kruger persona.

It may seem impossible to make Rose's goofy character a heel, but Adrian Street provided the blueprint for how to do it years ago.

He was flamboyant, flashy and, underneath all that glitter and makeup, a beast of prey. Rose would do well to do some Street-centric film study to see how he can merge viciousness with his party-goer gimmick.

5. Survivor Series Leaders

John Cena will soon join a select group of Superstars. Only a handful of wrestlers have had more than one Survivor Series team named after them:

• Randy Orton—2004, 2008, 2009, 2011
• Shawn Michaels—1993, 1995, 2008
• Hulk Hogan—1989, 1990
• Ultimate Warrior—1989, 1990
• Triple H—2004, 2007 
• Kurt Angle—2003, 2004
• John Cena—2006, 2014

Cena has a ways to go to catch Orton, but with as many high-profile opportunities as he gets, he has a good shot at doing so. That is, of course, unless he's busy for the next seven or eight Survivor Series nearing 20 reigns as world champ.

6. NXT's Tag Team Division Now Deeper Than the Main Roster's

It has long been true that if you want to watch high-quality women's wrestling in WWE, you turn to NXT. That's becoming increasingly true for tag team action as well.

Finn Balor's apparent partnership with Hideo Itami gives NXT a superbly talented duo with plenty of international credentials.

The main roster could use a duo like that. The tag team division is so thin right now that Los Matadores are legitimate title contenders.

And when those bullfighters take aim at a pair of opponents, Hornswoggle inevitably comes out. He joined Mizdow and The Miz on Monday's Raw, making for a display of ridiculousness.

The NXT tag team department has a bit of a novelty act in The Vaudevillains, but they are presented more seriously than Los Matadores and El Torito. The division also boasts an improving team of Wesley Blake and Buddy Murphy, the thrilling Lucha Dragons, The Ascension, and the throwback duo dubbed The Mechanics.

Add the fact that Jason Jordan has recently been working with Olympic wrestler Chad Gable, and fans of tag team wrestling are compelled to make NXT part of their weekly routine. 

7. Dean Ambrose's Hot Streak

Ambrose is on a Cena-like run right now.

Since the beginning of July, Ambrose has gone 13-5 in one-on-one action. He hasn't lost to anyone not named Rollins in those types of matches since Cesaro earned a disqualification win on July 21.

It's not as if Cesaro looked like the victor, though. Ambrose simply went nuts and brought a chair into the mix.

Besides the fact that he's knocking off big names such as Alberto Del Rio, Orton and Cena in this current stretch, it's worth noting how WWE is handling his losses. He's getting the treatment of a top babyface in that his opponents rarely beat him cleanly.

At Hell in a Cell, Bray Wyatt attacked him to set up Rollins' win. Kane held down Ambrose during a Falls Count Anywhere match to assist Rollins. Ambrose lost at SummerSlam thanks to getting cracked in the mug with a briefcase.

His recent record speaks to how WWE views him. 

Match statistics courtesy of CageMatch.net.

8. Cage Match Classics

Friday's SmackDown twice sent Superstars inside the steel cage. Neither The Usos' feud with Goldust and Stardust nor Dolph Ziggler's rivalry with Kane felt ready for that escalation of violence, but they're both solid, fun matches.

If that got you in the mood to see more flesh smacking against steel, be sure to seek out these classics in the cage:

• Stan Hansen vs. Bruno Sammartino: August 6, 1976
• Ultimate Warrior vs. Rick Rude: SummerSlam 1990
• Bret Hart vs. Owen Hart: SummerSlam 1994
• Chris Benoit vs. Kurt Angle: Raw—June 11, 2001
• Chris Jericho vs. Edge: Raw—May 10, 2004

9. Booking Suggestion: Erick Rowan

The last editions of Raw and SmackDown have hinted that WWE is gearing up for a stalker angle with Rowan. He has been directing creepiness Renee Young's way.

There's a dead-in-the-water feel to that story already. 

Instead, turn him babyface. Make him a protector of the innocent. Whenever a heel abuses a foe after a match, when The Authority has a hero battling in a Handicap match, Rowan comes out to save them.

Credit: WWE.com

There's a simplicity to the angle that requires little speech from Rowan—no need to lean on his below-average mic skills.

Since Luke Harper has decided to side with The Authority, there's a natural path to those two former partners going at it eventually. Rowan fights back when Triple H and Co. abuse their power. Harper is right there, a corporate lackey.

10. Jim Ross on Wrestler Evolution

Rusev's current roll can't last without WWE continuing to find ways to showcase him or without him continuing to grow. The art of wrestling is mighty difficult.

Speaking about Roman Reigns, Jim Ross offered advice on his blog that Rusev, Ambrose and every in-ring warrior should take to heart: "No great pro wrestler ever quits learning, because as in live (sic) if we quit evolving and improving we begin the 'dying process.'"