WWE Dropped the Ball with Rusev vs. Ryback at WrestleMania 31

Since his arrival on the scene the night after WrestleMania 30, Rusev has proved to be an unstoppable force in WWE. From Jack Swagger to Mark Henry to Big Show, he has annihilated everyone who has stepped foot in his path of destruction, embarking on an undefeated streak in singles competition that has yet to be broken.

Within months of his main-roster debut, he quickly ascended the ranks, sharing the ring with some of the biggest names in the business—including The Rock on the Oct. 6 Raw. He also knocked off Sheamus in November to capture the United States Championship, a title he's held hostage and maintained in his possession since then.

Lana, Rusev's seductive mouthpiece, has played a major factor in his success from the start. A sight for sore eyes, she's an excellent talker and knows exactly how to get under the fans' skin.

Granted, the villainous foreigner storyline has been done to death over the last three decades, but perhaps the best part about the act is how well they play their respective roles.

Unlike Vladimir Kozlov and others who received a similar push in the past, Rusev is an exceptional in-ring athlete, proving his worth in great matches against Big E, Swagger and Dean Ambrose. Moreover, he's been garnering great heat from the audience and is among the elite few true heels in WWE at the moment.

That said, it's a shame the sole reason Rusev has been built up so strongly is so he could be fed to John Cena.

As refreshing as it was to see Rusev go over Cena at WWE Fastlane, it was obvious this was done to give Rusev a big win before he finally loses to Cena at WrestleMania. There's always the chance they continue to push Rusev beyond this feud, but how well has that worked out for monster heels before him?

Worse yet, the Cena-Rusev feud feels so contrived; it came about after the Bulgarian Brut interrupted Cena's promo on the Royal Rumble post-show before transitioning to Rusev calling him an "old man."

Simply put, Ryback should have been in Cena's position instead.

WWE had a terrific thing going between Rusev and Ryback coming out of December's TLC pay-per-view, when Ryback first confronted the U.S. champ on the Dec. 15 Raw. Fans grew more anxious by the week to see the two collide in singles competition, but Ryback's "firing" in early January put the program on hold for the time being.

Upon Ryback's return to TV later that month, the feud was dropped all together.

On the Jan. 22 SmackDown, they contested a brief match where if Ryback won, he'd earn his way into the Royal Rumble match that Sunday. Despite emerging victorious via count-out, Ryback was never granted his rightful shot at the title, and they haven't crossed paths since.

Ryback did the unthinkable when he returned from injury last fall: He rejuvenated his career and made people care about him again. In turning face and reverting back to using his "Feed Me More" catchphrase, he's emerged as one of most popular stars on the roster right now.

A match with Rusev on the grandest stage of them all would have given Ryback the WrestleMania moment he deserves. However, due to Cena taking that spot, he's been relegated to working the Andre the Giant Memorial Battle Royal instead.

If there was any Superstar who deserved to be the one to end Rusev's year-long undefeated streak, it was Ryback. Needless to say, Cena doesn't need the big win, much like he shouldn't have been the one to hand Bray Wyatt his first singles defeat at last year's 'Mania.

While it's possible they rekindle the Ryback-Rusev rivalry following the event, it'd be too little, too late; they should have struck when the iron was hot. Plus, as noted, it looks like Rusev won't be coming out of The Show of Shows unscathed anyway.

It's great that Rusev is being given the opportunity to work with a top star at WrestleMania, and it simultaneously keeps Cena out of the main event mix for another year. Although we won't know until April, it just doesn't seem like this feud will be benefiting either Rusev or Cena in the long-term.

Ryback, however, would have received a major rub from being the one to unseat Rusev as United States champion, and the crowd would have popped huge for him hitting the "Shell Shocked" on the feared foreigner. Unfortunately, thanks to WWE missing the boat yet again, that ship has since sailed.

Graham Mirmina, aka Graham "GSM" Matthews, is a journalism major at Endicott College. Visit his website at Next Era Wrestling and "like" his official Facebook page to continue the conversation on all things wrestling.

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