Rusev Should Dominate John Cena Heading into WWE WrestleMania 31

Rusev has been booked as one of the top heels in the WWE since making his debut with the company, but he was utterly decimated by John Cena on Monday’s episode of Raw before his manager Lana was forced to accept a WrestleMania 31 match.

Cena’s display of ruthless aggression has set this feud back considerably.

Building Rusev to look like a viable challenger against the 15-time world champion has been the key to success in this entire feud, and after Cena passed out to the Russian sympathizer at Fastlane, the WWE had the chance to build something special heading into WrestleMania.

With Rusev holding control after the pay-per-view, the stage was set for an exciting build to a secondary storyline, but Cena and the WWE Creative Team went overboard and made the United States champion look like a fool by passing out and tapping out in the same segment.

Even wrestlers like Curtis Axel are booked better than Rusev was Monday.

While the idea of forcing Rusev’s manager Lana to give Cena the match he wanted at WrestleMania is an acceptable concept, making the current champion—who has not lost by pinfall or submission—pass out and tap out resulted in Rusev looking incredibly weak.

For the next two weeks, the build should be centered around how Rusev will make Cena pay for his actions. If Cena is going to earn the victory at WrestleMania as most expect, Rusev and Lana should look almost unbeatable by getting the better of the challenger physically and mentally.

There is no shame in losing to Cena at WrestleMania. It has happened to the best wrestlers in the world, but the key is being booked to benefit from the loss. Some stars are never given the chance to shine following a defeat at the hands of Cena, and the entire storyline becomes moot when neither competitor gains anything from the program.

To avoid further ruining all of the build that helped Rusev even be a consideration to fight Cena at WrestleMania, the Russian sympathizer must tap into his own ruthless aggression to get the upper hand.

The next two episodes of Raw must feature Rusev treating Cena the same way he was treated this week; with utter disregard to the perception of his character.

Any chance of winning at WrestleMania that Rusev had was flushed down the toilet in the segment Monday, but two solid weeks of the champion dominating the challenger will repair some of the damage caused by Cena.

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