Rusev Will Regain Major Momentum as a Goon for the Authority

As The Authority's newest henchman, Rusev finds himself traded from a laughingstock team to a playoff contender.

When The Bulgarian Brute returned on Monday's WWE Raw, a swift kick to Roman Reigns' jaw served as his first statement. And with that, he moves on from a hackneyed, go-nowhere feud against Dolph Ziggler to a more prominent and promising position.

Rusev will go back to being a bruiser and a freight train focused on his next collision. That's great news for a heel who looked to be spiraling into comedy-wrestler territory before his biceps injury.

The first Raw after Survivor Series opened with Triple H and Stephanie McMahon congratulating the new WWE champ, Sheamus. Reigns, though, soon emerged with bad intentions. Fists at the ready, he demanded a title shot, looking to earn back the gold he had held the night before for just five minutes, 15 seconds.

The Authority, however, clearly came prepared.

Rusev pounced on Reigns. He laid out The Authority's new archenemy.

More moments like this are on the way. With Reigns in an ongoing war with WWE's corporate faction, Rusev will receive a bounty of high-profile opportunities.

Just look at what being The Game's right-hand man did for Kane.

As the Director of Operations, Kane constantly stood under the spotlight. He was regularly a part of Raw's opening segment. He aided Seth Rollins in seizing the WWE World Heavyweight Championship and then stood by his side in main event stories.

Eventually, he collided with the champ, garnering a world title shot at Hell in a Cell that he wouldn't have had if not for his involvement with The Authority.

Rusev won't don a suit and tie, but a similar path awaits him.

WWE has leaned on The Authority angle since its inception in 2013. It's consistently at the heart of one of the bigger narratives going. And now The Bulgarian Brute will be a part of that.

He will be Triple H's proxy, his attack dog and Sheamus' bodyguard. This new line of work already earned him the main event slot on Monday's Raw.

Beyond that, should Reigns win the world championship, it's likely that Rusev will be sent after the black-clad babyface to try to win the belt back for The Authority. He stands a great chance of being Reigns' transitional opponent before WrestleMania.

And as former WWE writer Andrew Goldstein pointed out, Rusev is a better henchman option than Big Show and Kane:

WWE surely knows that. Rather than plug in plodding guys who are past their prime, it now has one of its most promising stars ready to be sent into battle. That should lead the company to being more confident about entering him into tag team matches against Reigns and whoever else challenges The Authority.

Even if Rusev loses the majority of those matches, he will be in a much better place than he was months ago.

After losing his manager/love interest Lana to Ziggler, he replaced her with Summer Rae. A melodrama soon unfolded where Rusev played the brokenhearted beast.

Rather than tearing apart his prey in front of a live audience, he was busy suffering slaps from Lana, offering Summer a fish in a box and fielding a wedding proposal.

That story didn't allow him to be his best. He was asked to play scenes for laughs and to be Lana's punching bag. He spent more time flirting than fighting.

That won't be the case with his new role. The Authority won't require him to make puppy-dog eyes. It will ask him to bash its enemies into the mat.

For Rusev, that means more high-quality matches like the one he had with Reigns Monday night. It means being a part of WWE's main storyline. It means colliding with the No. 1 contender rather than a midcarder in Ziggler and his former valet.

This is Rusev's chance to regain his footing. He can remind the audience just how compelling he can be when asked to be a destructive force.

Credit: WWE.com

For that to work most effectively, though, he can't limit his targets to Reigns. The Authority's tyranny has to lead to more rebels pushing back. That would give Rusev more work to do and more chances to crack his boot against chins.

His image was in great need of repair when he went down with an injury. Pairing him with up Sheamus and The Authority's other new goon, King Barrett, is a huge step in doing just that. WWE has a shot here to produce a memorable collection of villains.

As ProWrestling.net's Will Pruett tweeted, this alliance could be an entertaining one:

That's not something anyone said about Rusev's feud with Ziggler. But aligning with The Authority changes the conversation.

His tailspin is averted. He has since changed his trajectory. And The Authority will give him the wings necessary to maintain it.