Rusev vs. Roman Reigns Announced for WWE SummerSlam 2016

WWE announced Monday night that Rusev will put the United States Championship on the line against Roman Reigns at SummerSlam on Aug. 21.

Rusev successfully defended the U.S. title against Cesaro on Raw. Earlier in the night, Reigns crashed Rusev's post-wedding celebration with his wife, Lana.

WWE shared a replay of the altercation:

Then, after he defeated Cesaro, Rusev took a Spear from Reigns outside the ring, via WWE:

Wrestling for a secondary singles title is a nice change of pace for Reigns. He could compete for the WWE Championship for only so long before that arc had run its course. Reigns' wellness-policy violation in June may have hastened his exit from the main event scene.

It was shocking when Finn Balor beat Reigns on the July 25 edition of Raw to earn a WWE Universal Championship shot against Seth Rollins at SummerSlam:

Bumping Reigns down into a feud with Rusev may be a good way for WWE to get some of his vocal critics back on his side. The level of scrutiny won't be as high since he's not vying for the top title in the company.

Rusev is also a great foil for Reigns in the ring.

Reigns excels when he's able to let loose and get physical. His match against Brock Lesnar at WrestleMania 31 was the best of his career to date, largely because he and Lesnar unloaded on each other. It's rare that a wrestler can look stronger in defeat, but that's what happened with Reigns in that clash.

Rusev isn't in the same class as Lesnar, but he's a similar wrestler. And like Reigns, he could benefit from a feud in which he matches up against a powerhouse. Beating up Zack Ryder isn't the way for The Bulgarian Brute to become a monster heel again.

Until WWE makes a concerted long-term effort to elevate its secondary titles again, it's easy to question whether Rusev-Reigns will help either wrestler. Plenty of U.S. title matches have looked interesting on paper but turned out to be underwhelming.

Assuming WWE still envisions Reigns as one of its top stars, though, this should be an interesting storyline to follow heading into SummerSlam.