Ryan Dilbert's 10-Count: Rusev Must Be a WWE SmackDown Centerpiece in 2018

1. Time to Start Celebrating Rusev Day

Rusev's barrel chest stretched out his Santa suit. He flung T-shirts out of a giant red bag and tossed them into the crowd. The powerhouse then stood in the ring with Aiden English, who donned a snowman costume.

This moment and the match that was set to start was supposed to be mere comic relief, but Rusev made it the latest evidence he should be among WWE SmackDown's top stars.

Rusev was set to play the jester again. His latest clash came about thanks to him throwing a pancake to the ground. On paper, it all sounded like a wrestler's nightmare.

However, the crowd gave The Bulgarian Brute a hero's welcome, passionately chanting "Rusev Day!" 

It hasn't mattered what throwaway angle WWE has given him, Rusev has made it work. Whether he's been asked to throw a fish in anger, talk up his own handsomeness or go to battle with The New Day dressed as Santa Claus, he has flourished. 

Rusev has proved himself to be charismatic, funny, engaging and simply a fun part of the show. Fansided's Christopher Novak summed it up well: "The dude is super entertaining. That much is certain."

The Lion of Bulgaria's pairing with English has plenty of promise. They can be the right blend of silly and intimidating in the way The New Day has been in the past few years.

Rusev would also make for a compelling cocky babyface. He would be a good fit as the next big threat to AJ Styles' WWE Championship. From kicking someone's head in to goofing around backstage, he's shown he can succeed in various ways. 

To this point, though, WWE hasn't made him a high enough priority.

His SummerSlam resume is indicative of that. Rusev suffered a 10-second loss to Randy Orton at this year's event. At SummerSlam 2016, he and Roman Reigns didn't even start their match, instead brawling outside the ring until referees quelled the chaos.

It's been great to see how much Rusev can do with so little, but it's time to start giving him more. 
Brandon Stroud of Uproxx isn't alone in wanting to see him win more often:

2018 should be the year of Rusev's rise. Rather than be filler or a funny supporting act, he needs to be a major part of SmackDown. It's clear the fans have bought in on the Bulgarian.

The main event scene simply needs more Rusev.

2. The Showoff's Crowded Mantle

Being champion has been a familiar feeling for Dolph Ziggler.

He claimed his latest title at Sunday's Clash of the Champions, taking the United States Championship for the second time. As he laid out on Tuesday's SmackDown, he has also won the World Heavyweight Championship and the intercontinental title.

His talk of success wasn't all hot air.

Ziggler's championship resume, per CageMatch.net, is quite impressive. He now has 10 total title reigns on the main roster to his name. That's the same figure Daniel Bryan achieved.

The Showoff has held a championship in each of the last five years, and he's won at least one title match this decade except for 2012 and 2015. He is also tied for the third-most IC title wins ever with five, per WWE.com.

Not bad for a guy who went from being Kerwin White's caddy to a cheerleader.

3. Throwback Video of the Week: Divas Battle Royal

On Jan. 28, WWE will again make history as it hosts the first women's Royal Rumble. 

While some may focus on the clunkiness of the announcement that set up the bout on Monday's Raw, one can't understate how far things have come in the women's division. This match wouldn't have seemed possible just a few years ago. 

For a reminder of the kind of bouts the women used to be relegated to, take a look at the Divas Red Carpet Dress to Impress Battle Royal in 2010:

There was more talk about how hot the women look than the stakes at hand, namely a shot at Maryse and the Divas Championship. The announcers gawked more than they commentated; there was little chance for any of these wrestlers to do anything of consequence.

Whatever flaws the women's Rumble will have, it will be light years ahead of this junk.

4. Let Loose the Dogs of War

War Machine is coming. And the WWE tag team scene is going to get a hell of a boost because of it.

Mike Johnson of PWInsider reported that along with Ricochet, Hanson and Raymond Rowe of War Machine are expected to join WWE in January.

The big, steamrolling bruisers have been a hit with Ring of Honor and as part of New Japan Pro Wrestling. They're powerful, fearsome, nasty; two bears roaming the forests looking for a fight. 

War Machine going up against the likes of The Authors of Pain, Heavy Machinery and The Bludgeon Brothers is going to be electric, smashmouth fun. And the momentum the tag team division churned up in 2017 may soon be topped in 2018.

5. Worst Fan of the Year

The Crappiest WWE Fan Hall of Fame has a new potential inductee.

At Tuesday's 205 Live, someone from the audience threw a water bottle into Kalisto's face. The moronic decision led to security catching the culprit, as Ryan Satin of Pro Wrestling Sheet reported.

This bottle-thrower will surely be banned from WWE events, but the proper punishment should be to have to go five minutes in the ring with Braun Strowman.

6. Congrats to the Peacock

Dalton Castle is the new Ring of Honor top dog and that's a tremendous thing. The flamboyant fighter defeated Cody Rhodes for the ROH World Championship at the Final Battle pay-per-view over the weekend. 

Castle is an engrossing figure, a compelling character and a star in the making. 

The Peacock of Professional Wrestling the type of standout performer who deserves to be on the marquee. He's fun to watch in the ring and has enough charisma to power a small town. 

Seeing what he does with the title around his waist is going to be something else.

7. Big E's Best

Big E has been slamming Superstars to the canvas on Raw and SmackDown for a good while now. As The New Day's powerhouse pointed out, he is celebrating five years as part of the WWE roster:

Check out these clips and seek out the full matches for some of Big E's top contributions to the WWE library: 

• Big E vs. Seth Rollins: NXT, Jan. 9, 2013
• Big E vs. Rusev: Money in the Bank 2014
• The New Day vs. The Lucha Dragons vs. The Usos: TLC 2015
• The New Day vs. Cesaro and Sheamus: Roadblock End of the Line 2016
• The New Day vs. The Usos: Hell in a Cell 2017

He has spent a large chunk of that time as part of The New Day, so it's not surprising many of his best performances have come alongside his colorful crew.

During his singles run, though, he showed a ton of promise, and WWE would be wise to let him loose on his own before long.

8. The Devil's Favorite Long Shot

Kane will get his crack at the Universal Championship at the Royal Rumble. The Big Red Machine will battle both Braun Strowman and Brock Lesnar at the PPV in a Triple Threat match.

That kind of bout hasn't been kind to Kane in the past.

He's often played the fall guy in multi-wrestler contests. Kane is 0-11 in Fatal 4-Way bouts and fared only somewhat better in Triple Threat matches where he is 5-10, per CageMatch.net. That adds up to a .192 winning percentage.

Kane hasn't won a Triple Threat clash since 2009 when he knocked off Mike Knox and Rey Mysterio. 

This time around, he will be the biggest underdog in the fight. Should the big man win against Lesnar and Strowman, it would mark his first world-title win in eight years. 

9. Meet The Slaters Again

The spotlight is thankfully set to point at Rhyno and Heath Slater once more.

The highly underused tag team has been a non-factor since moving to Raw. A loss to The Revival on Monday's show, though, seemed to have woken them up.

Rhyno talked about toughening up his partner, telling him they needed to make a change. 

WWE has to follow this up with scenes of these two training. Rhyno and Slater can parody the most famous training montages from Rocky IV to Karate Kid. Comedy will ensue and an underappreciated duo will get to entertain again.

This has a good chance to be Raw's answer to the Fashion Files.

10. Gran Akuma on Judging Wrestling

The Young Bucks found themselves at the center of controversy, a familiar place for the popular tag team.

A clip of a dropkick sequence during their six-man tag team match at Ring Of Honor's Final Battle PPV made the rounds on social media. Some dismissed it as acrobatics and claimed it wasn't real pro wrestling. UFC star Daniel Cormier was among those who took issue with the spot.

The debate about what wrestling is and should be emerged once more. Independent wrestler Gran Akuma offered a wise way to look at it all:

If fans are glued to the action, if the arena is full and everyone is buzzing about what they saw afterward, who's to say a match wasn't a success because it had too many flips, not enough selling or off-the-wall comedy elements?   

Wrestling isn't a single species, it's a whole kingdom where spot monkeys live on the same plane as hard-hitting, monstrous predators.

Ryan Dilbert is Bleacher Report's Lead WWE Writer. Follow him on Twitter (@ryandilbert).