Since his return to WWE the night after WrestleMania 41, Rusev has carved a path of destruction on Monday Night Raw, but his stated focus isn’t on championships. In a recent interview with VoxCatch, the Bulgarian Brute explained his main goal is to motivate a new generation of superstars who he feels have become complacent.
“Well, they’ve changed and they are keep changing. My main goal was, you know, to show these young kids that they need to take advantage of the opportunity they have… to show up every day, work hard and strive for more,” Rusev said. “Because I see a lot of them, they just are complacent. And I’ve been there and I know how they feel. So I wanted to help them.”
However, this veteran mindset coexists with a far more personal mission: being John Cena’s final opponent during his retirement tour this December. For Rusev, it’s a chance to settle a decade-old score. Cena was the one to end his year-long undefeated streak at WrestleMania 31, a fact that remains central to his motivation.
“He started my career, now I can end his, which is going to be very appropriate and—and karma always strikes back, you know, at the end of the day,” he stated.
Rusev is backing up the threat in the ring. Following a brutal Good Ol’ Donnybrook victory over Sheamus at Clash in Paris, he has continued his dominant run, with commentary noting he appears leaner and more agile than ever. He made it clear he has no intention of giving Cena a celebratory send-off, promising, “Will I hurt him? Yes, sir. Will I beat him? Yes, sir.”