In a recent interview with Denise Salcedo, Rusev explained his decision to return to WWE earlier this year, stating he came back after proving to himself that he was “the best in the world” during his tenure with All Elite Wrestling. “The Redeemer” made his WWE comeback in April and has now made it clear that his ultimate goal is to capture the World Heavyweight Championship.
Rusev detailed that his time away was a crucial period of growth, where he applied the lessons learned from his first WWE run against veterans like John Cena and Big Show. He saw his AEW career as an experiment to validate his skills and build his confidence.
“All the experience from years earlier—what I had been taught by John Cena, by the Big Show, by all the amazing superstars I faced in WWE—I had to put that to the test in AEW,” Rusev stated. “And after I did that, after I experimented, after I proved to myself that I was the best one there, I thought it was time to come back. No doubt about it. Because I still have the goal to be a World Heavyweight Champion here in WWE.”
With his motivations now clear, Rusev’s immediate focus is on his heated rivalry with Sheamus. The two are scheduled to face each other tomorrow, August 31, at Clash in Paris in a “Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook Match” designed to settle their escalating feud. A prediction published on August 30 suggests Rusev is favored to win the brutal encounter.
The match is part of WWE’s first-ever Premium Live Event in France. The full card for the show, which was finalized on August 29, also features a World Heavyweight Championship Fatal 4-Way match between Seth Rollins, LA Knight, CM Punk, and Jey Uso, as well as a singles match between John Cena and Logan Paul.