Former WWE Superstar on why Vince McMahon dropped the ball on his alliance with Miro (fka Rusev)
Former WWE Superstar Matthew Rehwoldt, known to fans as Aiden English, has shed light on the idea that former AEW TNT Champion Miro's popular gimmick was squashed by management because it was massively over with fans.
Towards the end of 2017, every day was "Rusev Day," as Rusev and English formed an alliance during their time on Smackdown. As time went on, the gimmick became immensely popular with fans. Many wanted to see the current AEW star win the United States Championship at WrestleMania 34 in 2018.
However, WWE never pulled the trigger on either Rusev or Aiden English, as their alliance would end in September 2018 when English attacked The Bulgarian Brute and claimed to have had an affair with his wife Lana.
Remember how many times “Rusev Day” was chanted at Royal Rumble 2018? It was several times throughout the night. I was there in attendance that night and we all wanted him to win.
#RusevRumble #RusevDay https://t.co/GYjkl9fMGm
During an interview with WrestlingNews.co, the former Aiden English spoke openly about Rusev Day and how it never reached the heights everyone wanted it to. However, the former NXT Tag Team Champion denied the idea that WWE didn't like the fact that the gimmick got over with the fans by itself.
“I don’t feel it was a case of them spiting us, I think there’s a misnomer that if there’s a popular idea they didn’t intend, they just want to stomp it. No, because that’s bad business. If they truly felt that way, they would have split us up, squashed it, and Rusev would have gone on to do something else. They kept booking us, putting us on shows, and giving us promo time, so, they acknowledged that there’s something not to ignore." (H/T Wrestling Inc.)
Rehwoldt also claimed that the issue with the gimmick was that Vince McMahon initially liked Rusev as The Bulgarian Brute, meaning that it would be a challenge to get the Chairman to see the current AEW star in any other light.
Miro is still under contract with AEW
Despite not appearing on TV for nearly eight months at the time of writing, Miro is still an AEW performer, and there has been an update on what's happening with the former TNT Champion.
An update from the most recent edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter states that there are still no plans to bring The Redeemer back to television, despite not being injured or having any non-wrestling related ventures to fill his schedule.
@ThePWPulse Miro is my Hero! #AEW https://t.co/icC2E2EJGb
Miro's last match for AEW came at the All Out pay-per-view in September 2022, where he teamed up with Sting and Darby Allin to defeat The House of Black.
When do you think Miro will return to AEW? Let us know in the comments section down below!