Vince McMahon told Rusev that fans were mocking him when they chanted "Rusev Day"
Rusev was recently a guest on Ryback's podcast. During his appearance, Rusev opened up about wanting to be a versatile performer like Kurt Angle but revealed that he was repeatedly told to act a certain way.
The most surprising thing Rusev revealed was that Vince McMahon once told him that fans were mocking him when they chanted "Rusev Day":
Why can't I do that? Why can't I show my personality backstage? Why can't I go in the ring and do what I do? Then I was told, 'Don't look at the people, don't smile, don't do this.' Really? Everything I'm doing, it seems the people are liking it. Why am I getting over and you're telling me to do the opposite? I didn't understand, I had a conversation with Vince and he told me that with Rusev Day, they were just mocking me, they didn't mean it. H/T: Fightful
Rusev opens up about Vince McMahon's thoughts on "Rusev Day" chants
Rusev went into further details about Vince McMahon and WWE higher-up's thoughts on Rusev Day. He said that despite fans getting behind him, WWE management just didn't believe in it. He was told in a meeting that fans were messing with him when they chanted "Rusev Day" and that they didn't actually mean it. Rusev added that despite hearing out what Vince McMahon had to say, he just knew what they were saying wasn't true:
Rusev Day was going on. There was no way the office didn't notice because it was before, after, during the show. It was everywhere. I always felt defeated because what was I doing it for? It was all competition and finally, I got to a point of, 'wow, we're doing something right.' There's no way it wasn't noticed. The first meeting it was, 'they're ***king with you, they don't mean what they're saying.' I respect and I listen because I always want to listen from Vince. He had everybody on his side. In my mind, I knew it wasn't true.
Rusev went on to add that he got so frustrated at not being used, despite being over with fans, he ended up yelling at a WWE writer for the first time in sheer frustration.