WWE star Rusev has elaborated on the reasons behind his return in 2025 following a multi-year run in AEW.
On the Raw after WrestleMania 41, the former United States Champion made his return to the company following weeks of speculation surrounding his wrestling future. From there, Rusev has feuded with Sheamus and challenged for the Intercontinental Championship multiple times. On the latest episode of Raw, The Bulgarian powerhouse was seen standing face-to-face with Oba Femi, potentially setting up a future match between the two.
While speaking with Chris Van Vliet, Rusev stated that the main reason that he wanted to return was because he wanted to wrestle, adding that he wanted to mix it up with the stacked WWE roster:
“I wanted to wrestle. I wanted to mix it up with the best. I know that the roster is stacked. I don’t remember the last time it was this stacked, but I just want to mix it with everybody. I wanted to wrestle more and more, and all these European tours and everything. I love all that, I love the grind. Because when we first started, we were five days on the road, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, you go home Wednesday, you’re out on the road again on Friday. And that’s just how life was, as hard as it was, that’s how you get better, just by putting in the work. Because every day you work different towns, you travel. Now the people can only hear about that and be like, Oh, really, that’s what it was. It was so cool. Wrestling, getting beaten up, getting the rental car driving three hours to the next town, getting the hotel, waking up, working out, doing the same thing, makes you feel like a real professional wrestler. I miss the grind.”
Also in the interview, the Raw star, 40, also spoke about his in-ring future, stating that he will assess how he feels in 5 years time:
“I said 45 and then reevaluate the body, see how it feels. But so far, I feel great. I haven’t felt that good in a long time, because it’s not like you have matches every day. So the body is way more protected. I take care of my body a lot more. I do a lot of stretching and massages. I eat a lot better. I train a lot smarter. So I just take care of my body, and I know that the body’s going to take care of me.”
When Did Rusev Get Released By WWE?
The former United States Champion was part of the very first round of pandemic releases that took place back in April 2020. Later that year, Rusev made his AEW debut under the name Miro in September of that year. Miro competed in his final AEW match in December 2023, and was off TV until his AEW release in the spring of 2025.
Featured image: WWE
