Matthew Rehwoldt On WWE’s Hesitancy To Push Rusev Day, WWE/DDT Pro Wrestling

In a recent interview with Steve Fall of “The Ten Count” podcast, Matthew Rehwoldt recalled WWE’s hesitancy to push the ‘Rusev Day’ tag team as babyfaces. Rehwoldt, however, denied that WWE intentionally attempted to bury them. He said,

“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. However, where the issue came in, and I stand by this, is that once Vince views you in one way, it’s very hard to change that view, especially if he likes you as XYZ. I think he liked Rusev a lot — as The Bulgarian Brute. So, that’s where our conflict came about, with how the booking went or whatever you want to call it. Because, again, they made merch for Rusev Day, they put us on the shows. They just never really pulled the trigger. There were so many matches where Rusev would do the whole babyface comeback but he’d get yelled at: ‘You’re not a babyface!’ Again, it’s just how Vince saw Rusev. Vince legitimately thought they were making fun of us…like the audience was just mocking us with Rusev Day chants. That’s the kind of mentality we were butting up against.”

DDT Pro Wrestling has announced that a former WWE Superstar will compete for the DDT Universal Championship, currently held by Tetsuya Endo, later in July.

The mystery talent’s identity will be revealed at the May 21 DDT show at Korakuen Hall.

The title match will take place at Ryogoku Sumo Hall on July 23.

You can check out the official announcement below:

“Immediately after the UNIVERSAL title match, an unknown former WWE Superstar will challenge for the title at the July 23rd Ryogoku Sumo Hall show

　Who is it? We’ll know at the May 21st Korakuen Hall show perhaps #WrestlePeterPan #ddtpro”

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NEWS📢
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Immediately after the UNIVERSAL title match, an unknown former WWE Superstar will challenge for the title at the July 23rd Ryogoku Sumo Hall show ‼　

Who is it? We’ll know at the May 21st Korakuen Hall show perhaps⁉#WrestlePeterPan #ddtpro pic.twitter.com/knsL8SLniD

— DDT Pro-Wrestling (English) (@ddtproENG) May 3, 2023

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