Miro Joked About Using ‘Ruseff’ As His Post-WWE Name, But He’s Most Comfortable Being Himself And Not Petty
Miro says he just wants to be himself as he embarks on his career with All Elite Wrestling.
When The Best Man made his AEW Dynamite debut, he began using his real first name instead of a gimmick or one closely resembling his name in WWE. As he told Gary Cassidy of Inside The Ropes, he joked about going as “Ruseff” once he left WWE but realized he’d rather be himself because that’s when you’re most successful.
“No, but the only thing… When I was joking about when I was in WWE, I was like, ‘When I leave here, I’m going to be Rusev with a double F!’ But then I thought, ‘This is just so petty because this is not me,’ and I really wanted it to be me because I believe we perform best when we feel most comfortable – and I just feel most comfortable just being myself.”
Miro went on to talk about his current storyline that sees him aligned with Kip Sabian in their fight against Best Friends over A.L.A.N. the arcade cabinet. Miro says he’s comfortable in any role and tries to be a nice guy, but the desecration of Kip wedding gift was the final straw.
“I can play any role, don’t get me wrong but I feel like, as human beings, we’re not waking up every day being bad. We don’t just go to the store, thinking, ‘I’m going to look mean and I’m going to be bad.’ We don’t do that. So I came in and I had nothing but good intentions. I was a nice guy! Now, I may be a nice guy, but once you damage – on purpose – a personal property, and not just a personal property, it’s a gift. It’s a gift for the man’s first wedding. He’s in love, man! And you’re going to break that. Well, that’s not going to go unnoticed or unpunished. It’s very unfortunate it had to come down to this way, but like I said, we don’t just wake up mad all the time. I was a nice, happy guy, but this definitely was the straw that broke the camel’s back.”