Rusev On Being Nervous Before His Debut, His First WrestleMania Match And More
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Miroslav Barnyashev, formerly known as WWE superstar Rusev, recently posted a YouTube video in which he discusses the times he felt nervous during his career. He named his debut at WWE Royal Rumble, his WrestleMania match with John Cena, his first time working with The Big Show, and his Casket Match with The Undertaker as the only such occasions. Rusev described the natural jitters he got before his debut before he dove into the specific reasons why he was nervous when he first worked with The Big Show and The Undertaker.
He said his grand WrestleMania entrance made him even more anxious. “Just because it’s your first WrestleMania and you have this huge entrance with a tank and we had some good stuff so I was nervous then as well,” said Rusev.
He then reflected on working with The Big Show. “My other nervous moment was the first time I worked with Big Show and it was one of these things, he was like, ‘Hey, I’ll see you in the ring,’ that was it,” said Rusev. “I just told him backstage, you know, he’s a large man and I love Show, like Big Show is one of my favorite dudes ever, and he’s like, ‘Yeah, I’ll see you in the ring.’ That was it and here I am, six months on the road, working with a freaking giant that I’ve never worked before, you know. And it’s not just like if you work somebody you’ve never wrestled before, you know, you’re working with a freaking giant. Even though he’s the best giant ever in history, still he’s The Big Show, and it’s not the same as working a regular person, and I was really nervous for that. But we did great.”
Finally, Rusev looked back on his Casket Match with The Undertaker and said his respect for The Phenom contributed to his nervousness. “I was nervous before ‘Taker, again because once again it was one of these things, ‘I’ll see you in the ring’,” said Rusev. “And I was nervous, it’s just because you know, it’s ‘Taker, and we’ve never touched before. We all have the respect of ‘Taker, obviously, and he’s just like, ‘Hey, I’ll see you there.’ And there’s a casket. First of all, I’ve haven’t even been in a casket, ever. I don’t think any of y’all have ever been in a casket either, and then they locked me there with another dude, with Aiden [English], so that was fun.”
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