Rusev has been missing from WWE programming since he lost a match against Je’Von Evans on the July 27 episode of Raw. The latest reporting indicates that the Bulgarian Brute has been away due to an undisclosed illness and is trying to get cleared to return soon.
Following that loss on Raw, a video spread online of Rusev quickly rolling out of the ring and walking out of the arena. To some fans, it looked like he was upset about losing and had no interest in sticking around the ringside area while
Evans celebrated. You can judge for yourself:
CJ Perry (fka Lana in WWE) shut down that rumor and speculation today in a new interview with NotSam Wrestling. Perry said Rusev was injured during the match and lost feeling in his arms. He was simply trying to get checked out by WWE’s medical team quickly after it was over.
Here is how she explained Rusev’s injury situation (via Fightful), where she briefly mentioned another issue he’s been dealing with, before revealing that he is now medically cleared:
“It was the Intuit Dome in LA; he had a match against Je’Von Evans, and in the match, something happened and his arms went completely numb. He had to roll outside of the ring and the refs were thinking about calling the match. He’s like, ‘I can’t feel my hands.’
I didn’t hear this; I was about ten rows back, and I missed it, but someone got on camera and went viral on Twitter. The fans were debating and fighting each other because some were like, ‘He’s really hurt and injured.’ Some were like, ‘He just doesn’t want to lose.’ He took a couple of seconds outside, and when the ref was like, ‘We’re going to call the match. Your hands are going numb.’ Once he had feeling, he was like, ‘No.’ He rolled in and finished the match.
Those rumors are not true when people are like, ‘He doesn’t want to put people over.’ That’s not accurate and not true. He’s always there to do business. He always fights for a good story. That’s how people get over. He finished the match. He was in a lot of pain and tried to get out the ring as quick as possible and get back to medical.
That’s when the rumors started. I saw the internet reported the true story, and that was encouraging. It had nothing to do with the loss. He could’ve had WWE stop the match and not lose, but he chose to roll back in the ring and do what’s right for business. He just had to get back to the back as quick as possible because he wasn’t well at the time. He went to the PC last week and got cleared. He had a little bit of another issue with health going on, but he’s cleared now.”
Does Perry’s explanation for Rusev’s behavior make sense to you? Will you be paying closer attention to Rusev’s immediate reaction the next time he loses a match on Raw? Give me your take on this story in the comments below, Cagesiders.
