You realize Rusev has lost by countout before, right? Apparently not.
And Curtis Axel winning the US Title right now is some straight up Vince Russo shit. Axel is merely a pawn inserted into this program for reasons beyond my understanding. Giving the US Title to him now would definitely make it a joke. It would make it seem like Cena beating Rusev for the US Title is a step down for Cena, so they had to get the title off Rusev before Cena beats him at WM31.
Literally the only way they could do it is to have the 3 way match at Raw. Rusev knocks out Cena somehow, Axel throws Rusev out of the ring and gets the pin. Rusev remains unpinned/submitted and he can be mad at Cena for costing him his title. It would work even better if Cena laid down for Axel, but I doubt they'd have his character do that.
A couple things
1) Didn't know he's lost by countout before (with exception to Survivor Series.) And it doesn't really matter. That he's lost by countout before only proves the point I was making --- it won't hurt his invincibility factor to lose in this fashion.
2) Axel being inserted to the program is beyond your understanding yet you're commenting on it... Most people stay quiet about things they can't understand. You've chosen the opposite route. (I bet you negative rep me for this comment...)
3) It would be a terrible idea if Cena laid down for Axel as a way of costing Rusev the title. The same basic concept, even moreso than the Arquette title reign, is what crushed the value of the WCW Heavyweight Title. Hell, the European Title never regained its value after Michaels did it for Triple H in '97... The reason is simple - and it's the same reason I've given all along:
The value of the championship is directly tied to how badly people want to hold that title. If John Cena merely lays down for Axel so as to cost Rusev the title, Cena is basically saying that he doesn't want the title for himself. If he did want the title for himself, then he'd actually try to win it for himself.
So again, Axel holding the title would not hurt the value of the belt. The WWE booking Axel in non-title programs while he held the belt would hurt the belt. The WWE not booking Axel at all while he held the belt would hurt the belt. But Axel holding the belt and defending it consistently would actually improve the value of the belt because it would show that people covet it.
4) You think Axel is a comedy jobber. That's fine... I'm not here to change someone's mind. He doesn't win often - so he must suck! I mean, it's not like the WWE is scripted or anything. If it was, then the people booking the matches could just book it so he could win... Wait -
But the comedy thing - that's just unforgivable. You can't give a championship to a guy with a comedic gimmick. Sure, Mick Foley was mostly a comedy guy by the time he won his first WWE Title in 1998... and Kurt Angle had a mostly comedic gimmick throughout his WWE run... and Edge and Christian held the tag team titles while serving in the comedy role ... and even Austin had a comedy gimmick throughout 2001 ... but - wait. Never mind. That's enough. Comedy guys can't be taken seriously as champions - especially in the mid-card. I mean, mid-card champions have to maintain the prestige given to the title by the likes of the Honky Tonk Man, an Elvin impersonator who many consider to be the great Intercontinental Champion of all time.
5) You clearly didnt finish reading my initial post. Had you, then you'd see that I never once said they should get the belt off Rusev before WrestleMania 31. In fact, I'm quite convinced that a potential 1-on-1 match at WrestleMania 31 match wouldn't be the for the belt BECAUSE John Cena is above holding it - not because Rusev won't have the belt at that point.
Instead, I drew up a month-long program that escalated the Rusev/Cena feud... that escalated Axel's current gimmick... and that eventually got the belt off Rusev without actually losing - something I think is necessary so he can maintain his invincibility while moving from the mid-card into the main event.