Bulgaria, Russia - what's the difference, right?

[berlinbrawler]

Aside from the fact that the whole "America sucks and my country doesn't"-gimmick is tired and old, am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that Rusev simply is NOT Russian?

Sure, they try to gloss it over by saying that he now "resides" in Moscow, but man, does it ever feel forced. I feel bad for Rusev. It's like whatever potential he may have is being severely constricted. As things are going his chracter will never develop any depth. They tell you not to compare him to Kozlov, but imho that's exactly whose career-path Rusev is shaping his after. (Kozlov, btw, wasn't even Russian, either, but at least the Ukraine wasn't that far off the mark.)

Mark my words: it won't be long until Rusev gets fed to Cena (and we all know how that's going to end) and before you know it he'll be stuck in a comedy team with Santino or Heath Slater or whatever until his release will feel like a mercy-killing.

It‘s sad to see the WWE so stuck in the old ways, so unable to develop new concepts. All this talk of evolution and adaptation lately, yet they still write/recycle programming aimed at either little kids or inbred hicks and insults the intelligence of everyone else.

Frustrating, isn't it?

 

[babinko]

WWE can never make up their mind and end up going in a completely different direction once somethings published. Its something that won't kill his career. It all comes down to the matter of booking. I don't think people care so much over the whole, "He's from Bulgaria and not Russia" argument. Theres no big deal.

 

[Max Headroom]

I can see where you're coming from, but I must disagree. The only thing similar between Rusev & Kozlov is that they're considered evil Russians whom enjoy whooping non-Russian ass. Is it possible that they just build Rusev up to eventually job to a higher up? Yes, but I'm pretty sure that is what classic heels are meant to do in the long run, anyway. If he is good, he'll be able to suffer a loss to a high-card guy whilst still maintaining relevance & without going full comedy. That brings me to my next point.

Rusev is good. He may not talk much, but he has Lana with him to do all of that, and she sure as hell grabs your attention. So considering that he has a gorgeous manager that grabs attention & draws heat rather well, all he has to do is make a show in the ring, and he can clearly do that. When I first seen his build, I thought he'd be some slow, sloppy guy that puts you to sleep. I was clearly proven wrong, though. He may not have had any 5-star matches yet, but he is still only new. From the little bit of displays we've seen so far, he can clearly go in the ring & is actually rather athletic.

I don't plan to throw away hope on Rusev yet. Once he has fully established that he is a beast, and the time draws near, we'll see more 50/50 style matches from him, which will truly indicate his ability. Remember, not everyone can be a smash hit right from the minute they walk down the ramp, most need time to grow & flourish (this is why I also want Rose/Paige/Bo to keep it up as well, but that's for another thread).

 

[Jack-Hammer]

Rusev is genuinely from Bulgaria. In NXT, he was booked as the "Bulgarian Brute" and a proud representative of his country. Upon being brought to the main roster, or I should say a little while after being brought up to the main roster, WWE suddenly changes its mind and declares that Rusev has moved from Bulgaria to the Russian Federation while embracing the ideology of Vladimir Putin. Changing a character right smack in the middle of things screams of one person: Vince McMahon.

Most of the time, such changes can be mind numbingly stupid but it actually does make a bit of sense in this particular instance. With all the stuff that's been going in with Ukraine and Russia, Vince figured he'd try to capitalize on it. After all, Putin's actions come across very much like the stuff that was par for the course when the Soviet Union was around. Rusev wasn't really getting over as this Bulgarian "super athlete", so Vince went the route of repackaging him as a vehement supporter of the Russian Federation in an attempt to generate some buzz and interest. Even though the Soviet Union is gone, this is closest anyone will really be able to come to recapturing the heat of a Soviet Russian bulldozer again. Also, it looks like it's working to a pretty solid degree because Rusev & Lana are getting pretty decent heat now since WWE's gone the route of dusting off the old USA vs. Russia angle. Besides, it's not as if Bulgaria is or ever was any sort of major military or economic power, hence it's never been a threat to the United States the way Soviet era Russia was.

Ordinarily, this would probably blow up in WWE's face because, as has been pointed out, this gimmick is pretty old and outdated for the most part. There is no big, bad boogeyman the way there was during the days of the Cold War but, in a strange way, it's almost as if there's some weird form of nostalgia going on here. We know that Russia isn't gonna try to start taking over the world.

As far as the difference between Bulgaria & Russia, I don't think the average American really knows or cares. Bulgarians, Czech Republic, Croatia, Russia, Serbia, etc. are all of Slavic descent and while that doesn't mean they're all the same, which they're not as there's genuine hostility among many of them despite a common background, there's enough similarity between them that a lot of Americans don't see much of a difference.

 

[MCMG]

I'm guessing it is difficult to book a Bulgarian wrestler. With all do respect, Bulgaria isn't a global superpower. Same applies for Cesaro being from Switzerland and Kofi from Ghana. The UK, Ireland, France and Russia are far easier to describe and have established stereotypes.

Ultimately, Russia are a global superpower and have been in the news. Thus, McMahon made the switch. It's not a big deal and it makes it easier for writers and, well, Rusev. If he is more hated for it then it is worthy switch.

The main problem for Rusev is the awful booking. Squash matches do nothing for him. It's tedious and the same formula is being applied to Bo Dallas and Adam Rose. I really want to see him get good opponents and work proper matches.

Bulgaria v Russia isn't a big deal. His general character and the lack of opportunity in the ring is the issue.

 

[PRMETFAN]

They were gonna make it that he was from Bulgaria where he is really from. Then Vince decided he would capitalize on this whole "Putin" is evil for invading Crimea thing which i think is hilarious but they still sorta "botched" it with the whole Bulgarian residing in Russia thing in my opinion.

 

[JJ15776]

First of all...what? Ukraine isn't that far off the mark? But you're complaining about Bulgaria? Bulgaria is just as much like Russia as Ukraine! Historically, anyway. Even more so today.

They called him the Bulgarian Brute for the first few months. Everybody knows he's from Bulgaria. For awhile they were mentioning on every Raw that he was from Bulgaria but now resides in Moscow. Which makes sense, since his handler(?) is supposedly from Russia. Meanwhile, Lana is actually AMERICAN, and they're calling her Russian, but nobody cares about that. (And don't say it's because she lived in Latvia for a few years, because that's no more a Russian than Bulgaria or Ukraine. And she's still lived most of her life her, including her entire adult life.) You can say Americans are from anywhere, but it's stupid to say a guy that is from Eastern Europe now hails from another Eastern European country. Because people never move, I guess. Or something.

In either case, I heave no idea how this is supposedly going to affect him potential in any way. If you're talking about the fact they say he hails from Russia, obviously that makes no sense whatsoever, as there's no conceivable way that will matter in the slightest. If you're talking about the gimmick in general, I don't know how many times I have to say it, but gimmicks do not matter. Ether he's going to get over or he's not. That's on him. Good actors don't need good characters to do a good job on a show or movie, and wrestlers don't need good gimmicks to catch on with the crowd. Either he's got it or he doesn't. If you're talking about the change, they make tweaks to characters all the time. Kofi Kingston went from Jamaican to West African(which isn't even a real thing), dropping an accent, and got as over as he's ever been. People don't care about that stuff. The only people who care are the armchair bookers who need to convince themselves everything the WWE does is stupid and they could do it better.

Although if he gets "fed" to Cena the same way Wyatt and so many others have other the years, his career will certainly be better off for having been in the ring with him and made to look so good.

Yes, it is frustrating. The ridiculous insistence on finding flaws in everything the WWE does, even if it has no basis in reality. The foolish notion that gimmicks are so important in whether or not a guy gets over. The silly myth that Cena buries people. The nonsensical idea that old gimmicks are useless, even though every gimmick is just a version of another old gimmick. (And it's working for Rusev, so obviously they're doing something right.) It is all VERY frustrating.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

I guess it is too complicated to have the guy try to gain heat by adopting another country's nationalism over his native country. Next time Michael Cole will have to explain it using crayon drawings.

Rusev's problems have nothing to do with his character/story and everything to do with him being bad at professional wrestling. Maybe that will change some day but right now he seems like a complete bust. And I don't mean bust like what you stare at Lana for.

 

[Pedigree1]

Rusev is indeed from Bulgaria,but the average person cant tell if hes bulgarian russian and im sure they dont care.. Being a super Bulgarian athlete doesn't have the same ring as a Super Russian Athlete,especially with the troubles that Ukraine and Russia are having..

Vince is more indeed capitalizing on the troubles and using Rusev as an Ultimate heel.. I just dont know if people are even interested in this,most of the time when Rusev is out there,people are either zoning out or just seem disinterested.. Had this gimmick been around 30 years ago it would have major wheels.. But you cant have a Russian super athlete so is a sympathizer for Mother Russia,and the audience falls asleep! Were all looking at Lana anyway

 

[Trill Co$by]

This is the same company that, at one point, turned an overweight Samoan into a Japanese Sumo Wrestler... and for the longest time got away with it. Do you really think that they're going to give a shit when they're talking about a country often considered America's biggest enemy? Seriously, this isn't nothing new to WWE or wrestling. The fact that they say he's from Bulgaria and resides in Russia is probably the best they've ever done to link such two nationalities together since.... well... ever.

Personally, I like him. He's got a unique trait about him and an even more unique build to him. Once he breaks from Lana, it'll be interesting to see what he does with his career.

 

[George Steele's Barber]

OK. If you want to enjoy professional wrestling past the age of eight, you have to pretend that there are no writers or creative. You have to pretend that the wrestlers are like the nerd in high school who said he had a girl friends a few towns over. The wrestlers are the liars, not the company. They lie to make themselves more unique or to seem more dangerous. Or they are so crazy so they really believe they are who is announced and described by Michael Cole.

Edge and Christian pretended to be brothers. The UT pretends to be an undead guy. Kane has pretended to be everything under the sun. Cody Rhodes pretended to be dashing and then physically deformed. Orton pretends to be a snake. And now Rusev pretends to have adopted Russia as his home and influence for his actions. Why is this so difficult? Is it because he sucks?

 

[THTRobtaylor]

Few "Foreign Monsters" have actually been from where they purport to be... Nikita Koloff, "The Ugandan Giant" Kamala, even Umaga were all as America as it gets.

In the past you had Croatian/Eastern Bloc guys like Nikolai Volkoff playing Russians, cos it was close enough and the gimmick worked as they would have spent time in that communist USSR bloc. Rusev himself would have been 4 when the Russian bloc that Bulgaria was part of collapsed, so him being Russian in a sense does work... his parents would have grown up and he was born into Communism and Russian rule.

Of the two he actually has something going for him to make it legit, Lana is the American!

If someone can play the role, it doesn't matter where the hell they are billed from and an ethnic heel always gets over in America with Russian being the "old enemy" so to speak. Is it slightly racist? Sure but it's no worse than Americans yelling USA every five seconds...

Regal was a working class kid who could play a snob... but no one says "you can't be a Lord cos you're not really one" and wrestlers change their billed "place" all the time. Benoit was suddenly from Atlanta and Jericho from New York (although he was born there), even the Bulldog was first from Leeds, then Manchester neither of which was REALLY where he was from, but it's somewhere people either had heard of or is easy to say for the ring announcers. "From Golbourne" doesn't quite have the same sound to it.