It was confirmed during this week’s episode of Monday Night Raw that the lineup of the inaugural Tuwaiq Trophy Gauntlet match at Super ShowDown was changed at the last moment. Rusev was removed from the match lineup. Rey Mysterio was announced to be the name, as his replacement. This sudden removal from the slot raised eyebrows of some fans who already doubted the former United States Champion’s status in the company.
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Rusev was said to be having some recent fallouts with the company heads and this removal would have been a direct effect due to this. But the reality is different than what the speculations suggest. It is now being reported that the Bulgarian Brute is dealing with an injury which is the primary reason behind missing Super ShowDown. No other conflicts have been mentioned between him and WWE, for now.
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It was reported via Wrestling Observer Radio, that the backstage story around Rey Mysterio replacing Rusev at WWE Super ShowDown is an injury. He might have had some trouble with his back, as per a clarified report from PWInsider.com. The severity of his back injury was not revealed by the source. Dave Meltzer added that Rusev “essentially backed out of the show.” WWE has made no confirmations on such injury nor they noted on why the Super ShowDown card was changed.
Going by the earlier reports, Rusev has been involved in a ‘contract dispute’ with WWE officials over the last few weeks. His efforts of trying to negotiate a new deal might have ended badly leading to his absence from Monday Night Raw.
The problems apparently continued even after Rusev was announced on the Super ShowDown card for the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match. It was not a sign that the contract issues were resolved. Now that he’s been taken out of the card has fuelled up the speculations yet again. There’s still no update on how the contract talks are going.
Rusev was last seen wrestling on the February 17 episode of Raw, teaming with Humberto Carrillo to digest a loss to Bobby Lashley and Angel Garza. He was supposed to make a TV return at Super ShowDown during the Tuwaiq Mountain Trophy Gauntlet Match but Mysterio has replaced him.
The lineup will now have Rey, Lashley, Erick Rowan, WWE United States Champion Andrade, R-Truth, and AJ Styles. No update is available on when Rusev may be back in action.