Rusev has looked back on his breakout feud with John Cena and revealed that he would “absolutely” love to be the one to face Cena in his final retirement match.
Speaking with VoxCatch, Rusev reflected on his early rivalry with Cena in 2015, when he was an undefeated foreign heel taking on WWE’s top babyface.
The program helped solidify him as a main roster star. “I learned a lot from John Cena. You know, I got to wrestle him quite a bit throughout my years in WWE. And I owe a lot of my success to him, because I got to learn from him, wrestling him, beating him as well. So I’m always going to be thankful for that.”
The feud famously led to their United States Championship clash at WrestleMania 31, remembered for Rusev’s iconic entrance atop a military tank. “That moment was special. You know, it’s WrestleMania, that’s the pinnacle of every professional wrestler. And to go out on a tank with my wife Lana in front of 75,000 people was absolutely a dream that you can’t even have when you’re a kid.”
With Cena now on his farewell tour, which will conclude on December 13 with his final match, Rusev sees a showdown with the 17-time World Champion as a fitting end to their story. “He started my career, now I can end his, which [would] be very appropriate. And karma always strikes back at the end of the day.”
Rusev returned to WWE earlier this year following a run in AEW and recently defeated Sheamus at the Clash in Paris premium live event.
Fans can check out Rusev’s full interview below.
