After more than 5 years away, Rusev is back in WWE.
Making his return on the Raw after WrestleMania, the former United States Champion interrupted the segment between The New Day and Alpha Academy, attacking Otis and Akira Tozawa to stand tall upon his return.
More information on the Raw star’s return has been reported on by Mike Johnson of PWInsider, who stated that the former United States Champion received a warm reaction from the locker room backstage with many members of the roster expressing an interest in working with the returning star in the near future.
It was also indicated in a previous report that the Raw star is expected to be factored into the show in a major way moving forward.
Following his release in 2020, The Bulgarian Brute signed with AEW later that year as Miro. Capturing the TNT Championship once, Miro last competed for the promotion at Worlds End 2023 and was released from AEW in February 2025.
Rusev’s Return Match Announced
Although the returning star did not appear live on the April 28th Raw, a video package aired hyping up the former United States Champion being back in the company. Later in the episode, it was confirmed that Rusev would face Otis on the May 5th Raw in what will be his first televised match in over a year.
Rusev was not the only former AEW star to make his return that week as Aleister Black also made his return on the next episode of SmackDown. Interrupting The Miz, Black his The A Lister with a Black Mass.