If you’ve been viewing WWE for a while, it should be clearly apparent to you that the value of the United States Championship has dropped down a ton. Back then, winning the championship almost guaranteed that you would be a success in the future and more than likely rise to become a world champion. But the championship now no longer assures anything for those who hold it. The title used to be defended on a regular basis, in great matches on big stages, but now, the title is defended every once in a while. It’s become more of an inanimate object than a championship title, but that doesn’t mean that the title can’t regain its prestige.
What WWE needs to do is have Rusev defeat Sheamus for the championship. Rusev has been dominating the competition since his debut in WWE with the assistance of his manager, Lana. They have been undermining the WWE and talking about how great Bulgaria is. They could turn the United States Championship into a Bulgarian Championship, and have many superstars try to defeat Rusev and convert the title back to the United States Championship, only to lose to the Bulgarian powerhouse. They could have this going on for months, possibly even a year, until a megastar finally steps up and challenges Rusev and defeats him on a big stage.
This would turn out great for both Rusev and the United States Championship. It would turn Rusev into one of the biggest and most dominant heels in WWE, and it would draw a lot of attention to the United States Championship. If Rusev were to really outmatch all the opponents that were pitted against him, it would have to call for a guy like John Cena to face and defeat him. And if John Cena were to hold the United States Championship, its prestige and attention would rise above the roofs.
Rusev, after losing the title, would still be one of the most hated heels in WWE, and would move on to the main event and could work from a similar angle if he were to win the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, and bring prestige to those titles as well.
WWE has dropped the ball on some of its recent monsters that they began building up (Tensai, Vladimiar Kozlov, etc.), so they should make a big effort in not doing the same with Rusev. This guy is a great wrestler and has wonderful agility for a big man. His gimmick is already drawing tons of heat from American fans, and if the WWE is smart, they’ll capitalize on that and use him correctly, as WWE currently lacks heels that can really draw heat from a crowd.
