Rusev On Nixed WWE Gimmick Idea From Dusty Rhodes, WWE Tryout, Coming To America, Working At Wendy's
Recently on Talk Is Jericho, professional wrestling legend Chris Jericho welcomed WWE Superstar Rusev to the show. Among other things, Rusev talked about how he first came to the United States from his native Bulgaria, getting his WWE tryout, and working with the late great Dusty Rhodes in WWE's developmental system.
According to Rusev, he came Stateside as an exchange student and he worked as a painter.
"I had the opportunity to come to the United States of America as an exchange student, so I had to come for four months, work, and then, go back." Rusev recalled, "I had to paint houses. I never painted in my life. It was 100º outside with 100% humidity. And they expect me to climb a ladder in the third floor and paint."
The painting gig did not last long, as Rusev was fired after a few weeks.
"I got fired a month later. I got thrown out on the streets because I don't know anybody. I was a month in. I got thrown out by my own comrade, Bulgarian people. They were my employers. They threw me out, literally." Rusev continued, "they threw me out. I had no money. I had nowhere to go. They kicked me out of the house they provided."
Also, Rusev had a short stint working at Wendy's.
"I worked at Wendy's for a week. No, you just work at Wendy's, right? Three guys there worked and there were seven managers. How is that even [possible]? It's so American. We need more workers than managers." Rusev mused, "'you need to put mustard with a W on top of the burger.' I'm like, 'what? First of all, who's going to open the burger and see the W. And, if you turn it upside-down, it's McDonald's!'" And the manager goes, 'oh, I never really thought about it.'"
Rusev said he got a WWE tryout from training at Rikishi's pro wrestling school.
"I've been training for three years now, or so, at Knokx Pro, or two years, with Rikishi and I picked up as much information as I could because, I mean, they were in the business for so long and had all the knowledge. And they thought that I was ready and 2010, SummerSlam, they sent me for a tryout."
Rusev admitted that Rhodes gave him a lot of good ideas and a lot of bad ideas as well and went on to share that 'The American Dream' once saddled 'The Bulgarian Brute' with a far less threatening gimmick.
"He has given me so many good and bad ideas that you have no idea! He tried to make me a genie. 'Baby, I see you with that new gear. You look like a genie! I want you to work with that Russian chick, Anya, and she's going to, baby, rub the lamp and you're going to – pop – appear!'" Rusev continued, "he made me do genie promos for the next three weeks. Well, he had the lamp and this kickboxing chick we had back in FCW, she rubbed the lamp and I appeared."
Check out the podcast, which also features Lana, here. If you use any of the quotes that appear in this article, please credit Talk Is Jericho with an H/T to Wrestling Inc. for the transcription.
Source: Talk Is Jericho