Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble . The sixth entrant in the titular match , Rusev was eliminated by the joint effort of four wrestlers . After months of self-promotional videos and speeches by Rusev and his manager Lana , Rusev 's return match on the main roster came on the April 7 episode of '' Raw '' , where he squashed Zack Ryder . In May , Rusev adopted a Russophillic , anti-American gimmick that saw him announced as having relocated to Russia , and as having been named " Hero of the Russian Federation " . This angle brought Barnyashev much legitimate heat in his native Bulgaria . In the same month , his ring name was shortened to simply Rusev . Over the next several months , Rusev feuded with Xavier Woods and R-Truth ( whom Rusev defeated at Extreme Rules in a two-on-one handicap match ) and Big E ( whom he defeated at Payback and at Money in the Bank ) , Jack Swagger ( whom he defeated at Battleground and again at SummerSlam ) , Mark Henry ( whom he defeated at Night of Champions ) and Big Show ( whom he defeated at Hell in a Cell ) . Lana dedicated Rusev 's string of victories to President of Russia Vladimir Putin , drawing attention from the mainstream press – including '' The Washington Post '' and '' The Daily Beast '' – and criticism after she was interpreted as having referred to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 before Rusev 's match at Battleground in an attempt to generate heat . On the October 6 episode of '' Raw '' , Rusev and Lana were confronted by The Rock in a surprise appearance , with The Rock driving Rusev from the ring after a verbal exchange
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Malaysia Airlines Flight 17
Rusev (wrestler)