Rusev Shows off New Look While on WWE Hiatus

With the exception of the 51-man battle royal at Super ShowDown, WWE fans haven’t seen much of Rusev ever since the former United States Champion requested some time off from the company. However the big man took to Instagram on Tuesday to show off his new look, complete with a new haircut and a clean-shaven face.

“Don’t tell @wwesheamus I’m naked in his gym !!!!” Rusevy wrote while flexing for the camera inside Sheamus’ home gym.

Fans seemed to love the look, but Rusev didn’t give off the impression that he’s any closer to coming back to WWE television.

The Bulgarian wrestler has teased the idea of leaving WWE on numerous occasions, and hasn’t been afraid to speak freely about his frustrations with WWE creative in previous interviews.

“Who’s to say? Management had different visions. We fought, we fought. If it ain’t broke, there’s nothing to fix,” Rusev said while on Lilian Garcia’s Chasing Glory podcast back in February when asked about why his popular Rusev Day gimmick was shelved.

“I think last year around WrestleMania and before that, the whole Rusev Day started and everything. I thought it was my time. I keep pushing and I keep talking to everybody and nobody wants to do anything,” he added.

Rusev’s wife, Lana, has been absent from WWE television as well. The pair were also unceremoniously pulled from the Total Divas cast earlier in the year.

“It really sucks. I go through a whole bunch of different emotions,” Lana said in that same podcast interview. “Kevin Dunn is so great. We were first told we were basically a shoo-in, and that we were incredible this season. I was told that he loved me, that Bunim-Murray, which is the production company that produces the show, loved me, WWE loves me, WWE loves us, that we should be working on our spin-off show.

“… Kevin Dunn told me that E! Executives took a poll and that we are strongly disliked by the demographic, they do not like us and that I’m hated, we’re hated, and that the E! Executives thought that our stories were very slapstick, and they were a strong no,” she continued. “I was shocked. I just sat there. It was like my tryout for WWE all over again. I’ve gone through a lot of different range of emotions. I’ll cry, but when I get hurt, I get really angry.”