Apparently Rusev was actually pushing to be released from WWE before he was eventually placed in this Sunday's US Title match.

Rusev has had a pretty up and down WWE career so far. When The Lion Of Bulgaria first debuted on the main roster four years ago he arrived with a bang. In fact Rusev went more than a year before he suffered his first defeat, that came at the hands of John Cena for the United States Championship at WrestleMania 31.

Since that great first year though things haven't exactly gone Rusev's way. The Bulgarian Brute was a part of the unsuccessful faction The League Of Nations and has just kind of floated by without being given many opportunities by higher ups at WWE. Recently though he has taken matters into his own hands and his Rusev Day gimmick is currently extremely popular with the WWE Universe.

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Despite his newfound popularity though Vince McMahon and WWE creative have still tried their level best to ignore Rusev and not give him a real break. Up until a little more than a week ago he wasn't even on the WrestleMania card. He is now though and will compete against Jinder Mahal, Bobby Roode and Randy Orton for the United States Title, but apparently he really had to fight for that position.

During a recent edition of PWInsider Elite Audio Mike Johnson reported that a source had told him Rusev had been pushing to be released from WWE. 'I heard a month or three weeks ago that Rusev was pushing for a release because he wasn't happy with how he was being used', Johnson reported. He did clarify that he couldn't confirm that with a second source but thinks it's coincidental that Rusev is now on the WrestleMania card all of a sudden.

Whether Rusev gave Vince McMahon an ultimatum or not is likely the kind of thing that we may never know for definite. If the Bulgarian does end up leaving WWE then he may tell the story if there's one to tell but even then he might not want to talk about it. Thankfully though that day isn't here yet and it will be a very happy Rusev Day on Sunday if the extremely popular SmackDown Live star can win the US Championship at WrestleMania.