Bengaluru, October 16: A fresh feud kicked off on Smackdown Live between Randy Orton and Rusev in the month of August. During that point, Orton was done with his long-term championship rivalry against Jinder Mahal. Rusev, on the other hand, was done with a one-off match against John Cena with patriotic flavor attached to it at the Battleground PPV.
At Summerslam both men seemed to be perfect opponents for each other. Previously, these two had never been involved in a lengthy rivalry. So, this was an interesting storyline angle from the fans perspective.
But, due to lack of creativity from the officials, this turned out to be a dull affair from that point onwards. Initially, this feud was quite important for Rusev, in particular. He was away from WWE TV after the Wrestlemania season. So, a couple of wins against the Apex Predator of the WWE would have put him back in the championship picture.