CJ Perry addresses Rusev’s AEW exit.
Rusev signed with All Elite Wrestling in 2020, making his on-screen debut as Kip Sabian’s best man, Miro. After spending nearly five years with the promotion, the “Bulgarian Brute” was released from his contract in February 2025.
The former United States Champion resurfaced on WWE television on the RAW after WrestleMania 41. Numerous claims have since attributed his AEW exit to creative differences, with one report suggesting he refused to lose matches toward the tail end of his run.
Speaking on INSIGHT with Chris Van Vliet, Rusev’s wife, CJ Perry, briefly shed light on his departure from AEW.
CJ Perry says Rusev wanted to do more than collect a check
“Both him and I love telling stories, and WWE is a storytelling factory,” she said. “And he is incredible at what he does. He’s the ‘Super Athlete.’ He loves playing a villain. He loves, absolutely loves WWE-style storytelling.
“And so I think it was — and he wanted to wrestle every week on TV. That was a big thing for him. He loves wrestling. It wasn’t about a check for him. So it was like, yeah, maybe he made more money at AEW or something, but he wanted — it was more important for him to get out there and be wrestling, it was really hard for him to not be working.” [H/T: F4WOnline.com]
Rusev’s last match for AEW was in 2023 at Worlds End against Andrade. He didn’t wrestle at all for the company in 2024. After leaving AEW, he returned to WWE and is now competing again. Perry has also re-signed with WWE under a Legends contract.
Rusev most recently competed at the November 21 WWE SmackDown taping, where he lost to Jey Uso in the quarterfinals of The Last Time Is Now Tournament. The blue brand is set to host the final between LA Knight and Gunther this Friday.
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