Rusev vs. Big Cass: Winner and Reaction from WWE Raw Match - Bleacher Report

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Rusev earned his second win over Big Cass in 24 hours after prevailing on Raw this Monday night.

During the match, Big Cass defied the referee's five-count and continued beating on Rusev in the corner. With no other option, the referee called for the bell.

WWE provided a look at Big Cass stomping a mudhole in his opponent, in the words of former WWE announcer Jim Ross:

WWE Creative Humor didn't think the result painted Big Cass in a flattering light:

The two had a match on the Roadblock: End of the Line pre-show. Rusev won by count-out after luring Big Cass outside the ring and then attacking EnzoAmore. By tending to his injured tag partner, Big Cass failed to get back in the ring before the end of the referee's 10-count.

It was a somewhat underwhelming finish, and few were surprised when WWE quickly announced a rematch for Raw.

What has become significant animosity between the two wrestlers began with a weird origin. Big Cass prankedEnzo by locking him out of the locker room, and a naked Enzo inadvertently ran into Lana backstage.

Enzo referenced the incident a week later on the Nov. 28 edition of Raw.

Rusev and Lana upped the stakes on Dec. 5, when they tricked Enzo into arriving at Lana's hotel room. With Big Cass waiting to wrestle Rusev, the Bulgarian Brute was instead lying in wait to attack Enzo.

That led to the match at Roadblock: End of the Line.

In what is becoming a trend for Rusev, the story has seemingly flipped the roles of the good guy and the bad guy. Big Cass and Enzo discussed and joked about sleeping with Rusev's wife, so it's understandable why the former United States champion would be incensed. Yet he was supposed to be the villain.

The heel isn't supposed to own the moral high ground, as Rusev was able to do on Twitter after Sunday's pay-per-view:

Monday's disqualification almost certainly sets the stage for a match at Royal Rumble on Jan. 29, which isn't an encouraging development. Rusev and the duo of Enzo and Big Cass would be best served by going in different directions.

Enzo and Big Cass were red-hot after their Raw debut in April, but their momentum has stalled somewhat following their battles with The Club and Rusev in recent months.

Rusev, meanwhile, would benefit from becoming a monster heel again.

As much as his stock has dropped since WrestleMania 31 in March 2015, it wouldn't take much to turn Rusev into a main event-level threat again. He's a good in-ring worker for a wrestler of his size, and the presence of Lana will always make him despised among a large contingent of the WWE Universe.

Prolonging the current feud means all three wrestlers will be stuck in a holding pattern before they can embark on bigger and better things.

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