Rusev

Background

Miroslav Barnyashev, popularly known as Rusev, is a Bulgarian American professional wrestler currently signed with the A.E.W. Rusev was born in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, on December 25, 1984. His zodiac sign is Capricorn, while his ethnicity is caucasian. He began his professional wrestling career in his native Bulgaria in 2002. He later moved to the U.S. and competed in various independent promotions, such as Full Impact Pro (F.I.P), Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (P.W.G), and Ring of Honor (R.O.H). In 2010, Rusev signed a contract with W.W.E and was assigned to its developmental brand Florida Championship Wrestling (F.C.W). During his time at F.C.W, he adopted the ring name Rusev; F.C.W was later renamed N.X.T in 2012.

Rusev started appearing on N.X.T in 2012; he suffered a broken neck after several matches. While recovering, he traveled to Thailand to learn Martial Arts. Rusev lost his first singles match upon return to N.X.T in 2013 against Dolph Ziggler. He appeared in several matches on N.X.T. Rusev appointed Lana as his manager and social ambassador. He joined the W.W.E main roster in 2014, performing under the R.A.W brand. He later made his debut on the main roster in the Royal Rumble match. The professional wrestler feuded with several stars, including Xavier Woods, R-Truth, and Braun Strowman, among many others. Lana, Rusev’s coach, dedicated the wins of the star to the Russian president, attracting a lot of criticism. He became the first Bulgarian to win a championship in W.W.E in 2014. On March 29, 2015, he lost the title to John Cena after 146 days of reign.

Rusev was released from W.W.E in 2020 and joined the A.E.W, where he is currently signed. He is known by the name Miro. He defeated Allin in 2020 after 12 episodes of Dynamite to win the A.E.W T.N.T. Championship. Rusev suffered several injuries during his time; in September 2021, he was substituted for another wrestler. He is a playable character in video games like W.W.E. 2K15, W.W.E.K.16, and other W.W.E. games. He has also appeared in the reality series “Total Divas” and the films “Countdown” and “Scooby-Doo!” to name a few. Rusev is married to Catherine Perry, aka Lana, an American professional wrestler. He became a citizen of the U.S. by naturalization in 2010.