Real name: Miroslav Barnyashev
Height: 6’0″
Weight 305 lbs.
Date of birth: December 25, 1985
From: Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Resides: Nashville, Tennessee
Pro debut: 2008
Trained by: Gangrel, Rikishi
Finishing move: Game Over
Biography
– Barnyashev began his sporting career as a professional rower and powerlifter
– In the mid-2000’s, Barnyashev emigrated to the USA, moving to Torrance, California
– In 2007, Barnyashev began training under Rikishi and Gangrel at the Knokx Wrestling School
– On November 22, 2008, Barnyashev (as Miroslav Makaraov) made his professional debut, defeating Aerial Star
– In April 2011, Barnyashev was signed to a WWE Development Deal and was repackaged as ‘Alexander Rusev’
– On June 9, 2011, Rusev made his FCW debut, defeating Mike Dalton
– Less than one month later, Rusev tore his ACL and missed over 6 months of action
– On his return to competition, Rusev & Antonio Cesaro unsuccessfully challenged for the FCW Tag Team Titles
– In June 2012, it was reported that Rusev was being considered for the Bulgarian Olympic Weightlifting team. However, Rusev broke his neck that summer and was unable to compete
– Rusev returned to action in May 2013, competing in a Battle Royal
– In August 2013, Rusev joined Sylvester Lefort’s stable, ‘The Fighting Legionnaires’
– On October 24, 2013, Rusev competed in the NXT Title Beat The Clock Challenge, defeating Colin Cassady, but losing the challenge to Adrian Neville & Sami Zayn
– On October 30, Rusev ended his alliance with Lefort and adopted Lana as his new ‘social ambassador’
– On November 21, 2013, Rusev defeated Kofi Kingston on an episode of NXT
– In January 2014, amid rumours of a main roster call-up, Rusev defeated Zack Ryder and Tyson Kidd in WWE Main Event dark matches
– Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 26, 2014. The sixth entrant to the titular match, Rusev was eliminated by a joint effort of four wrestlers
– Rusev arrived on WWE TV a short time later managed by Lana
– At Payback 14, Rusev (with Lana) defeated Big E by submission
– At Extreme Rules ’14, Rusev defeated R-Truth & Xavier Woods in a Handicap Match
– At Payback ’14, Rusev defeated Big E
– At Money In The Bank ’14, Rusev again defeated Big E
– At Battleground ’14, Rusev defeated Jack Swagger by countout
– At Summerslam ’14, Rusev defeated Jack Swagger in a Flag Match
– At Night of Champions ’14, Rusev defeated Mark Henry
– At Hell In A Cell ’14, Rusev defeated The Big Show
– Immediately following Raw on November 3, 2014, Rusev defeated Sheamus to win the WWE United States Title
– At Survivor Series ’14, Rusev was part of Team Authority in their loss to Team Cena
– At TLC ’14, Rusev defeated Jack Swagger to retain the WWE United States Title
– At Royal Rumble ’15, Rusev was the last man eliminated from the Rumble match by winner Roman Reigns
– At Fastlane ’15, Rusev defeated John Cena by referee stoppage
– On May 18, 2015, Rusev fired Lana as his manager. A week later, he had dropped the Russian persona in favour of a Bulgarian equivalent
– On the May 28 edition of Smackdown, Rusev suffered a fractured foot during a match with Ryback, ruling him out of action for around 6 weeks. During this time, he continued to appear on television, supported by crutches
– In June, Rusev ‘replaced’ Lana with Summer Rae
– On July 6, Rusev attacked Dolph Ziggler, who had gained the services of Lana, putting Ziggler out of action indefinitely
– At Summerslam ’15, Rusev fought Ziggler to a double-countout
– In October 2015, Rusev and Lana announced their real-life engagement
– At TLC ’15, Rusev defeated Ryback
– In November 2015, The League of Nations faction, consisting of Sheamus, Rusev, Alberto Del Rio & Wade Barrett, was formed
– At WrestleMania 32, The League of Nations (Sheamus, Rusev & Del Rio) defeated The New Day (Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods & Big E)
– The League of Nations disbanded shortly after WrestleMania
– At Extreme Rules ’16, Rusev defeated Kalisto to win the WWE United States Title
– At Money In The Bank ’16, Rusev defeated Titus O’Neil to retain the WWE United States Title
– In the 2016 WWE draft, Rusev was allocated to Raw
– At Battleground ’16, Rusev defeated Zack Ryder to retain the WWE United States Title
– On the Roadblock ’16 pre-show, Rusev defeated Big Cass by countout
– On April 11, 2017, Rusev moved to the Smackdown roster
– In late 2017, Rusev formed a partnership with Aiden English
– In October 2018, English turned on Rusev, ending their partnership
– On December 18, 2018, Rusev defeated Shinsuke Nakamura to win the WWE United States Title, but lost it back to Nakamura in his first televised defense
– In February 2019, Rusev & Nakamura formed a tag team
– Rusev moved to the Raw brand in September 2019
– At Crown Jewel 2019, Team Hogan (Rusev, Roman Reigns, Shorty G, Ali & Ricochet) defeated Team Flair (Randy Orton, Shinsuke Nakamura, Bobby Lashley, Drew McIntyre & King Corbin)
– Rusev was released by WWE on April 15, 2020
– Miro debuted on AEW Dynamite on September 9, 2020 as Kip Sabian’s Best Man
– Miro wrestled his first AEW match two weeks later, teaming with Sabian to defeat Joey Janela & Sonny Kiss
– At New Year’s Smash 2021, Miro defeated Chuck Taylor
– At Revolution 2021, Miro & Sabian defeated Chuck Taylor & Orange Cassidy
– In March 2021, Miro underwent a character change, violently attacking former friend Kip Sabian and taking on a more vicious in-ring style
– On the May 12, 2021 episode of Dynamite, Miro defeated Darby Allin to win the TNT Title
– On the May 28 episode, Miro defeated Dante Martin to retain the TNT Title
– At Double Or Nothing 2021, Miro defeated Lance Archer to retain the TNT Title
– On the June 5 episode of Dynamite, Miro defeated Evil Uno to retain the TNT Title
– On the June 30 episode, Miro defeated Brian Pillman Jr to retain the TNT Title
– On the August 4 episode, Miro defeated Lee Johnson to retain the TNT Title
– On the August 13 episode of Rampage, Miro defeated Fuego del Sol to retain the TNT Title
– At All Out 2021, Miro defeated Eddie Kingston to retain the TNT Title
– On the September 15 episode of Rampage, Miro defeated Fuego del Sol to retain the TNT Title
– Miro suffered an injury in November 2021 that would keep him out until the new year
– Miro returned to action in June 2022, answering the open challenge from Johnny Elite
– At Road Rager 2022, Miro defeated Ethan Page
– At All Out 2022, Miro, Darby Allin & Sting defeated The House Of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King & Buddy Matthews)
– Following a lengthy creative and injury related layoff, Miro returned to in-ring action on the debut episode of AEW Collision, defeating Tony Nese
– At All Out 2023, Miro defeated Powerhouse Hobbs
– At Worlds End 2023, Miro defeated Andrade El Idolo. This would turn out to be Miro’s last AEW match, as after another lengthy period on the sidelines, he departed the company in February 2025
– ‘Rusev’ returned to WWE in April 2025, working on the Raw brand
– At Clash In Paris 2025, Rusev defeated Sheamus in a Good Ol’ Fashioned Donnybrook