Wikipedia

Miro (wrestler)

Bulgarian professional wrestler, rower and powerlifter
(Redirected from Alexander Rusev)

Miroslav Barnyashev (Bulgarian: Мирослав Барняшев; born December 25, 1985) is a Bulgarian professional wrestler, former rower, and former powerlifter. He currently works for All Elite Wrestling (AEW) where he wrestles under the ring name Miro. He is a former one-time TNT Champion.

Miro
Miro at the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame
Born (1985-12-25) December 25, 1985 (age 38)
Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Alexander Rusev
Miro
Miroslav
Miroslav Makarov
Rusev
Billed height6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Billed weight304 lb (138 kg)
Billed fromBulgaria
Moscow, Russia
Trained byGangrel
Rikishi
WWE NXT
DebutNovember October 5

Barnyashev is also known for his time in the WWE where he competed under the ring name Rusev and was a three-time WWE United States Champion. He used to compete under the ring name Alexander Rusev earlier in his main roster and NXT career but later dropped the Alexander. He is the first Bulgarian to have wrestled for WWE.[1]

Career

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Before becoming a professional wrestler, Barnyashev became a professional rower. He was also a powerlifter and was considered for the Bulgarian national powerlifting team in the 2012 Summer Olympics.[2]

WWE

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He was signed by the WWE in April 2011 and competed for their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW).[1] He defeated Mike Dalton in his first televised match on the July 17, 2011 episode of FCW.[3]

Shortly after he debuted in FCW, he tore both his anterior cruciate ligament and his meniscus and spent six months rehabilitating. When he returned to the ring, he suffered a broken neck which temporarily paralyzed his arm. While he was rehabilitating his injury, he traveled to Thailand and studied Muay Thai.[4]

FCW was rebranded into NXT Wrestling and he began wrestling on NXT on the May 30, 2013 episode when he competed in an 18-man battle royal to determine who would become the number one contender to the NXT Championship. He was eliminated by Mason Ryan.[5] He returned and had a televised match on the August 21, 2013 episode of WWE NXT (recorded on July 11, 2013), which he lost to Dolph Ziggler.[6]

He began to be accompanied to the ring by Sylvester Lefort as his manager.[7] He formed a tag team with Scott Dawson named "The Fighting Legionnaires" and stopped having Lefort as his manager when he attacked Lefort during a tag team match on the October 30 episode of WWE NXT.[8][9] He later started having Lana manage him instead.[10]

He debuted on the main roster on January 26, 2014 at the Royal Rumble. He entered the Rumble at #6 and was eliminated by Kofi Kingston, CM Punk, Cody Rhodes, and Seth Rollins.[11] After not appearing for several months, he returned on the April 7 episode of Raw alongside Lana where he squashed Zack Ryder.[12]

In May 2014, he adopted the gimmick of a Russophillic, anti-American. It saw him announced that he had relocated to Russia[13] and was named "Hero of the Russian Federation".[14] In the same month, The WWE shortened his ring name to simply "Rusev".[15] He began feuding with Big E, whom he defeated in multiple bouts at Payback on June 1[16] and at Money in the Bank on June 29.[17]

On November 3, 2014, Rusev defeated Sheamus on the post-Raw special and won his first WWE United States Championship.[18]

All Elite Wrestling

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On September 9, 2020, Miro made his debut for All Elite Wrestling (AEW).[19]

On the May 12 episode of Dynamite, Miro defeated Darby Allin to win the AEW TNT Championship.[20] During his reign, he had the gimmick of a man with a god complex and called himself "God's Favorite Champion".[21] He would later lose the title to Sammy Guevara on the September 29 episode of Dynamite.[22]

Championships and accomplishments

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Rusev as the WWE United States Champion
 
Miro with his custom AEW TNT Championship belt

References

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  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "World Wrestling Entertainment Signs 'The Bashing Bulgarian'". One Click Media Group. Novinite. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  2. ↑ "Alexander Rusev bio". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  3. ↑ "Florida Championship Wrestling Television Report: All FCW Champions in Action; Johnny Curtis Gets Another Shot at the FCW Title; Alexander Rusev Makes His Television Debut". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  4. ↑ "Alexander Rusev: NXT's brewing storm". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  5. ↑ "WWE NXT TV report". WWE. Archived from the original on September 23, 2013. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  6. ↑ "James's WWE NXT Results 8/21 & 8/28 & 9/4: Cesaro vs. Sami Zayn MOTY contender, A.J. Lee title defense, Summer Rae, Swagger, new feuds & developments". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  7. ↑ "Making money: Sylvester Lefort's lucrative path to NXT". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  8. ↑ "James's WWE NXT Report 9/11: Paige defends Women's Title, Xavier Woods main event, Overall Reax to weak episode". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  9. ↑ "James's WWE NXT Results 10/30 - Week 70: Paige vs. Summer Rae, WWE prospects in action, Overall Reax". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  10. ↑ "James's WWE NXT Report 11/20 - Week 73: Bo Dallas returns, Beat the Clock Challenge ensues, Ohno/Hero wrestles prior to his release, Overall Reax". WWE. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  11. ↑ "WWE Royal Rumble PPV Results 1/26 (Hour 3): Royal Rumble vs. The Crowd main event match". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved December 12, 2013.
  12. ↑ "Caldwell's WWE Raw Results 4/7: Complete "virtual-time" coverage of live Raw - WM30 fall-out, WWE Title match teaser, Bryan's first night as champ, Warrior, more". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  13. ↑ "Vladimir Putin makes his WWE debut at 'Extreme Rules'". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  14. ↑ "Raw results: The Shield shatters and Wyatts rebound as Money in the Bank takes shape". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  15. ↑ "Raw results: Evolution adapts, Adam Rose celebrates and Sheamus triumphs". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  16. ↑ "Rusev def. Big E". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  17. ↑ "Rusev def. Big E". WWE. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
  18. ↑ "WWE Raw results, November 3, 2014: The Authority severs ties with Randy Orton and Rusev fulfills his U.S. Title destiny on WWE Network". WWE. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  19. ↑ "AEW TNT Championship history". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  20. ↑ "AEW TNT Championship history". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Miro: God Made Me, Not Vince McMahon; I Love God When He's On My Side, Hate Him When He's Not". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  22. ↑ "AEW Dynamite 9/29/21 Results Adam Cole vs. Jungle Boy, TNT Championship Match Miro vs. Sammy Guevara". Fightful. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  23. ↑ "AEW TNT Championship". All Elite Wrestling. Retrieved May 13, 2021.
  24. ↑ "Most Improved Wrestler of the Year". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. 36 (2): 16–17. 2015.
  25. ↑ "Pro Wrestling Illustrated (PWI) 500 for 2015". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Internet Wrestling Database. Retrieved October 5, 2015.
  26. ↑ "WWE Wrestler(s) of the Year". Rolling Stone. December 14, 2015. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015. Retrieved December 14, 2015.
  27. ↑ Art0Donnell (February 11, 2016). "Induction: The Rusev-Lana-Dolph-Summer Rae Love Trapezoid - The 2015 Gooker Award Winner". WrestleCrap. Retrieved February 16, 2019.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 Meltzer, Dave (January 26, 2015). "Jan. 26, 2015 Wrestling Observer Newsletter: 2014 awards issue w/ results & Dave's commentary, Conor McGregor, and much more". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Campbell, California: 9–33. ISSN 1083-9593. Archived from the original on February 15, 2015.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  29. ↑ Alvarez, Bryan (March 15, 2018). "WOR: 2017 WRESTLING OBSERVER NEWSLETTER AWARDS DISCUSSION AND MORE!". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Retrieved March 15, 2018.
  30. ↑ "United States Championship history". WWE. Retrieved October 4, 2023.
  31. ↑ Laboon, Jeff (December 8, 2014). "2014 Slammy Award winners". WWE. Retrieved April 28, 2018.

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