Alexander Rusev

Alexander Rusev
Rusev in March 2015
Birth name	Miroslav Barnyashev (Bulgarian: Мирослав Барняшев)
Born	(1985-12-25) December 25, 1985 Plovdiv, Plovdiv, People's Republic of Bulgaria
Residence	Nashville, Tennessee, United States
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Alexander Rusev Miroslav Miroslav Makarov Rusev
Billed height	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)
Billed weight	138 kg (304 lb)
Billed from	Bulgaria Moscow, Russia
Trained by	Florida Championship Wrestling Gangrel Rikishi WWE NXT
Debut	November 22, 2008

Miroslav Barnyashev (Bulgarian: Мирослав Барняшев; born December 25, 1985), known by his former ring name Alexander Rusev and currently performing as Rusev (Bulgarian: Русев), is a Bulgarian professional wrestler and former powerlifter and rower. He works for the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, where he is the current WWE United States Champion in his second reign. Barnyashev is the first Bulgarian to have wrestled for WWE.

Early life

Rusev was born on December 25, 1985 in the People's Republic of Bulgaria. He attended a sports school while growing up and competed in rowing and powerlifting as an adult.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (2008–2010)

In the mid-2000s, Barnyashev emigrated from Bulgaria to the United States with the ambition of becoming a professional wrestler. He originally lived in Virginia, before relocating to Torrance, California, where he began training as a wrestler under Gangrel and Rikishi at the Knokx Pro Wrestling Academy. Barnyashev debuted in the San Diego, California-based independent promotion New Wave Pro Wrestling on November 22, 2008, under the ring name Miroslav Makaraov, defeating Aerial Star. In 2010, Barnyashev joined the Santa Maria, California-based independent promotion Vendetta Pro Wrestling (VPW), shortening his ring name to Miroslav. While wrestling for VPW, he was managed by Markus Mac.

World Wrestling Entertainment/WWE

Florida Championship Wrestling (2010–2012)

Rusev at WrestleMania Axxess in April 2013 in his Muay Thai-inspired ring attire

In September 2010, Barnyashev was signed to a contract by the professional wrestling promotion World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He was assigned to the WWE's Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) developmental territory in Tampa, Florida, where he adopted the ring name Alexander Rusev. He wrestled his first televised match on the July 17, 2011, episode of FCW, defeating Mike Dalton while being managed by Raquel Diaz. Shortly after debuting in FCW, Rusev tore both his anterior cruciate ligament and his meniscus and spent six months rehabilitating.

Rusev returned to FCW in March 2012 with Nick Rogers as his manager. In the summer of 2012, Rusev suffered a broken neck, temporarily paralyzing his arm. While rehabilitating, Barnyashev travelled to Thailand, where he studied the martial art Muay Thai. In August 2012, WWE rebranded FCW as NXT.

NXT (2013–2014)

After his neck healed, Rusev made his NXT television debut on the May 30, 2013, episode, competing in a battle royal to determine the number one contender to the NXT Championship that was won by Bo Dallas. Rusev's first singles match on NXT came about on August 21, losing to Dolph Ziggler. Shortly thereafter, Rusev adopted Sylvester Lefort as his manager and formed a short-lived tag team with Scott Dawson named the "Fighting Legionnaires"; they feuded with the team of Enzo Amore and Colin Cassady. On the October 30 episode of NXT, Rusev ended his affiliation with Lefort by attacking him during a tag team bout.

Rusev proceeded to adopt Lana as his "social ambassador", a pairing compared by WWE to Ivan and Ludmilla Drago from the 1985 film Rocky IV. In matches taped before his main roster debut, Rusev defeated main roster wrestlers Kofi Kingston, Xavier Woods, and Sin Cara in singles matches, which aired on NXT in January and February. Rusev continued to appear sporadically on NXT after joining the main roster in April 2014, making his final appearance on July 24, getting disqualified against NXT Champion Adrian Neville in a non-title match.

Undefeated streak (2014–2015)

Rusev (right) celebrating a win with Lana in April 2014

Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble pay-per-view on January 26, 2014. The sixth entrant in the titular match, Rusev was eliminated by the joint effort of four wrestlers. After months of self-promotional videos and speeches by Rusev and his manager Lana, Rusev's return match on the main roster came on the April 7 episode of Raw, where he squashed Zack Ryder. In May, Rusev adopted a Russophillic, anti-American gimmick that saw him announced as having relocated to Russia, and as having been named "Hero of the Russian Federation". This angle brought Barnyashev much legitimate heat in his native Bulgaria. In the same month, his ring name was shortened to simply Rusev. Over the next several months, Rusev feuded with Xavier Woods and R-Truth (whom Rusev defeated at Extreme Rules in a two-on-one handicap match) and Big E (whom he defeated at Payback and at Money in the Bank), Jack Swagger (whom he defeated at Battleground and again at SummerSlam), Mark Henry (whom he defeated at Night of Champions) and Big Show (whom he defeated at Hell in a Cell). Lana dedicated Rusev's string of victories to President of Russia Vladimir Putin, drawing attention from the mainstream press – including The Washington Post and The Daily Beast – and criticism after she was interpreted as having referred to the crash of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 before Rusev's match at Battleground in an attempt to generate heat. On the October 6 episode of Raw, Rusev and Lana were confronted by The Rock in a surprise appearance, with The Rock driving Rusev from the ring after a verbal exchange.

Rusev displaying the United States Championship and Russian flag in February 2015

On November 3, Rusev gained his first professional wrestling championship and became the first Bulgarian-born champion in WWE history when he won the United States Championship from Sheamus in a post-Raw match that aired on the WWE Network and proceeded to defeat him in a rematch via count-out. On November 23 at Survivor Series, Rusev competed in a 10-man Survivor Series match as part of Team Authority. Rusev was eliminated from the match by countout after crashing through the Spanish announce table. Rusev and Jack Swagger once again feuded in December, leading to Rusev successfully defending the United States Championship against Swagger at TLC. On January 25, 2015, at the Royal Rumble, Rusev entered the Rumble match at number 15, eliminating six other contestants and placing second overall. At Fastlane on February 22, Rusev successfully defended the United States Championship in a bout with John Cena. He lost the United States Championship to Cena in a rematch at WrestleMania 31 on March 29 after a miscommunication with Lana, ending his reign at 146 days and marking his first pinfall loss on WWE's main roster.

Various storylines and The League of Nations (2015–2016)

See also: The League of Nations (professional wrestling)

"It was six minutes of Rusev being punished on live national television for getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend... [After] the cleanest job Rusev has ever done... [Summer Rae] cut Vince McMahon's promo for him... totally castrated [Rusev]... How they get Rusev back on track as a killer after this segment is beyond me, which may have been the intent".

Wrestling Observer analyst Jeff Hamlin describes the storyline breakup of Rusev and Summer Rae in 2015

Rusev failed to regain the championship the following month at Extreme Rules in a Russian Chain match; during the match, Lana garnered a positive reaction from the crowd, leading to Rusev banishing her from ringside and causing dissension between the two. Rusev lost to Cena once more at Payback on May 17, 2015 in an "I Quit" match after Lana conceded the match on his behalf. On the post-Payback episode of Raw on May 18, 2015, Rusev ended his affiliation with Lana, who slapped him in response. On the May 25 episode of Raw, Rusev reverted to being billed from Bulgaria and began carrying the flag of Bulgaria to ringside. Later that same evening, Rusev unsuccessfully attempted to reconcile with Lana. Three days later on SmackDown, Rusev suffered a fractured foot in a bout with Ryback, rendering him unable to compete in the Elimination Chamber match for the vacant Intercontinental Championship at Elimination Chamber. Despite his injury, Rusev still appeared on television and made further attempts to reconcile with Lana. Lana then began a storyline relationship with Dolph Ziggler, while Summer Rae began an alliance with Rusev. On the June 29 episode of Raw, Rusev and Rae confronted Lana and Ziggler, leading to a fight between Rae and Lana. On the July 6 episode of Raw, Rusev and Rae once again confronted the couple, which turned out to be a ruse, as Rusev viciously attacked Ziggler after hitting him with his crutch and removed his ankle brace, revealing that his foot injury had healed. The attack resulted in Ziggler sustaining a bruised trachea in storyline and out of action indefinitely.

Rusev made his in-ring return on the following SmackDown, wrestling in shoes to avoid further foot injury, defeating Fandango. On the July 13 episode of Raw, Rusev answered John Cena's United States Championship open challenge. Rusev was then interrupted by both Kevin Owens and Cesaro, who also demanded a shot at the title. This resulted in a triple threat match, where the winner would face Cena, which Rusev won after pinning Cesaro, as Owens had left the match early on. Afterwards, Rusev defeated Cena by disqualification, when Owens assaulted Rusev. On the July 16 episode of SmackDown, Rusev suffered his second loss by pinfall during his tenure on the WWE main roster when he was defeated by Cesaro in a singles match. On the August 17 episode of Raw, Ziggler returned and attacked Rusev. This altercation prompted a match between Rusev and Ziggler at SummerSlam, which ended in a double count–out due to interference from Lana and Rae. After the match, Rusev and Rae brawled with Ziggler and Lana. On the October 5 episode of Raw, Rae proposed to Rusev in the storyline, but said he would not marry her until he had won another championship. However, on October 11, TMZ reported that Rusev had gotten engaged to Lana in real life. Lana then confirmed the engagement and it began being used in the storyline on television, which resulted in Rae breaking up with him on the October 12 episode of Raw. The entire storyline circulating around the break-up of Rusev and Lana received extremely negative reviews, with many claiming the storyline damaged Rusev's gimmick. On the October 31 episode of Main Event, Rusev injured his bicep in a match with Neville, resulting in Neville winning the match via referee stoppage and Rusev being out of action.

Rusev returned on the November 23 episode of Raw, when he attacked Roman Reigns, and later lost to him, in the main event, via disqualification after Sheamus and King Barrett attacked Reigns. A week later, on the 30 November episode of Raw, Lana returned to the WWE, once again as a villainess, and reconciled with Rusev, during a Miz TV segment, and later in the same night, the two joined Sheamus' new stable League of Nations. Throughout December, Rusev started a feud with Ryback, with Lana faking injuries to distract Ryback and help Rusev gain advantage. Rusev eventually defeated Ryback to end the feud at TLC, following a faked injury by Lana that allowed Rusev to make Ryback to pass out to the accolade following a roundhouse kick. Also in November, Rusev joined forces with Sheamus, King Barrett and Alberto Del Rio forming The League of Nations. The faction aligned themselves with Mr. McMahon and would continue to target WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. Rusev would enter the Royal Rumble match at the #2 spot, but he would be eliminated by Roman Reigns in one and a half minutes. On the March 14 episode of Raw, Rusev and Del Rio failed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from The New Day. At WrestleMania 32, Rusev along with Sheamus and Del Rio would defeat The New Day. After the match, The League of Nations was attacked by Mick Foley, Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin.

Following WrestleMania 32, on the April 4, episode of Raw, League of Nations members Sheamus and King Barrett were part of a losing effort against The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Barrett was pinned by Kofi Kingston. Following the match, Barrett was exiled from the group being called the "weak link". Moments after, The Wyatt Family went on to attack the remaining members of The League of Nations. On the April 28 episode of SmackDown, Rusev walked out on Sheamus after Del Rio walked out the both of them, thus disbanding The League of Nations.

United States Champion (2016–present)

On the May 2 episode of Raw, Rusev won a battle royal by last eliminating Zack Ryder to become the number one contender for the United States Championship, which he won for the second time by defeating Kalisto at Extreme Rules via submission. Rusev defeated him in a rematch on the following week's SmackDown, after which he was confronted by Titus O'Neil. On the May 30 episode of Raw, Rusev defeated Zack Ryder in a singles match, and proceeded to cut a promo after the match, where he proclaimed himself a "true american hero", and was again confronted by O'Neil, who then attacked Rusev.

Other media

Barnyashev, along with other VPW wrestlers, appeared in the music video for the song "The Whole F'n Show" by Kushinator (the entrance music of wrestler Rob Van Dam).

As Rusev, he made his video game debut as a playable character in WWE 2K15, and has his own path in the "Who Got NXT" mode. He appears in the next game in the 2K series as well, WWE 2K16. He appeared in the WWE 2016 film Countdown.

Personal life

Barnyashev is currently engaged to fellow wrestler Catherine Joy "C.J." Perry, who performs for WWE under the ring name Lana. They reside in Nashville, Tennessee. He is a supporter of his hometown - (Bulgarian A Football Group) club Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Spanish La Liga club Real Madrid, as well as Nashville Predators and Los Angeles Clippers.

In wrestling

• Finishing moves
  • The Accolade [(Modified Camel clutch, (bending the opponent back) usually preceded by a stomp to the opponent's back) – 2013–present
  • Bulplex (Oklahoma roll transitioned into a release German suplex) – 2010–2013; used as a signature move thereafter
  • Jumping side kick, sometimes to the back of the opponent's head – 2014–present
• Signature moves
  • Body block, as a counter to an oncoming opponent
  • Diving headbutt
  • Fallaway Samoan drop
  • Fallaway slam
  • Multiple knee lifts to an opponent draped between the ring ropes
  • Running hip attack to a cornered opponent
  • Spinning heel kick
  • Splash through the announcers' table
  • Swinging side slam
• Managers
  • Lana
  • Markus Mac
  • Nick Rogers
  • Raquel Diaz
  • Summer Rae
  • Sylvester Lefort
• Nicknames
  • "The Bashing Bulgarian"
  • "The Bulgarian Brute"
  • "The Hero of the Russian Federation"
  • "The Russian Tank"
  • "The Bulgarian Bulldozer"
  • "The Super Athlete"
  • "Ru Ru"
• Entrance themes
  • "Mila Rodino" by Tsvetan Radoslavov (2011 – January 29, 2014)
  • "Рев на лъвът (Roar of the Lion)" by CFO$ (January 26, 2014 – present)
  • "Hellfire" by CFO$ (November 30, 2015 – December 3, 2015; used while a part of The League of Nations)
  • "A League of Their Own" by Jim Johnston (December 7, 2015 – April 26, 2016; used while a part of The League of Nations)

Championships and accomplishments

Rusev is a two-time and the current United States Champion

• Pro Wrestling Illustrated
  • Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2014)
  • PWI ranked him #8 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2015
• Rolling Stone
  • Worst Storyline (2015) With Summer Rae vs. Dolph Ziggler/Lana
• Wrestling Observer Newsletter
  • Best Gimmick (2014) with Lana
  • Most Improved (2014)
• WWE
  • WWE United States Championship (2 times, current)
  • Slammy Award (1 time)
    • Match of the Year (2014) – Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series

External links

• Rusev's profile on WWE.com
• Rusev on Twitter
• Miroslav Barnyashev at the Internet Movie Database