Miro (wrestler)

**Miroslav Barnyashev** (; born December 25, 1985) is a Bulgarian professional wrestler, former rower, and former powerlifter. He is signed to WWE, wrestling on their Raw brand under the ring name **Rusev**. He is also known for his time as **Miro** in All Elite Wrestling (AEW).

In his first run with WWE, he 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. In AEW, he was a one-time AEW TNT Champion.

## Career

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.

### WWE

In September 2010, Barnyashev signed a contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and competed for their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW). He defeated Mike Dalton in his first televised match on the July 17, 2011 episode of FCW. 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.

FCW was rebranded into NXT and he began wrestling on _NXT_ television 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. 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.

He began to be accompanied to the ring by Sylvester Lefort as his manager. 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. He later started having Lana manage him instead.

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. After not appearing for several months, he returned on the April 7 episode of _Raw_ alongside Lana where he squashed Zack Ryder.

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

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

### All Elite Wrestling

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

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

On February 11, 2025, Miro's profile was removed from AEW's website and he was released from the company.

### Return to WWE (2025–present)

Rusev made his return to WWE on the April 21, 2025 episode of _Raw_, attacking Alpha Academy (Akira Tozawa and Otis).

## Championships and accomplishments

- **All Elite Wrestling**
    - AEW TNT Championship (1 time)
- ***Pro Wrestling Illustrated***
    - Most Improved Wrestler of the Year (2014)
    - Ranked No. 8 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the _PWI 500_ in 2015
- ***Rolling Stone***
    - Worst Storyline (2015) - with Dolph Ziggler, Summer Rae and Lana
- ***WrestleCrap***
    - Gooker Award (2015) - feud with Dolph Ziggler, Summer Rae and Lana
- ***Wrestling Observer Newsletter***
    - Best Gimmick (2014) –
    - Most Improved (2014)
    - Most Underrated (2017)
- **WWE**
    - WWE United States Championship (3 times)
    - Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2014) –

## Infobox (wrestler)

- **name**: Miro
- **image**: Rusev 2018 HOF (cropped) 2.jpg
- **caption**: Rusev at the 2018 WWE Hall of Fame
- **names**: Alexander Rusev
Miro
Miroslav
Miroslav Makarov
**Rusev**
- **birth place**: Plovdiv, Bulgaria
- **billed**: **Bulgaria**
Moscow, Russia
- **trainer**: David Heath, Gangrel
Rikishi (wrestler), Rikishi
WWE NXT
- **debut**: November 22, 2008