Miroslav Petrov Barnyashev (Bulgarian: Мирослав Петров Барняшев, [miroˈslɑf pɛˈtrɔf bɑrˈnjɑʃɛf]; born 25 December 1985) is a Bulgarian and American professional wrestler and actor. As of April 2025, he is signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Rusev. He is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) from 2020 to 2025, where he performed under the ring name Miro.
Barnyashev signed a contract with WWE in 2010 and was assigned to its developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), which was rebranded as NXT in 2012. He performed on NXT until 2014, when he and his manager Lana were moved to WWE's main roster. During his initial tenure in WWE, he was a three-time WWE United States Champion. He was released by WWE in 2020, joined AEW later that year, and went on to become a one-time AEW TNT Champion before returning to WWE in 2025.
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Early life
Miroslav Petrov Barnyashev was born on 25 December 1985 in Plovdiv, which was then part of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. He attended a sports school and later competed in powerlifting, rowing, and sambo.
Professional wrestling career
Early career (2008–2010)
In the mid-2000s, aspiring to become a professional wrestler, Barnyashev left Bulgaria for the U.S. 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 (2010–2020)
In September 2010, Barnyashev was signed to a contract by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He was assigned to 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.
After his neck healed, Rusev made his NXT television debut on the May 29, 2013 episode, competing in a battle royal to determine the number one contender to the NXT Championship that was won by Bo Dallas. Rusev wrestled his first singles match on the August 21 edition of NXT, 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.
Rusev made his main roster debut at the Royal Rumble on January 26, 2014, where he was the sixth entrant in the Royal Rumble match, where he was eliminated by the joint effort of four other 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.
All Elite Wrestling (2020–2025)
Barnyashev, now known as Miro, debuted in All Elite Wrestling (AEW) on the September 9, 2020, episode of Dynamite, where he was revealed as Kip Sabian's best man for his upcoming wedding with Penelope Ford. Miro also took on the moniker of "The Best Man", claiming that he was the best at everything he does. On the September 23 episode of Dynamite, Miro made his in-ring debut, teaming with Sabian to defeat Joey Janela and Sonny Kiss. In October, Miro and Sabian began feuding with Best Friends (Chuck Taylor, Trent, and Orange Cassidy), after they accidentally destroyed the arcade game that Miro had purchased for Sabian as a wedding gift. On the November 4 episode of Dynamite, Miro had his first singles match in AEW, in which he defeated Trent. At the Beach Break event on February 3, 2021, Miro officiated Sabian and Ford's wedding, but the ceremony was crashed by Taylor and Cassidy. At the Revolution pay-per-view on March 7, Miro and Sabian defeated Cassidy and Taylor. However, on the March 31 episode of Dynamite, Miro and Sabian were defeated by Cassidy and Taylor in an Arcade Anarchy match, marking Miro's first loss in AEW. Following this, Miro attacked and brutalized Sabian to end their alliance. Miro then became more dominant and aggressive in his matches.
Miro then began a rivalry with Darby Allin, and defeated Allin on the May 12 episode of Dynamite to win the AEW TNT Championship. He defeated Lance Archer to retain the championship at the Double or Nothing event on May 30. He then made successful defenses against the likes of Evil Uno, Brian Pillman Jr., Lee Johnson, Fuego Del Sol, and Eddie Kingston at All Out.
During this time, Miro furthered his shift in gimmick by adopting the moniker of "God's Favorite Champion", utilising new entrance music, and thanking his dominance in matches to his God during interviews and promos. He also introduced a new championship belt, representing his hometown of Plovdiv; the black leather strap was changed to white, the red banner on the center plate was changed to green, and the inner side plates were changed to feature Plovdiv's coat of arms.
On September 29, Miro lost his TNT Championship against Sammy Guevara, ending his reign at 140 days. In subsequent promos, Miro aggressively questioned the motivation of his God.
Miro returned on the November 3, 2021, episode of Dynamite, replacing Jon Moxley in a match against Orange Cassidy in the AEW World Championship Eliminator Tournament; he defeated Cassidy via submission, advancing to the finals of the tournament. At Full Gear, Miro lost to Bryan Danielson in the tournament final. In December, it was revealed that Miro was recovering from a hamstring injury. After a six-month hiatus due to injury and outside the ring projects, Miro made his return to AEW television on the June 1, 2022, edition of Dynamite, scoring a submission victory over Johnny Elite. At Forbidden Door on June 26, Miro competed in a fatal-four-way match against Pac, Clark Connors and Malakai Black determine the inaugural AEW All-Atlantic Champion, with Pac emerging victorious. At the All Out event in September, Miro teamed with Darby Allin and Sting to defeat House of Black in a six-man tag team match.
Return to WWE (2025–present)
Barnyashev, reverting to his Rusev name, made his return to WWE on the April 21, 2025 episode of Raw, attacking Alpha Academy. On the May 5 episode of Raw, Rusev made his in-ring return, defeating Otis. He then started a feud with Sheamus, culminating in an "Old Fashioned Donnybrook Brawl" at Clash in Paris in August 2025 where Rusev defeated Sheamus via submission. At the Royal Rumble in January 2026, Rusev entered the match at #5, being eliminated by Oba Femi after 32 seconds.
Professional wrestling style and persona
Early in his career, Barnyashev's finishing move was the "Bulplex", an Oklahoma roll transitioned into a release German suplex. Beginning in 2013, he began using "The Accolade" (a camel clutch); upon moving to AEW in 2020, he changed the name of the move to "Game Over". In 2014, he introduced the Machka Kick, a jumping savate kick.
For the early part of his career, Barnyashev portrayed a villainous foreigner billed from Bulgaria or Russia. He nicknamed himself the "Bashing Bulgarian" and the "Bulgarian Brute" and, for a period of time, used the Bulgarian national anthem as his entrance theme. From 2017, he began portraying a more heroic character who declared every day to be a public holiday called "Rusev Day".
Upon debuting in AEW in 2020, Barnyashev changed his ring name to "Miro", adopting the nickname of the "Best Man". After winning the AEW TNT Championship, he became a villainous character once more, adopted the nicknames "The Redeemer" and "God's Favorite Champion", and changed his gimmick to that of a violent man with a god complex.
Other media
Barnyashev, along with other Vendetta Pro Wrestling (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 is a playable character in the video games WWE 2K15, WWE 2K16, WWE 2K17, WWE 2K18, WWE 2K19, and WWE 2K20.
In 2016, Barnyashev appeared as himself in Season 6 of the reality series Total Divas, as well as the WWE film Countdown and the animated film Scooby-Doo! and WWE: Curse of the Speed Demon.
After his release from WWE in April 2020, Barnyashev began hosting a streaming channel on Twitch, as well as a YouTube channel, under the name "Miro", shortened from his real name Miroslav. "Miro" would also become his ring name in AEW when he debuted for the promotion in September 2020.
Barnyashev appeared in the 2025 film Guns Up.
Personal life
Barnyashev met American model and actress CJ Perry when she began portraying Lana, his WWE character's manager, and they were married on July 29, 2016. They separated in late 2023, but reconciled in early 2025.
Miro is a supporter of his hometown football team PFC Lokomotiv Plovdiv and Spanish football team Real Madrid CF. He is also one of three co-owners of the indoor football team FCF Beasts, alongside American football player Marshawn Lynch and basketball player Renee Montgomery.
In 2017, Barnyashev was presented the key to the city in his hometown of Plovdiv.
Barnyashev gained American citizenship on September 27, 2019.
Filmography
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) – with Lana
Most Improved (2014)
Most Underrated (2017)
WWE
WWE United States Championship (3 times)
Slammy Award for Match of the Year (2014) – Team Cena vs. Team Authority at Survivor Series