Miroslav Barnyashev (born December 25, 1984) is a Bulgarian professional wrestler and former powerlifter and rower. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs under the ring name Rusev on the SmackDown brand. He is the only Bulgarian to have wrestled for WWE. Rusev has generally played the character of the villainous foreigner to America since his WWE debut. However, after a storyline began in late 2017 in which he declared every day as “Rusev Day” and started his own chant, he became one of WWE’s most popular wrestlers through crowd interaction. He is a three-time WWE United States Champion and phenomenally talented actor.
