Rusev height - How tall is Rusev?

Rusev returned on the September 16 episode of Raw and was involved in a storyline where Lana was having an affair with Bobby Lashley. Seeking answers for Lana's infidelity, she would accuse Rusev of being a controlling sex addict, leading to the two divorcing on the December 9 episode of Raw, during which Rusev was attacked by Lashley. At the TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs pay-per-view event on December 15, Rusev lost to Lashley in a tables match, following interference from Lana. On January 13, 2020 episode of Raw, Lashley defeated Rusev in a singles match following an interference from Lana and Liv Morgan, after the match, a mixed tag team match was scheduled between teams of Rusev and Morgan and Lana and Lashley. The mixed tag team of Rusev and Morgan was defeated by Lana and Lashley in the January 20 episode of Raw. Rusev teamed with Humberto Carrillo in a loss to Lashley and Angel Garza on the February 17 episode of Raw. This would end up being Rusev's final appearance in WWE.

On April 15, 2020, he was released from his WWE contract as part of budget cuts stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

After failing to win the United States Championship from Shinsuke Nakamura at Crown Jewel, Rusev finally managed to capture the United States Championship for a third time in his career on the December 25 episode of SmackDown Live. On January 27, 2019, he lost the title back to Nakamura on the Royal Rumble pre-show. Two days later on SmackDown Live, Rusev confronted R-Truth, who had just defeated Nakamura for the United States Championship, and pushed him into defending his newly-won title against him, but Truth retained his title. After the match, Nakamura attacked Truth, and Rusev joined him in attacking Truth, thus turning heel again in the process and later forming a tag team with Nakamura. On the Fastlane pre-show, Rusev and Nakamura were defeated by The New Day. At WrestleMania 35, Nakamura and Rusev would compete in a fatal four-way tag team match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship, but were unsuccessful. Rusev competed in a 51-man battle royal at Super ShowDown, but failed to win. Following Super ShowDown, Rusev began a sabbatical from WWE.

Barnyashev became a naturalized American citizen on September 27, 2019.

After his feud with Orton, Rusev began a team with English, with the two participating in a fatal four-way tag team match for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship at Clash of Champions in December also involving The New Day, Chad Gable and Shelton Benjamin and the champions The Usos, which The Usos won. Rusev entered the 2018 Royal Rumble match on January 28 as the first entrant, lasting over 30 minutes before being eliminated by Bray Wyatt and Matt Hardy. On the March 27 episode of SmackDown, Rusev teamed with Jinder Mahal to defeat Bobby Roode and Randy Orton, adding him to the United States Championship match at WrestleMania 34. At the event, Rusev was pinned by Mahal, losing the match. At the Greatest Royal Rumble event, he faced The Undertaker in a Casket Match, but lost. On the May 8 episode of SmackDown, Rusev defeated Daniel Bryan to qualify for the men's Money in the Bank ladder match at Money in the Bank, which was won by Braun Strowman. On the following episode of SmackDown, he won a gauntlet match to become the number one contender for AJ Styles' WWE Championship at Extreme Rules. At the event, he was defeated by Styles.

On the November 21 episode of Raw, after being locked out of his locker room, Enzo Amore would run into Lana in the hallway before being angrily confronted by Rusev. Rusev would challenge Amore to a match later that night, quickly defeating him. The following week on Raw, Amore would defeat Rusev by disqualification. At Roadblock: End of the Line, Rusev would face Amore's tag partner, Big Cass, defeating him by countout. The following night on Raw, Rusev would face Cass again, this time defeating him by disqualification. That same night, Amore would have to attend sensitivity training from the incident on the November 21 episode of Raw. At the training, Amore would be attacked by Rusev and his new ally, Jinder Mahal. On the January 2, 2017 episode of Raw, Rusev teamed with Mahal in a 2-on-1 handicap match, defeating Big Cass. At Royal Rumble, Rusev would enter the Rumble match at number eighteen, lasting over 20 minutes before being eliminated by Goldberg. On the February 27 episode of Raw, Rusev and Mahal began to show tension after Rusev inadvertently distracted Mahal, causing the two to lose to The New Day. At Fastlane, general manager Mick Foley placed Rusev and Mahal in singles matches that night after Mahal revealed his desire to return to singles competition. Rusev and Mahal both lost their respective matches against Big Show and Cesaro. Both Rusev and Lana disappeared from television following Rusev requiring surgery for an injury.

For the early part of his career, Rusev portrayed depicted 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, Rusev began portraying a more heroic character, declaring every day to be "Rusev Day".

On the May 2 episode of Raw, Rusev won a battle royal by last eliminating Zack Ryder to become the No. 1 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, whom Rusev defeated at Money in the Bank to successfully retain the title. Rusev followed this with a successful third title defense against Cesaro and defeated O'Neil on the July 4 episode of Raw to retain the title. Rusev was then challenged by Zack Ryder, whom he defeated at Battleground for another successful title defense. In the 2016 WWE draft, Rusev, along with Lana, was drafted to Raw, taking the United States Championship with him. On the August 1 episode of Raw, after Rusev defeated Mark Henry to retain the title, Roman Reigns came out to confront Rusev. The following week on Raw, Reigns interrupted Rusev and Lana's wedding re-enactment, and issued a challenge to Rusev for the title. Rusev declined, and the two brawled, causing Lana to fall into a wedding cake. Backstage, Mick Foley told an angered Lana and Rusev that Rusev would defend the United States title against Reigns at SummerSlam. Later that night, Rusev successfully defended the title in an impromptu match against Cesaro, who felt that he should also have a shot at the title. At SummerSlam, the match did not start after Rusev attacked Reigns before the bell rung and the two brawled outside of the ring, with Rusev suffering kayfabe injured ribs. After costing Reigns the opportunity of becoming a No. 1 contender for the Universal Championship, Rusev defended the United States Championship against Reigns in a match at Clash of Champions, which he lost, ending his reign at 126 days. Rusev would then get his rematch at the Hell in a Cell pay-per-view in a Hell in a Cell match, which he would be unsuccessful.

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.

Barnyashev married fellow WWE performer Catherine Perry, better known as Lana, on July 29, 2016. They reside in Nashville, Tennessee.

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 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. 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.

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

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 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.

Early in his career, Rusev'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). In 2014, he introduced the Machka Kick, a jumping savate kick.

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.

In September 2010, Barnyashev was signed to a contract by the professional wrestling promotion 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.

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.

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.

Miroslav "Miro" Barnyashev (Bulgarian: Мирослав Барняшев , [miroˈslɑf bɑrˈnjɑʃɛf] ; born December 25, 1984) is a Bulgarian-American professional wrestler. He is best best known for his appearances with the professional wrestling promotion WWE under the ring name Rusev. In WWE, he was a three-time United States Champion, and he was the first and only Bulgarian wrestler to have worked for WWE.

Miroslav Barnyashev was born on December 25, 1984, in Plovdiv, which was then part of the People's Republic of Bulgaria. He attended a sports school while growing up and competed in rowing and powerlifting as an adult.