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While Rusev's 10-year-long stint with WWE wasn't filled with fancy accolades, he still had a much more successful career than most of the stars in the company. Rusev signed a contract with WWE in 2010. Initially, he spent a few years on the company's developmental territory, honing his craft before he moved to the main roster in 2014.
Working on two of WWE's marquee brands, Rusev fought multiple big stars and created over a year-long undefeated streak. While that came to an end in an unexpected fashion at WrestleMania 31, Rusev's career following that loss took a major hit. For a while, Rusev got lost on the roster, but he was able to make his comeback through one of the best gimmicks in WWE at the time, Rusev Day.
As witnessed, this particular change in Rusev's character boosted his career and made him one of the most popular stars in the history of WWE. Unfortunately, that didn't last long as Rusev, among many other stars, was let go by Vince McMahon in 2020 due to the financial blow that hit WWE during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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While Rusev has now inked a deal with Tony Khan's AEW and works as Miro there, the things he did while or before he worked with WWE shouldn't go ignored. Therefore, here are five things you probably forgot about Miro, f.k.a Rusev.
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#5 Rusev was the only Bulgarian Superstar in WWE
Rusev was born on December 25, 1984, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Growing up, he developed an affinity for sports. Due to this, he joined a sports school and started competing in rowing and powerlifting. As Rusev started enjoying them, he also tried his hands in soviet martial arts, popular as Sambo.
Surprisingly, Rusev easily grew quite fond of it and decided to make something like that his profession. That's when the Bulgarian Superstar stumbled upon professional wrestling and soon chose to make a future out of it. Within a few months, he emigrated from Bulgaria to America and started his pro-wrestling training.
After struggling for two years, trying to make his name on the independent circuit as Miroslav, Rusev finally caught the attention of some big names in WWE. After impressing them in a tryout match, Rusev signed a contract with WWE in 2010.
While doing so, he not only started his professional career with the biggest wrestling company in the world but also created history by becoming the first and so-far only Superstar to sign with WWE from the country of Bulgaria.
#4 Rusev had multiple managers
As mentioned earlier, Rusev was born and raised in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. The official language of the place was Bulgarian, and English wasn't even the secondary language. Due to this, Rusev had a hard time understanding things when he made his transition to the USA. It took some time for Rusev to learn the English language, but he slowly got good at it. Unfortunately, not to the level he could hold a mic in his hands and deliver a decent promo without making multiple blunders.
While Lana, Rusev's real-life wife, managed the star throughout his stint on WWE's main roster, there were a couple of other people as well who acted as a mouthpiece for Rusev during his time on the company's developmental territory.
Raquel Diaz, the oldest daughter of late Eddie Guerrero, was the first star who managed Rusev on FCW for a couple of months before stepping aside.
Rusev's second manager was Nick Rogers, who managed him for less than two months, as the Bulgarian Superstar suffered a severe neck injury - which would be discussed later in the article. The third and last manager before Lana took over for Rusev was Sylvester Lefort, who worked with the Bulgarian Star for only a few weeks before the latter in-storyline accused him of being no good and ditched him.
#3 Rusev only held one title in WWE
Rusev was signed for a total of 10 years with WWE. He spent four of it on the company's developmental territory FCW (later renamed NXT) and the remaining on the main roster. While Rusev fought for the NXT Championship only three times on the Black and Yellow brand, he never managed to capture the belt.
On the main roster, the story was actually quite different. Within a few months of arriving on RAW, Rusev became one of the most popular mid-card stars on the brand and soon found himself winning his first title in WWE, the United States Championship, by defeating Sheamus in a dark match on RAW.
Rusev held the belt for 146-days before he dropped it to 16-time World Champion John Cena in a match at WrestleMania 31. Rusev then continued to lurk around the mid-card title picture but didn't get a chance to win the gold until 2016, when he defeated Kalisto to become the new United States Champion for 126 days.
Rusev's next title win came in 2018 when he feuded with Shinsuke Nakamura and defeated him to make himself the United States Champion for a third time.
Despite winning the United States Championship on three different occasions, it's the only title the Bulgarian Superstar ever held, even though he multiple times chased after other mid and major-card championships.
#2 Rusev was trained by two former WWE Superstars
After Rusev emigrated to the USA, he lived in the state of Virginia for a few months before he moved to Torrance, California, and found the Knokx Pro Wrestling Academy, founded and ran by two Attitude-Era Superstars Rikishi and Gangrel. Training under two of his biggest influences in the business, Rusev developed his wrestling style and added a few Samoan maneuvers to his arsenal.
Within a few months of learning, the Bulgarian Superstar made his pro-wrestling debut at one of the New Wave Pro Wrestling shows and came out winning the bout. While Rusev then continued his training at Rikishi and Gangrel's school, he also kept appearing on the independent scene, trying to make his name.
Rusev's hard work and dedication finally paid off when he was offered a contract with WWE in 2010. During his 10-year stint with the company, Rusev wasn't blessed with gold around his waist. But, he still had a great time working there. He showed everyone that he was more than capable, including his trainers Rikishi and Gangrel, who have praised the Bulgarian Superstar on multiple occasions.
#1 Rusev once suffered a career-threatening injury
Just a few weeks after Rusev made his FCW debut, the Bulgarian Superstar accidentally tore two major ligaments in his knee (ACL and meniscus) during a match. As a result, he spent almost six months on the sidelines rehabilitating and made his return eight-months later. Unfortunately, before Rusev could build some momentum, he got injured once again. But, this time, it was very serious.
During a spot in one of his matches, Rusev accidentally landed on his neck that broke one of his seven cervical vertebrae and left one of his hands temporarily paralyzed. While Rusev was able to walk on his legs afterward, he was told by the doctors that he was lucky, as that type of injury had the potential to end his wrestling career as well as paralyze him for life.
Rusev then took a year-long hiatus from in-ring action and used it to rehabilitate and traveling Thailand, where he learned the Muay Thai, widely famous as Thai boxing. Rusev made his in-ring return in the summer of 2013, by the time FCW had rebranded as NXT, and soon got involved in the NXT Championship picture.
