The 2019 Crown Jewel was a professional wrestling event produced by the American company WWE . It was the second Crown Jewel and took place on October 31, 2019, at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh , Saudi Arabia as part of the inaugural Riyadh Season , which launched earlier that same month. The event aired via pay-per-view (PPV) and livestreaming and featured wrestlers from the promotion's Raw , SmackDown , and 205 Live brand divisions . It was the fourth event that WWE held in Saudi Arabia under a 10-year partnership in support of Saudi Vision 2030 . A Crown Jewel event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic , but the event returned in 2021 .
206-703: Nine matches were contested at the event, including one on the Kickoff pre-show. In the main event, SmackDown's "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt defeated Raw's Seth Rollins in a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason to win the Universal Championship , which subsequently transferred the title to SmackDown. In other prominent matches, Brock Lesnar defeated Cain Velasquez by submission to retain SmackDown's WWE Championship in
412-615: A Curb Stomp on Ambrose through cinder blocks , giving him a kayfabe injury. On September 21, at Night of Champions , a scheduled match between Rollins and Reigns ended in Rollins being declared the winner via forfeit since Reigns developed a legitimate incarcerated hernia which required surgery prior to the event. He was then attacked by a returning Ambrose. Shortly after, Rollins adopted Jamie Noble and Joey Mercury as bodyguards, being named "J&J Security". The feud between Rollins and Ambrose culminated on October 26 at Hell in
618-493: 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
824-467: A Winner Takes All Extreme Rules match mixed tag team match . Afterwards, Rollins lost the title to Lesnar, who cashed in his Money in the Bank contract, ending his reign at 98 days. The following night on Raw , Rollins won a ten-man battle royal for the right to face Lesnar for the championship at SummerSlam by last eliminating Randy Orton. At the event on August 11, Rollins defeated Lesnar to regain
1030-579: 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
1236-610: 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. Rusev returned on the September 16 episode of Raw as a face 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
1442-882: A heel alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns , attacking Ryback during the triple threat main event for the WWE Championship , allowing CM Punk to pin John Cena and retain the title. The trio declared themselves The Shield , vowed to rally against "injustice" and denied working for Punk, but routinely emerged from the crowd to attack Punk's adversaries. This led to a Tables, Ladders and Chairs match at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 16, where The Shield defeated Team Hell No (Daniel Bryan and Kane ) and Ryback in their WWE debut match. The Shield continued to aid Punk after TLC, attacking both Ryback and The Rock (at Royal Rumble ) in January 2013. It
1648-587: A sunset flip powerbomb . The injury required surgery and it was estimated it would take Rollins out of action for approximately six to nine months, therefore he was forced to vacate the WWE World Heavyweight Championship the next day, ending his reign at 220 days. WWE recognizes his reign as lasting 219 days. On the December 21 episode of Raw , Rollins made a special appearance to accept his Slammy Award for 2015 Superstar of
1854-454: A tables match . On the January 5, 2015 episode of Raw , The Authority regained control over WWE. At Royal Rumble on January 25, Rollins failed to win a triple threat match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Cena and champion Brock Lesnar . At Fastlane on February 22, Rollins, Big Show and Kane defeated Ziggler, Erick Rowan and Ryback. After the match, Orton returned and attacked Noble, Mercury and Kane, while Rollins fled
2060-567: A 10-year strategic multiplatform partnership with the Ministry of Sport (formerly General Sports Authority) in support of Saudi Vision 2030 , Saudi Arabia 's social and economic reform program. Crown Jewel was established later that year as one of the recurring events in this partnership to be held in Riyadh , the capital of Saudi Arabia. As first reported on August 5, 2019, and later confirmed on September 27, WWE's Arabic website announced that
2266-536: A 5-on-3 handicap Tables, Ladders and Chairs match, but Reigns was replaced over an illness concern by Kurt Angle and they won the match. Ambrose and Rollins lost the titles back to Cesaro and Sheamus on the November 6 episode of Raw due to SmackDown's The New Day distracting the champions, ending their reign at 78 days (WWE recognizes their reign as lasting 79 days). At Survivor Series on November 19, The Shield defeated The New Day. In December, Ambrose suffered
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#17327880860552472-425: A Cell , where Rollins defeated Ambrose in a Hell in a Cell match after Bray Wyatt interfered and attacked Ambrose. Following Hell in a Cell, tension began growing between Rollins and Randy Orton due to The Authority's preferential treatment of Rollins. After defeating Orton on the November 3 episode of Raw , Orton attacked The Authority but was overpowered, resulting in Rollins performing a Curb Stomp on Orton onto
2678-592: A Hell in a Cell match, which he would be unsuccessful. "Rusev has been quite the company man as of late, doing favors for many returning veterans while not being showcased the way he should be given his size, ring work, and ability on the mic. Knowing how talented Rusev is, it is hard to believe that he has failed to crack the main event picture during his WWE tenure." Mike Souza of Pro Wrestling Torch commenting on Rusev's lack of success in WWE in February 2017 On
2884-401: A Moonsault on Cesaro to win. Following the match, Mansoor delivered an emotional heartfelt speech to his home country. In the fourth match, Braun Strowman faced Tyson Fury. In the closing moments, as Strowman returned to the ring, Fury attacked Strowman, who was on the turnbuckle, with a knockout punch. Strowman was counted out, meaning Fury won the match. Afterwards, an irate Strowman performed
3090-412: A No Disqualification match following interference from Big Show. At Hell in a Cell on October 27, Rollins and Reigns failed to regain the titles in a triple threat match also involving The Usos. At Survivor Series on November 24, The Shield teamed with Antonio Cesaro and Jack Swagger , facing Rey Mysterio , The Usos, Cody Rhodes and Goldust in a traditional Survivor Series match . Although Rollins
3296-574: A No Holds Barred elimination match, in which no members of The Shield were eliminated. On the June 2 episode of Raw , Rollins turned on Ambrose and Reigns to rejoin The Authority, turning heel once again. On June 29, Rollins won the Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event after interference from Kane. Rollins defeated Ambrose at Battleground on July 20 via forfeit after their match
3502-562: A Phenomenal Forearm on Carrillo to retain the title. After that, Natalya faced Lacey Evans in the first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. Natalya forced Evans to submit to the Sharpshooter to win the match. Following the match, Natalya and Evans shared an emotional embrace in the ring, and then embraced several audience members before departing backstage. Byron Saxton then joined commentators Michael Cole and Corey Graves for
3708-496: A Punt Kick on Reigns, but Shorty G grabbed Orton's leg, after which, Ali and Ricochet took everyone else out. Reigns then performed a Spear on Orton to win the match for Team Hogan. In the main event, Seth Rollins defended the Universal Championship against "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt in a Falls Count Anywhere match that could not be stopped for any reason. Before the match, Michael Cole explained that if The Fiend won,
3914-485: A Running Powerslam on Fury. In a backstage segment, Samir Singh pinned R-Truth to win the 24/7 Championship after Truth ran into a door. Next, AJ Styles (accompanied by his O.C. stablemates Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows) defended the United States Championship against battle royal winner Humberto Carrillo. In the end, Carrillo attempted a Moonsault, but Styles moved out of the way and performed
4120-528: A bout with John Cena . Rusev lost the United States Championship to Cena in a rematch at WrestleMania 31 after a miscommunication with Lana, ending his reign at 146 days and marking his first pinfall loss on WWE's main roster. "It was six minutes of Rusev being punished on live national television for getting engaged to his longtime girlfriend ... [After] the cleanest job Rusev has ever done ... [Summer Rae] cut Vince McMahon 's promo for him ... totally castrated [Rusev] ... How they get Rusev back on track as
4326-519: A brawl which saw Rollins come out on top. At Clash at the Castle on September 3, Rollins defeated Riddle. On the September 19 episode of Raw , it was announced that they would have a rematch in a Fight Pit match at Extreme Rules on October 8, where Rollins lost to Riddle by submission. Miro (wrestler) Miroslav Petrov Barnyashev ( Bulgarian : Мирослав Петров Барняшев , [miroˈslɑf pɛˈtrɔf bɑrˈnjɑʃɛf] ; born December 25, 1985)
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#17327880860554532-527: A bruised trachea in storyline and out of action indefinitely. Rusev made his in-ring return on the following SmackDown , wrestling in shoes to avoid further foot injury, defeating Fandango . On the July 13 episode of Raw , Rusev answered John Cena 's United States Championship open challenge. Rusev was then interrupted by both Kevin Owens and Cesaro , who also demanded a shot at the title. This resulted in
4738-484: 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 the January 13, 2020, episode of Raw , Rusev lost to Lashley again following an interference from Lana and Liv Morgan , after
4944-434: A decision which was negatively received by critics and fans. On October 31, at Crown Jewel , Rollins lost the Universal Championship to The Fiend in a falls count anywhere match , ending his second reign at 80 days. Rollins was selected as the captain for Team Raw against Team SmackDown and Team NXT on November 24 at Survivor Series , where Team SmackDown emerged victorious. The following night on Raw , Rollins berated
5150-474: A developmental contract with WWE and was assigned to their developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW) in September. On September 14, Black made his WWE debut in a dark match prior to the SmackDown taping by defeating Trent Barreta . Lopez debuted for FCW on September 30 under the name Seth Rollins , in a loss to Michael McGillicutty . Rollins then faced Hunico on November 4 in
5356-414: A feud between the two and disbanding The Shield once again. Rollins and Ambrose lost the titles on the November 5 episode of Raw , when Rollins lost a handicap match to AOP ( Akam and Rezar ). On November 18, at Survivor Series , Rollins defeated United States Champion Shinsuke Nakamura in an interbrand champion vs. champion match. On December 16, at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs , Rollins lost
5562-476: A feud with Kane, turning face in the process. At WrestleMania XXX on April 6, The Shield defeated Kane and The New Age Outlaws ( Billy Gunn and Road Dogg ). The Shield then feuded with Triple H, the COO of WWE and leader of The Authority, who reformed Evolution with Batista and Randy Orton to take on The Shield. The Shield defeated Evolution at Extreme Rules on May 4, and again on June 1 at Payback in
5768-411: A feud with Triple H leading into WrestleMania. On January 28, Rollins appeared at NXT TakeOver: San Antonio , interrupting the show and demanding to confront Triple H, who came out only to order security to remove Rollins from the ring. On the January 30 episode of Raw , Rollins confronted Stephanie McMahon and once again called out Triple H, demanding answers for his betrayal. Later that night, Rollins
5974-548: A first-round match and then Claudio Castagnoli, Colt Cabana , Delirious , Chris Hero and Roderick Strong in the finals to win the 2009 Survival of the Fittest tournament , earning him a ROH World Championship match. On December 19, at ROH's first live pay-per-view, Final Battle , Black wrestled then ROH World Champion Austin Aries to a 60-minute time limit draw. Because of this draw, then ROH commissioner Jim Cornette booked
6180-422: A gym going through wrestling practice sequences". Heavy.com reacted very positively. While considering the match itself only "a halfway-decent match here that was a mild step above your usual house show bout", he added that "This bout was clearly put in place to break barriers and further WWE's 'Women's Evolution' for the proud ladies in attendance and watching all over the world. And for that, I have to give it
6386-434: 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
Crown Jewel (2019) - Misplaced Pages Continue
6592-444: A killer after this segment is beyond me, which may have been the intent." — Wrestling Observer analyst Jeff Hamlin describes the storyline breakup of Rusev and Summer Rae in 2015 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
6798-819: A loss to The Latin American Xchange ( Homicide and Hernandez ) on Impact! in October 2006. On May 25, 2007, while in a match with then Full Impact Pro (FIP) Tag Team Champions The Briscoe Brothers ( Jay and Mark Briscoe ) in Melbourne, Florida , Black's tag team partner Marek Brave suffered a legitimate back injury, leading Black to pursue a singles career by competing in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (PWG), where he defeated Joey Ryan in his debut on June 10. At PWG's Life During Wartime on July 6, 2008, Black and Jimmy Jacobs won
7004-443: A match between Rusev and Ziggler at SummerSlam , which ended in a double countout due to interference from Lana and Rae, and after the match, Rusev and Rae brawled with Ziggler and Lana. On the October 5 episode of Raw , Rae proposed to Rusev in the storyline, but said he would not marry her until he had won another championship. On October 11, TMZ reported that Rusev had become engaged to Lana in real life . Lana then confirmed
7210-587: A match on the October 23 episode of SmackDown , where Rusev defeated English, ending their feud. 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
7416-521: 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
7622-472: A new character where he would proclaim that every day was "Rusev Day". This act would become incredibly popular with the fans, despite the fact that Rusev played a villainous character. As a result, WWE attempted to suppress positive feedback by editing out "Rusev Day" chants from crowds and reducing Rusev's appearances on television. At Hell in a Cell on October 9, Rusev lost to Orton again, thus ending their feud. After his feud with Orton, Rusev began
7828-504: 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
8034-541: 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
8240-441: 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
8446-446: A rematch. On the following episode of Raw , Rollins attacked and laid out Rhodes during his match for the United States Championship against Theory . The following week, Rhodes challenged Rollins to a match at Hell in a Cell , inside the namesake structure, which Rollins accepted. At the event on June 5, Rollins lost to Rhodes, ending their feud. The match received a five-star rating by esteemed wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer of
Crown Jewel (2019) - Misplaced Pages Continue
8652-544: A ring announcer. WWE announced on November 4, 2019, that it had "expanded" its partnership with the General Authority for Entertainment through 2027, under which it would hold two "large-scale events" in the country per-year. On the following SmackDown , Paul Heyman described Brock Lesnar's victory at Crown Jewel (which was replayed in full at his request) as being "spiritually orgasmic". Heyman also announced that Lesnar had quit SmackDown and moved to Raw (taking
8858-497: 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
9064-510: A score of 8 out of 10, but gave bad ratings to both Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman, calling them "[matches] that nobody except the WWE cared about". Jason Powell of Pro Wrestling Dot Net stated that while 2019's Crown Jewel was the best WWE PPV held in Saudi Arabia so far, "unfortunately, that's not saying much". Velasquez and Fury being new to professional wrestling made their matches "more interesting" than previous WWE matches in Saudi Arabia, however they "just didn't click going into
9270-650: A second Crown Jewel event would be held at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh on October 31, and feature wrestlers from the Raw and SmackDown brand divisions . The event was held as part of the inaugural Riyadh Season , which launched earlier that same month. The 2019 Crown Jewel was the fourth event under the Saudi Arabian partnership and established Crown Jewel as a recurring Saudi Arabian event in Riyadh. In addition to airing on traditional pay-per-view (PPV),
9476-541: A second chance at the ROH World Championship at Death Before Dishonor VI in New York City , when he faced McGuinness, Danielson and Claudio Castagnoli in a four-way elimination match , but McGuinness retained the title. At Final Battle in December, after Black lost a number one contender match to Austin Aries, Jacobs turned on him, and Black was then attacked by Aries. At Full Circle, Black
9682-475: A segment of Firefly Fun House , only for Rollins to interrupt Wyatt inside the Fun House. Rollins attacked Wyatt, and set the Fun House ablaze. On the following SmackDown , a further stipulation was added in that the referee could not stop the match for any reason. At Super ShowDown , NXT 's Mansoor , a Saudi native, won WWE's largest standard battle royal. On October 14, a match between Mansoor and Cesaro
9888-411: A six-man tag team match on the April 22 episode of Raw , which The Shield won. On the May 13 episode of Raw , The Shield's undefeated streak in televised six-man tag team matches ended in a disqualification loss in a six-man elimination tag team match against John Cena, Kane and Daniel Bryan. On May 19, at Extreme Rules , Rollins and Reigns defeated Team Hell No in a tornado tag team match to win
10094-559: A six-man tag team match. Two nights later on Raw , The Shield was defeated by the trio in a rematch, with Ambrose walking away from his teammates after their defeat. On the October 22 episode of Raw , Reigns took a hiatus due to his legitimate returning leukemia . Later that night, Rollins and Ambrose defeated Ziggler and McIntyre to win the Raw Tag Team Championship (making Rollins a double champion), only for Ambrose to turn on Rollins as he attacked him, igniting
10300-603: A six-man tag team qualifying match to enter the Elimination Chamber match for the WWE World Heavyweight Championship, but lost the match via disqualification after The Wyatt Family ( Bray Wyatt , Erick Rowan and Luke Harper ) interfered and attacked Cena, Bryan, and Sheamus. At Elimination Chamber on February 23, The Shield were defeated by the Wyatt Family in a rematch. Later in March, The Shield began
10506-540: A squash match. Afterwards, Miro started a feud with Powerhouse Hobbs , which led to a match at All Out , where Miro defeated Hobbs. After the match, Hobbs continued to attack Miro only to be saved by the debuting CJ (Miro's wife, formerly known as Lana in WWE). On December 30 at Worlds End , Miro defeated Andrade El Idolo with the assistance of CJ. After that event, Miro went on another hiatus to recover from an injury he had suffered in September 2023. In September 2024, it
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#173278808605510712-563: 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
10918-484: A superkick on The Fiend, who fell onto electrical equipment; this caused the equipment to briefly catch fire. A spark incapacitated Rollins and The Fiend then appeared behind Rollins. The Fiend applied the Mandible Claw on Rollins before performing Sister Abigail on Rollins to win the title. Following the match, The Fiend posed with the title on the entrance ramp. The event received mixed to positive reviews. While
11124-444: 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
11330-459: A title match against United States Champion AJ Styles later that night. Due to the limited rights women have in Saudi Arabia , all WWE female wrestlers had been banned from wrestling in WWE events in the country. However, during the Crown Jewel media press conference on October 30, it was announced that a match between Natalya and Lacey Evans had been approved for Crown Jewel, marking
11536-434: A title match. Rollins continued his feud with Orton after WrestleMania, which led to a steel cage match for the championship with Kane residing as special guest "gatekeeper" at Extreme Rules on April 26, where Rollins retained after interference from the latter. At Payback on May 17, Rollins successfully defended the title against Orton, Reigns, and Ambrose in a fatal-four-way match after pinning Orton. Rollins retained
11742-596: A torn biceps , sidelining him for approximately nine months, putting The Shield on hiatus. On the December 25 episode of Raw , Rollins and Jason Jordan won the Raw Tag Team Championship from Cesaro and Sheamus. At the Royal Rumble on January 28, 2018, Rollins entered at #18 in the Royal Rumble match, but was eliminated by Reigns. Right after the Royal Rumble match, they lost the titles back to Cesaro and Sheamus, ending their reign at 34 days. After their tag team dissolved due to Jordan having neck surgery, Rollins
11948-538: A triple threat match, where the winner would face Cena, which Rusev won after pinning Cesaro, as Owens had left the match early on. Afterwards, Rusev defeated Cena by disqualification, when Owens assaulted Rusev. On the July 16 episode of SmackDown, Rusev suffered his second loss by pinfall during his tenure on the WWE main roster when he was defeated by Cesaro in a singles match. On the August 17 episode of Raw , Ziggler returned and attacked Rusev. This altercation prompted
12154-406: 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
12360-497: A violent man with a god complex . 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
12566-588: A wrestling school owned by Danny Daniels on the borders of Chicago and Oak Park . Lopez made his debut at the age of 19 on August 21, 2004, wrestling in the Iowa independent scene under the ring name Gixx. He then joined Ian Rotten 's Independent Wrestling Association Mid-South (IWA) under the name Tyler Black, and entered the Ted Petty Invitational Tournament , defeating Sal Thomaselli before being eliminated by Matt Sydal in
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#173278808605512772-506: Is a Bulgarian professional wrestler . He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Miro . He is also known for his work with WWE from 2010 to 2020, under the ring name Rusev . In 2010, Barnyashev signed a contract with WWE 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 called to WWE's main roster. During his tenure in WWE, he
12978-761: Is an American professional wrestler . He is signed to WWE , where he performs on the Raw brand under the ring name Seth "Freakin" Rollins . Prior to signing with WWE, he wrestled under the ring name Tyler Black for Ring of Honor (ROH) and was part of the Age of the Fall stable with Jimmy Jacobs . During his time in ROH, he held the ROH World Championship once and the ROH World Tag Team Championship twice (with Jacobs) and won
13184-588: The Wrestling Observer Newsletter , making it the first WWE main roster match to receive a five-star rating since 2011, and the first match of Rollins's career to receive such a rating. Rollins then began a feud with Matt Riddle , setting up a match between the two at SummerSlam . However, the match was postponed after Riddle suffered an injury following an attack by Rollins on the July 25 episode of Raw . Despite this, both Rollins and Riddle appeared at SummerSlam on July 30, engaging in
13390-401: 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
13596-499: The All Out event in September, Miro teamed with Darby Allin and Sting to defeat The House of Black (Malakai Black, Brody King , and Buddy Matthews ) in a six-man tag team match. Following another lengthy absence, Miro made a return on the May 10, 2023 episode of Dynamite , where he walked into AEW CEO Tony Khan 's office. Miro made his in-ring return on the premiere episode of Collision on June 17, defeating Tony Nese in
13802-669: 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
14008-550: The COVID-19 pandemic . His real life wife Lana, however, remained with WWE until she was also released over a year later in June 2021. 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
14214-632: The FCW Florida Tag Team Championship , which they later dropped to Big E Langston and Calvin Raines. In July 2011, Rollins began a feud with Dean Ambrose . Ambrose and Rollins had their first match for the FCW 15 Championship in a 15-minute Iron Man match on the August 14 episode of FCW , which ended in a draw with neither men scoring a fall and, as a result, Rollins retained his title. A subsequent 20-minute rematch for
14420-552: The Gold Rush Tournament to crown the inaugural NXT Champion where he defeated Jinder Mahal in the tournament finals on the August 29 episode of NXT . On the October 10 episode of NXT , Rollins had his first successful defense of his title against Michael McGillicutty. On the January 2, 2013 episode of NXT , Rollins successfully defended the NXT Championship against Corey Graves , before losing it
14626-424: The Money in the Bank pre-show on July 14, and against The Prime Time Players ( Darren Young and Titus O'Neil) at Night of Champions on September 15. At Battleground on October 6, the recently ( kayfabe ) fired Cody Rhodes and Goldust reclaimed their jobs by defeating Rollins and Reigns in a non-title match. On the October 14 episode of Raw , Rollins and Reigns lost the titles to Rhodes and Goldust in
14832-851: The PWG World Tag Team Championship by defeating Roderick Strong and El Generico , a replacement for Jack Evans . At FIP's event on December 20, Black defeated Go Shiozaki to win the FIP World Heavyweight Championship . At FIP's event on May 2, 2009, Davey Richards was awarded the FIP World Heavyweight Championship by forfeit when Black was unable to compete. At the Ring of Honor (ROH) pay-per-view taping of Man Up on September 15, 2007, Black made his debut alongside Jimmy Jacobs and Necro Butcher , with
15038-581: The Royal Rumble match at the No. 2 spot, but he would be eliminated by Roman Reigns in one and a half minutes. On the March 14 episode of Raw , Rusev and Del Rio failed to win the WWE Tag Team Championship from The New Day . At WrestleMania 32 , The League of Nations defeated The New Day , but after the match, The League of Nations was attacked by Mick Foley , Shawn Michaels and Stone Cold Steve Austin . Following WrestleMania 32, on
15244-624: The Royal Rumble on January 26, as the final entrant, but was eliminated by eventual winner Drew McIntyre. Rollins and Murphy retained the titles against The Street Profits at Super ShowDown on February 27, but lost the titles to them on the March 2 episode of Raw . Rollins and Murphy failed to reclaim the championship from the Street Profits at Elimination Chamber six days later. At WrestleMania 36 on April 4, Rollins lost to Owens in No Disqualification match , ending
15450-542: The UFC Heavyweight Championship by technical knockout at UFC 121 in October 2010, entered the ring and attacked Lesnar, who managed to escape and retreated. In a backstage interview, Velasquez stated he came to exact revenge from Lesnar for what he did to Mysterio and Dominik, who was later revealed to be Velasquez's godson. At the Crown Jewel press conference in Las Vegas on October 11, it
15656-574: The WWE Tag Team Championship . On the June 14 episode of SmackDown , The Shield suffered their first decisive loss in televised six-man tag team matches against Team Hell No and Randy Orton when Bryan made Rollins submit. Rollins and Reigns successfully retained the WWE Tag Team Championship against Bryan and Orton at Payback on June 13. In August, The Shield began working for Chief operating officer Triple H and The Authority . They retained their titles against The Usos at
15862-611: 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. 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
16068-430: The 2009 Survival of the Fittest tournament. He also wrestled for various independent promotions including Full Impact Pro , where he was a one-time FIP World Heavyweight Champion , as well as Pro Wrestling Guerrilla , where he was a one-time PWG World Tag Team Champion (also with Jacobs). Lopez signed with WWE in 2010 and was sent to its then-developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling (FCW), where he
16274-478: The 5-on-5 elimination match on Team Raw and won the match as the sole survivor after eliminating Jeff Hardy . On the October 25 episode of Raw , Rollins defeated Finn Bálor, Kevin Owens, and Rey Mysterio in a fatal four-way ladder match to become the #1 contender for the WWE Championship against Big E at Day 1 on January 1, 2022. Over the following weeks, Owens and Bobby Lashley were also added to
16480-419: The April 28 episode of SmackDown , Rusev walked out on Sheamus after Del Rio walked out the both of them, thus disbanding The League of Nations. 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
16686-406: The April 4 episode of Raw , League of Nations members Sheamus and King Barrett were part of a losing effort against The New Day for the WWE Tag Team Championship after Barrett was pinned by Kofi Kingston , and following the match, Barrett was exiled from the group being called the "weak link", but moments after, The Wyatt Family went on to attack the remaining members of The League of Nations. On
16892-522: 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 ",
17098-563: The Best in the World WWE Tag Team World Cup. The teams of Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode and Lucha House Party (Lince Dorado and Gran Metalik, accompanied by Kalisto) started the match. Roode performed a Glorious DDT on Dorado to eliminate Lucha House Party. The next team to enter was Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder , who were eliminated quickly by Ziggler and Roode following a Spinebuster/Zig-Zag combination on Ryder. Next
17304-488: The Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, the 20-man over the top rope battle royal was contested to determine AJ Styles' challenger for the United States Championship. Midway through the match, after both R-Truth and Sunil Singh had been eliminated, Truth pinned Sunil with a roll up on the entrance ramp to win the 24/7 Championship . At the end of the battle royal, Humberto Carrillo eliminated Erick Rowan to win
17510-584: The Intercontinental Championship to Ambrose, ending his reign at 119 days. Rollins failed to regain the championship from Ambrose on several occasions, including in a Falls Count Anywhere match when Lashley interfered, and in a triple threat match where Lashley won the championship after pinning Ambrose. At the Royal Rumble on January 27, 2019, Rollins won his first Royal Rumble match by lastly eliminating Braun Strowman. The following night on Raw , Rollins challenged Brock Lesnar for
17716-453: The Lopez surname from his Mexican-American stepfather, whom he considers his true father. He has a brother and a sister, but did not know this until their existence was revealed by a DNA test in 2019. He graduated from Davenport West High School in 2004. As a teenager, he was an introvert who lived a straight edge lifestyle and was a big fan of rock and heavy metal music. He trained at
17922-492: 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
18128-565: 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
18334-656: 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
18540-465: The October 5 episode of Raw , Murphy attacked Rollins after he refused to apologize to him, thus ending their alliance. As part of the 2020 WWE draft in October, Rollins was drafted to the SmackDown brand . On the November 20 episode of SmackDown , Rollins lost to Murphy to end the feud. At Survivor Series two days later, Rollins was a part of Team SmackDown, but was the first person eliminated by Sheamus after "sacrificing" himself and his team lost
18746-474: The ROH World Championship with him to WWE and refused to put the championship at stake in a match with Davey Richards on August 28, which he then lost by submission . On September 11, at Glory By Honor IX , in his final ROH appearance, Black lost the ROH World Championship to Roderick Strong in a no disqualification match with Terry Funk as a guest enforcer , ending his reign at 210 days after seven successful title defenses. On August 8, 2010, Lopez signed
18952-485: The ROH World Championship. On April 3, Black retained the title in a three-way elimination match against Austin Aries and Roderick Strong at The Big Bang! pay-per-view. He also retained the title against Davey Richards on June 19 at Death Before Dishonor VIII . Black turned into a villain at the August 20 tapings of Ring of Honor Wrestling after news broke that he had signed a developmental contract with World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). He threatened to take
19158-515: The Raw and SmackDown brands, while storylines were produced on WWE's weekly television shows, Monday Night Raw and Friday Night SmackDown . On the September 30 episode of Raw , Hulk Hogan and fellow WWE Hall of Famer Ric Flair were guests on "Miz TV" where Hogan and Flair teased a match against each other. The Miz then announced that at Crown Jewel, there would be a 5-on-5 tag team match between Team Hogan and Team Flair, with Hogan and Flair as
19364-510: The September 30 episode of Raw , Brock Lesnar and his advocate Paul Heyman interrupted an in-ring promo by Rey Mysterio . Lesnar proceeded to brutally attack Mysterio as well as Mysterio's son, Dominik, who was seated in the front row. After Lesnar won the WWE Championship during SmackDown's 20th Anniversary that Friday, Mysterio appeared along with former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) mixed martial artist Cain Velasquez , making his WWE debut. Velasquez, who had defeated Lesnar for
19570-521: The United States Championship from Cena in a steel cage match. At Hell in a Cell on October 25, Rollins retained the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Kane and per the match stipulation, Kane was fired as Director of Operations. On November 4, during a match against Kane at a WWE live event in Dublin, Ireland , Rollins tore the ACL , MCL and medial meniscus in his knee while attempting to execute
19776-486: 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
19982-503: The Universal Championship Hell in a Cell match between defending champion Seth Rollins and "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt ended by match stoppage, thus Rollins retained. The Fiend, thought to be injured, proceeded to further attack Rollins after the match. On the October 11 episode of SmackDown (the first night of the 2019 WWE Draft ), a match between Rollins (representing Raw) and Roman Reigns (representing SmackDown)
20188-484: The Universal Championship against him on May 19 at Money in the Bank . Rollins successfully defended the title against Corbin at Super ShowDown on June 7, and at Stomping Grounds on June 23; the latter title defense featured Lacey Evans as special guest referee . He won with assistance of his real-life wife and Raw Women's Champion Becky Lynch to overcome the biased refereeing from Evans. Rollins and Lynch defeated Corbin and Evans at Extreme Rules on July 14 in
20394-411: The Universal Championship at WrestleMania 35 . Soon after, Rollins reconciled with Ambrose and the recently returned Reigns to reform The Shield for the third time, defeating McIntyre, Lashley and Baron Corbin on March 10 at Fastlane . At WrestleMania 35 on April 7, Rollins defeated Lesnar to win the Universal Championship for the first time. Rollins then entered a feud with AJ Styles, retaining
20600-480: The WWE Championship inside the namesake structure after being eliminated by Lesnar. Rollins then unsuccessfully attempted to find a spot on the card at WrestleMania 38 , until Mr. McMahon announced that Rollins would face an opponent of his choosing on the March 28 episode of Raw . At Night 1 of WrestleMania on April 2, Rollins' opponent was unveiled as the returning Cody Rhodes , who defeated Rollins. At WrestleMania Backlash on May 8, Rollins lost to Rhodes in
20806-435: The WWE Championship match at Day 1, making it a fatal four-way match, which Rollins lost after Brock Lesnar was added to the match and won the title. That month, he began to work as Seth "Freakin" Rollins. At the Royal Rumble on January 29, Rollins faced SmackDown's Roman Reigns for the Universal Championship, winning the match by disqualification but not the title. On February 18, at Elimination Chamber , he failed to win
21012-435: The WWE Championship with him as the Universal Championship had been transferred to SmackDown following The Fiend's victory) in order to seek revenge against Rey Mysterio for his actions following the match. On the following Raw , after attacking crew members and commentator Dio Maddin , Lesnar was repeatedly attacked by Mysterio with a steel pipe. Mysterio then challenged Lesnar for the WWE Championship at Survivor Series, which
21218-609: The WWE World Heavyweight and the United States Championships after interference from Jon Stewart , making him the first and only wrestler to hold both championships simultaneously. At Night of Champions on September 20, Rollins lost the United States Championship back to Cena but was able to retain the WWE World Heavyweight Championship against Sting later that night. At Live from Madison Square Garden on October 3, Rollins failed to regain
21424-529: The Year by Sports Illustrated in 2022. He was the first wrestler to cash in a Money in the Bank contract at a WrestleMania event and holds the record for the longest televised match in WWE history, performing for 65 minutes whilst defeating Reigns and John Cena in the same night. Colby Daniel Lopez was born in Davenport, Iowa , on May 28, 1986. He is of Armenian, German, and Irish descent. He gained
21630-437: The Year . At Extreme Rules on May 22, 2016, Rollins returned from injury, attacking Roman Reigns with a Pedigree after his WWE World Heavyweight Championship defense against AJ Styles . The following night on Raw , Shane McMahon scheduled a match between Reigns and Rollins for the title at Money in the Bank . At the event on June 19, Rollins defeated Reigns to win his second WWE World Heavyweight Championship, becoming
21836-406: The arena. On March 29, at WrestleMania 31 , Rollins lost to Orton. Later that night, Rollins cashed in his Money in the Bank contract during Lesnar and Reigns' WWE World Heavyweight Championship match, turning it into a triple threat match and pinned Reigns to win the title for the first time in his career, making him the first man to cash in his Money in the Bank contract at WrestleMania and during
22042-461: The barricade only to be restrained by security. On the following Raw , Fury appeared, wanting an apology from Strowman. After exchanging verbal insults, a massive brawl broke out between the two that had to be separated by security and other wrestlers. At the Crown Jewel press conference in Las Vegas on October 11, it was announced that Strowman would face Fury at Crown Jewel. At Hell in a Cell ,
22248-466: 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
22454-404: The brand and confronted the returning John Cena , setting up a flag match for Battleground , which he lost. In August, Rusev started a feud with Randy Orton and was defeated by Orton at SummerSlam in 10 seconds. On the September 19 episode of SmackDown , Rusev got his revenge on Orton by defeating him in the same time, after a distraction from Aiden English . Soon after, Rusev assumed
22660-591: The brand's first draft pick. At Battleground on July 24, Rollins unsuccessfully competed in a triple threat match against Ambrose and Reigns for the newly renamed WWE World Championship, which became exclusive to the SmackDown brand . Because of this, the WWE Universal Championship was introduced the following night on Raw . Rollins lost the inaugural title match against Finn Bálor on August 21 at SummerSlam . After Bálor relinquished
22866-488: The championship after enlisting the help of a returning Dean Ambrose. The next night on Raw , Rollins reformed The Shield with Ambrose and Roman Reigns, preventing Strowman from cashing in his Money in the Bank contract for the Universal Championship against Reigns. At Hell in a Cell on September 16, Rollins and Ambrose failed to win the Raw Tag Team Championship from McIntyre and Ziggler. At Super Show-Down on October 6, The Shield defeated McIntyre, Ziggler and Strowman in
23072-422: The championship against Ambrose on May 31 at Elimination Chamber after getting himself disqualified, and in a ladder match at Money in the Bank on June 14. At Battleground on July 19, Rollins retained the title by disqualification against Brock Lesnar after The Undertaker attacked Lesnar. On August 23, Rollins defeated United States Champion John Cena in a Winner Takes All match at SummerSlam for both
23278-465: The championship against The Miz at Backlash on May 6 and Elias on June 17 at Money in the Bank , before losing it to Dolph Ziggler the following night on Raw after a distraction by Ziggler's ally, Drew McIntyre , ending his reign at 71 days. Rollins failed to regain the title from Ziggler in a 30-minute Iron Man match at Extreme Rules on July 15 after interference from McIntyre. On August 19, at SummerSlam , Rollins defeated Ziggler to regain
23484-436: The championship, making him the second wrestler to hold the Universal Championship more than once. He also became the first superstar to defeat Lesnar at both WrestleMania and SummerSlam. On the August 19 episode of Raw , Rollins won his record-tying fifth Raw Tag Team Championship along with Braun Strowman when they defeated Karl Anderson and Luke Gallows . At Clash of Champions on September 15, Rollins and Strowman lost
23690-597: The engagement and it began being used in the storyline on television, which resulted in Rae breaking up with him on the October 12 episode of Raw . The entire storyline circulating around the break-up of Rusev and Lana received extremely negative reviews, with many claiming the storyline damaged Rusev's gimmick . On the October 31 episode of Main Event , Rusev injured his bicep in a match with Neville, resulting in Neville winning
23896-410: The entire Raw roster for "dropping the ball" and failing to win at the pay-per-view. These comments later drew the attention of Kevin Owens, who attacked Rollins and challenged him to a match, which ended in a disqualification after AOP (Akam and Rezar) attacked Owens. On the December 9 episode of Raw , despite earlier denying an alliance with AOP, Rollins joined them by attacking Owens, turning heel for
24102-439: The event as a whole was praised as a step-up from their previous shows in Saudi Arabia, Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman were generally panned. The Universal Championship match polarized reviewers, while approving of the decision to have Wyatt win, they also unanimously lamented that the title change didn't take place at Hell in a Cell earlier the same month. The Daily Express noted that fan reaction to Fury vs. Strowman
24308-467: The event on August 21, Rollins lost to Edge by submission, but won their rematch on the September 10 episode of SmackDown . As part of the 2021 Draft , Rollins was drafted to the Raw brand. On the October 8 episode of SmackDown , Edge demanded a Hell in a Cell match between them, which was made official for Crown Jewel . At the event on October 21, Rollins was defeated by Edge, ending their feud. At Survivor Series on November 21, Rollins took part in
24514-629: The event was available to livestream on the WWE Network . WWE Hall of Famer Hulk Hogan and The Undertaker were announced to be making appearances at the event; however, it was later revealed that The Undertaker would not be appearing, but was seen representing WWE in the Riyadh Season Grand Parade Opening. The event comprised nine matches, including one on the Kickoff pre-show, that resulted from scripted storylines. Results were predetermined by WWE's writers on
24720-458: The feud. At Money in the Bank on May 10, Rollins unsuccessfully challenged McIntyre for the WWE Championship. The next night on Raw , Rollins attacked Rey Mysterio and injured his eye with the steel ring steps. On the May 18 episode of Raw , Rollins recruited Austin Theory as a member of his faction. Mysterio eventually returned and challenged Rollins to an Eye for an Eye match , where
24926-479: The first ever FCW 15 match under 15-minute Iron Man rules where they fought to a 1–1 draw. Following this, Rollins, along with Hunico, Richie Steamboat and Jinder Mahal , participated in the FCW 15 Jack Brisco Classic tournament. On January 13, 2011, Rollins defeated Hunico in the finals to win the tournament and became the inaugural FCW Jack Brisco 15 Champion . At a house show on March 25, Rollins and Steamboat defeated Damien Sandow and Titus O'Neil to win
25132-414: The first time since 2016. After this, Rollins began calling himself the "Monday Night Messiah" while stating that he was "sacrificing" his opponents for "the greater good" and created a faction with AOP and Buddy Murphy . Rollins and Murphy defeated The Viking Raiders to win the Raw Tag Team Championship on the January 20, 2020 episode of Raw , becoming a record six-time champion. Rollins competed in
25338-454: The first wrestler to legitimately defeat Reigns in singles competition on the main roster, only to lose the title minutes later to Dean Ambrose, who cashed in the Money in the Bank contract he won earlier that night. In July, Rollins failed to regain the renamed WWE Championship from Ambrose on both Raw and SmackDown . During the 2016 WWE draft on July 19, Rollins was drafted to Raw as
25544-410: The first-ever women's match in Saudi Arabia. In respecting the country's culture, WWE Chief Brand Officer Stephanie McMahon said that both would be wearing full body suits instead of their normal ring attire, although Natalya's normal ring attire is mostly a bodysuit. Both women also wore shirts from the souvenir shops normally sold at the venue and from the WWE store featuring their branding. During
25750-484: The ground and pound, but Lesnar forced Velasquez to submit to the Kimura Lock to retain the title. After the match, Lesnar kept the hold applied until Mysterio struck Lesnar with a chair. Lesnar threw Mysterio out of the ring and struck Velasquez with the chair. Lesnar performed an F-5 on Velasquez onto the chair. Mysterio struck Lesnar with a chair, forcing Lesnar to retreat. Next was the tag team turmoil match for
25956-622: The inaugural champion. He has also held the Intercontinental Championship and the United States Championship twice each, making him WWE's 29th Triple Crown Champion and 19th Grand Slam Champion , as well as the second wrestler to accomplish the latter twice under the revised 2015 format . He is also the only wrestler to have won the WWE Championship, Universal Championship, World Heavyweight Championship, and NXT Championship, in addition to being
26162-562: 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
26368-429: The main event, describing it as "horror movie campiness" which was "getting worse the more its repeated". Tim Fiorvanti, Matt Wilansky, and Marc Raimondi for ESPN wrote that The Fiend becoming champion overshadowed the "unsustainability" of his invincible character, Rollins being left "in no-man's land in terms of crowd reaction and momentum", and the main event having poor lighting and being too long. The 10-man match
26574-473: The main roster). Praised for his in-ring skills and ability to reinvent his on-screen character, Rollins is regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers active today and of his generation. Rollins topped Pro Wrestling Illustrated ' s PWI 500 list of the top 500 wrestlers in the world in 2015, 2019, and 2023, was voted as the PWI Wrestler of the Year in 2015 and 2023 and was named Wrestler of
26780-399: 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
26986-426: The match and earn a United States Championship match later in the night. This match would also serve as Luke Harper 's last match in WWE before his release on December 8 and untimely death the following year. The actual pay-per-view opened with Brock Lesnar (accompanied by Paul Heyman) defending the WWE Championship against Cain Velasquez (accompanied by Rey Mysterio). After the two traded strikes, Velasquez went for
27192-412: The match via referee stoppage and Rusev being out of action. Rusev returned on the November 23 episode of Raw , when he attacked Roman Reigns , and lost to him by disqualification after Sheamus and King Barrett attacked Reigns. A week later, on November 30 episode of Raw , Lana returned to the WWE, once again as a villainess , and reconciled with Rusev, during a Miz TV segment, and later in
27398-467: The match, a mixed tag team match was scheduled between teams of Rusev and Morgan, and Lashley and Lana. The mixed tag team of Rusev and Morgan was defeated by Lashley and Lana 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 be Rusev's final appearance in WWE, as on April 15, he was released from his WWE contract as part of budget cuts stemming from
27604-408: The match. At the Royal Rumble on January 31, 2021, Rollins entered at #29, but was eliminated by eventual winner Edge . On Night 1 of WrestleMania 37 on April 10, Rollins lost to Cesaro, but won a rematch at Hell in a Cell on June 20. On the July 9 episode of SmackDown , Rollins defeated Cesaro again to qualify for the Money in the Bank ladder match at the titular event on July 18, which
27810-583: The match. After Crown Jewel ended, it was reported that a flight back to the United States, carrying almost 200 of WWE's wrestlers and other employees, had experienced a major delay on the tarmac. WWE attributed the delay to "aircraft problems including mechanical issues", while the plane's owner, Atlas Air , stated that repairs would be made. However, as reported in The Hindustan Times , former WWE commentator Hugo Savinovich stated he
28016-410: The match. On February 23, 2012, Rollins defeated Leo Kruger to become the new FCW Florida Heavyweight Champion . Rollins lost the championship to Rick Victor at a house show on May 31. When WWE rebranded FCW into NXT in August 2012, Rollins' NXT TV debut took place on the second episode of the rebooted NXT at Full Sail University on June 27, when he defeated Jiro . Rollins entered
28222-592: The matches of the event. Cesaro-Mansoor and Team Hogan-Team Flair were the highest rated at 3.75 stars. The next highest was the US title match at 2.75 stars. The Universal title match was rated 2 stars. The lowest rated matches were Fury-Strowman at 0 stars, and Lesnar-Velasquez at -1 stars. The women's match between Natalya and Lacey Evans was considered average in quality; although it was largely celebrated by WWE as groundbreaking, media outlets had polarized reactions. Dave Meltzer wrote that although WWE claimed that "the match
28428-413: 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. In July, Rusev Day started a feud with Andrade "Cien" Almas and Zelina Vega , thus turning them face in
28634-625: The mid-2000s, Barnyashev moved from Bulgaria to the U.S. 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
28840-573: 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 would aggressively question
29046-518: 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
29252-557: The move to stretch the victim's entire back whilst in the hold. 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
29458-510: The next week on NXT to Big E Langston in a No Disqualification match. After losing the title, Rollins continued to feud with Graves and attacked him during his number one contender's match for the NXT Championship with Conor O'Brian. Rollins then accepted Graves' challenge and defeated him in a lumberjack match to end the feud. On November 18, 2012, at the Survivor Series pay-per-view , Seth Rollins made his main roster debut as
29664-655: The number one contender to the WWE Universal Championship also involving Bálor, Joe, Reigns and Wyatt, which Joe won. On the July 10 episode of Raw , Rollins saved Dean Ambrose from an attack by The Miz and the Miztourage (Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas ). After failing to gain Ambrose's trust for several weeks, the two argued in the ring on the August 14 episode of Raw and brawled with each other before fighting off Cesaro and Sheamus , reuniting
29870-417: The oil industry as part of its Saudi Vision 2030 plan", with Saudi Arabian Amnesty International researcher Dana Ahmed calling the match "a prime example how the Saudi Arabian authorities are using elite sports to try to ' sportswash ' their dire human rights record and image internationally". CBS Sports criticized Michael Cole's commentary for "trying to put over the progressiveness of Saudi Arabia" during
30076-469: The only way to win was to extract the opponent's eyeball. At The Horror Show at Extreme Rules on July 19, Rollins won the match after using the ring steps to remove Mysterio's eye. Over the following weeks, Rey's son Dominik Mysterio confronted Rollins about the attacks on both him and his father. At SummerSlam on August 23, Rollins defeated Dominik in a Street Fight . On August 30, Rollins and Murphy lost to Rey and Dominik Mysterio at Payback . On
30282-407: The only wrestler to compete in the match to decide the inaugural champion of three WWE championships (NXT, Universal, and World Heavyweight). Rollins also won the 2014 Money in the Bank ladder match , the 2015 Slammy Award for Superstar of the Year , and the 2019 Royal Rumble match . He is an overall nine-time Slammy Award winner. All totaled, he has won 16 championships in WWE (with all but one on
30488-426: The opening bout, professional boxer Tyson Fury defeated Braun Strowman by countout , and Natalya defeated Lacey Evans by submission in what was the first professional wrestling women's match to take place in Saudi Arabia. The event was met with mixed to positive reception from critics; although the tag team turmoil match , Raw's United States Championship match, the 5-on-5 tag team match , and in particular
30694-503: The presence of military police and that it took around 24 hours before the WWE employees eventually left. Meltzer also stated that WWE wrestlers were angry at McMahon for leaving without them. As the affected personnel would not be able to make it back in time for the following night's episode of Friday Night SmackDown in Buffalo, New York , the show was retooled to rely primarily on talent who did not participate at Crown Jewel, including
30900-559: The process for the first time in his career. Rusev and Lana lost a mixed tag team match to Almas and Vega at SummerSlam but defeated them in a rematch on the August 21 episode of SmackDown . At Hell in a Cell , Rusev and English unsuccessfully faced The New Day for the SmackDown Tag Team Championship. On the following episode of SmackDown , English attacked Rusev, ending their alliance. English would later claim to have had an affair with Lana, leading to
31106-581: The promotion in September 2020. Barnyashev married American professional wrestler, actress, and model CJ Perry , also known as Lana, on July 29, 2016. Barnyashev and Perry separated in winter 2023. 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 partial owners of the FCF Beasts indoor football team, alongside American football player Marshawn Lynch and basketball player Renee Montgomery . Barnyashev became
31312-665: The quarterfinals in Hammond, Indiana on September 23, 2005. He soon joined NWA Midwest and won the promotion 's tag team championship with Marek Brave. The two retained the NWA Midwest Tag Team Championship against Ryan Boz and Danny Daniels, Brett Wayne and Hype Gotti and Jayson Reign and Marco Cordova several times in early 2006. He briefly appeared in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) and teamed with Jeff Luxon in
31518-468: 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
31724-421: The remainder of the event. The penultimate match was the 5-on-5 tag team match between Team Hogan (Roman Reigns, Rusev, Ricochet, Ali, and Shorty G; accompanied by Hulk Hogan and Jimmy Hart) and Team Flair (Randy Orton, Bobby Lashley, King Corbin, Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura, and Drew McIntyre; accompanied by Ric Flair). In the climax, Orton performed an RKO on Reigns for a nearfall. Orton attempted
31930-433: The respective coaches. Universal Champion Seth Rollins and Randy Orton were selected as the captains of Team Hogan and Team Flair, respectively. Later that night, Rusev joined Team Hogan while King Corbin joined Team Flair. On the October 14 episode of Raw , Ricochet was added to Team Hogan, while Bobby Lashley and Intercontinental Champion Shinsuke Nakamura were added to Team Flair. That same episode, Rollins
32136-449: The ring after a verbal exchange. On November 3, Rusev gained his first professional wrestling championship and became the first Bulgarian-born champion in WWE history when he won the United States Championship from Sheamus in a post- Raw match that aired on the WWE Network and proceeded to defeat him in a rematch via count-out. At Survivor Series , Rusev competed in a 10-man Survivor Series match as part of Team Authority but he
32342-420: 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
32548-547: The same night, the two joined Sheamus' new stable The League of Nations . Throughout December, Rusev started a feud with Ryback , with Lana faking injuries to distract Ryback and help Rusev gain advantage. At TLC , Rusev defeated Ryback by technical submission to end the feud. Also in November, Rusev joined forces with Sheamus, King Barrett and Alberto Del Rio forming The League of Nations. The faction aligned themselves with Mr. McMahon and would continue to target WWE World Heavyweight Champion Roman Reigns. Rusev would enter
32754-427: The show". Fury-Strowman was "weak and forgettable", while WWE played it "safe" with Velasquez. For the tag team turmoil match, Powell liked The O.C. win and the segment involving The Revival and The New Day, but felt that the rest of the match was "pretty random", with the victory seemingly due to "luck of the draw than a major achievement". Powell approved of The Fiend becoming champion, but disliked everything else about
32960-477: The show's history. Six days later, at Elimination Chamber , Rollins was the fifth man eliminated by Braun Strowman in the match. At WrestleMania 34 on April 8, Rollins defeated Finn Bálor and The Miz in a triple threat match to win the Intercontinental Championship for the first time in his career. With his win, Rollins became the twenty-ninth Triple Crown Champion and the eighteenth Grand Slam Champion in WWE history, respectively. He successfully defended
33166-471: The singles match between Mansoor and Cesaro were largely praised, Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman were near-universally panned, with the Universal Championship match receiving a polarized reception. The women's match received polarized reactions for its booking and significance, while being considered average in quality. In early 2018, the American professional wrestling promotion WWE began
33372-409: The steel ring steps, kayfabe injuring him. At Survivor Series on November 23, Rollins captained Team Authority in a five-on-five elimination tag team match against Team Cena, in which he was the sole survivor for his team and the last man eliminated by Dolph Ziggler , resulting in The Authority being ousted from control of WWE. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 14, he lost to Cena in
33578-412: The tag team gauntlet contest and AJ Styles vs. Humberto Carrillo. But then you have to consider the other half of this show, which was filled with terrible matches that garnered the most hype going into them". John Powell of Canoe.com gave a positive review of the event, rating it 8 out of 10. Most praise went to the tag team turmoil match, Mansoor vs. Cesaro and Styles vs. Carrillo, all of which he gave
33784-453: The team in the process. At SummerSlam on August 20, Ambrose and Rollins defeated Cesaro and Sheamus to win the Raw Tag Team Championship, successfully defending the titles in a rematch at No Mercy on September 24. On the October 9 episode of Raw , Rollins and Ambrose reunited with Roman Reigns. The newly reformed Shield was due to face Braun Strowman, Cesaro, Kane, The Miz and Sheamus at TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on October 22 in
33990-455: The team of Austin Aries and Bryan Danielson . At Take No Prisoners on May 30, Black unsuccessfully challenged Nigel McGuinness for the ROH World Championship . At Up For Grabs, Black and Jacobs won an eight-team tournament to win their second ROH World Tag Team Championship. The two lost the championship at Driven on November 14 to the team of Kevin Steen and El Generico . Black had
34196-490: The three attacking The Briscoe Brothers, and hanging Jay Briscoe from light rigging fashioned as a noose. The three formed a stable called The Age of the Fall . The angle was so controversial that ROH decided to remove the footage from the pay-per-view that was being taped at the event. Black later made his ROH in-ring debut later that night in a dark match , wrestling Jack Evans to a no contest . At Glory by Honor VI in November, Black defeated Alex "Sugarfoot" Payne, but
34402-467: The title a record six times with Ambrose and various partners. After leaving The Shield in 2014, he joined The Authority , establishing his on-screen character as a leading villain. Since then, he has headlined numerous major PPV and livestreaming events for WWE, including WrestleMania XL . Rollins is a five-time world champion in WWE, having won the WWE Championship twice, Universal Championship twice, and World Heavyweight Championship once, being
34608-414: The title from Owens at Clash of Champions on September 25 and Hell in a Cell on October 30 due to several interferences from Chris Jericho . At Survivor Series on November 20, Rollins formed part of Team Raw with Owens, Jericho, Braun Strowman and Reigns in a losing effort to Team SmackDown. At Roadblock: End of the Line on December 18, Rollins defeated Jericho. In January 2017, Rollins started
34814-448: The title the following night on Raw due to a legit shoulder injury sustained at SummerSlam, Rollins faced Big Cass , Kevin Owens and Roman Reigns in a four-way elimination match for the title, but Triple H interfered and attacked Rollins, allowing Owens to win the championship. On the September 5 episode of Raw , Rollins attacked Owens during his celebration ceremony, turning face for the first time since 2014. Rollins failed to win
35020-406: The title two weeks later resulted in a similar 0–0 draw. A second 30-minute rematch for the title on the September 18 episode of FCW went to a time limit 2–2 draw and the match was sent into sudden death overtime , where Rollins scored a pinfall to win the match 3–2. On September 22, Rollins lost the FCW 15 Championship to Damien Sandow by disqualification after Ambrose attacked Sandow late in
35226-466: The title would be taken with him to the SmackDown brand. During the match, as The Fiend attempted a Running Senton through an announce table, Rollins avoided The Fiend, causing The Fiend to break an announce table. The Fiend pushed Rollins, who fell through tables that were stacked on the floor. On a platform, The Fiend performed Sister Abigail on Rollins for a two count. On the entrance ramp, Rollins executed several Curb Stomps on The Fiend. Rollins performed
35432-415: The titles to Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode . Later that night, Rollins retained the Universal Championship against Strowman but was attacked by "The Fiend" Bray Wyatt after the match. At Hell in a Cell on October 6, Rollins defended his title against The Fiend in a Hell in a Cell match that ended in referee stoppage after The Fiend was buried under several weapons and hit with a sledgehammer by Rollins,
35638-417: 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
35844-422: The two in a rematch between February 13, 2010 for the company's Eighth Anniversary Show. The booking saw Cornette set up a judging panel with himself on and one person picked by each competitor, in order for there to be a decisive winner in case of another draw. Aries picked King while Black picked Strong, whom he guaranteed an ROH World Championship title shot should he win. At the event, Black pinned Aries to win
36050-399: 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. On April 11, Rusev
36256-412: 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. The three pay-per-view losses in a row irreversibly damaged the air of power Rusev had built up, leading to TheSportster labeling it as a burial . On the post-Payback episode of Raw on May 18, 2015, Rusev ended his affiliation with Lana, who slapped him in response. On
36462-476: The utmost props". Canoe.com claimed that "nobody seemed to care about who won or lost. Not Evans, Natalya or the fans. The historic match was about and meant so much more". Conversely, Newsweek called the match part of "Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's [intent on] luring major sports event [...] to position the ultra-conservative Islamic country as more liberal and diversify its economy away from depending on
36668-457: The women's roster, and NXT (which began developing an angle for Survivor Series by declaring war against SmackDown and Raw), while the WWE Championship match from Crown Jewel (also the shortest match of the entire show) was replayed in its entirety. SmackDown contributor Renee Young , along with NXT UK ' s Tom Phillips , 205 Live ' s Aiden English , and Pat McAfee , filled in as guest commentators, and Kayla Braxton filled in as
36874-422: The youngster over". They gave a C rating to both Lesnar vs. Velasquez and Fury vs. Strowman, stating that the first was "failing to let Velasquez get somewhat over was confusing" and that Fury vs. Strowman "was never going to be a good match, but Fury did well enough". Elton Jones of Heavy.com called the event "A mixed bag. On one hand, you had quality bouts such as Mansoor vs. Cesaro, Team Hogan vs. Team Flair,
37080-431: Was "must-see" due to their team leaders Hogan and Flair, and was ultimately about "elevating Reigns, who has not had a significant storyline for months". Fury "didn't look terrible" in his match, but Strowman failed to gain a "mainstream rub" and "didn't come across as a monster" at all. Styles-Carrillo was "entertaining", but the live audience was not interested. Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter rated
37286-596: Was Heavy Machinery (Otis and Tucker). Otis and Tucker performed a Compactor on Ziggler to eliminate him and Roode. The New Day (Big E and Kofi Kingston) then entered and eliminated Heavy Machinery after the Midnight Hour on Tucker. The sixth team was Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas, who were eliminated after Big E performed a Big Ending on Axel. The seventh team to enter were SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival (Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder), who attacked The New Day after being eliminated by them. The penultimate team to enter
37492-530: Was The O.C. ( Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson ), who eliminated The New Day after performing the Magic Killer on Kingston. The final team to enter were Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders (Erik and Ivar). Gallows and Anderson performed Magic Killer on Erik to win the match and the Tag Team World Cup trophy. After that, Mansoor faced Cesaro. After a back and forth match, Mansoor performed
37698-620: Was a major cultural breakthrough" in Saudi Arabia, it was really "not a Sputnik Monroe situation which changed local culture". This was because "many women performers have [already] been invited to Saudi Arabia", with the city of Riyadh's current promotion of sports and entertainment. Regarding the match, Meltzer rated it 2 stars and wrote that it was "very basic, by design", to avoid "anything that would be taken wrongly" - explaining why Evans did not play her usual character with "sexy" traits. With "no heel or face or heat, and both not having noticeable ring costumes, it came across more like two women in
37904-505: Was a three-time WWE United States Champion . He was released by WWE in April 2020, and debuted in AEW in September of that year, winning the AEW TNT Championship once. Miroslav Barnyashev was born 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 , powerlifting , and sambo as an adult. In
38110-494: Was ambushed from behind by the debuting Samoa Joe , who choked him out in the Coquina Clutch . Rollins signed a contract to compete against Triple H in a non-sanctioned match on April 2 at WrestleMania 33 , which he won. Rollins defeated Joe at Payback on April 30 to give Joe his first singles loss on the main roster. At Extreme Rules on June 4, Rollins competed in a fatal five-way Extreme Rules match to determine
38316-670: Was announced for Crown Jewel. On October 14, the largest tag team turmoil match in WWE history was scheduled for Crown Jewel, with the winners receiving the WWE Tag Team World Cup and being called "the best tag team in the world". Nine teams were announced for the match: The New Day (represented by Big E and Kofi Kingston ; Xavier Woods was injured prior to the event), Heavy Machinery ( Otis and Tucker ), Lucha House Party ( Lince Dorado , Gran Metalik , and/or Kalisto ), Curt Hawkins and Zack Ryder , The O.C. (represented by Luke Gallows and Karl Anderson ; AJ Styles
38522-417: Was announced that Lesnar would defend the WWE Championship against Velasquez at Crown Jewel. Amid Braun Strowman 's match during SmackDown's 20th Anniversary on October 4, Strowman taunted professional boxer Tyson Fury , who was seated in the front row. Later during that match, Strowman brutally slung Dolph Ziggler into the barricade, which knocked Fury back into his seat. Following the match, Fury jumped
38728-604: Was attacked by The Briscoe Brothers following the match. He appeared with The Age of the Fall in their match against The Briscoe Brothers during the main event. At Final Battle on December 30, Black and Jacobs defeated The Briscoe Brothers to win the ROH World Tag Team Championship . They lost the championship one month later on January 26, 2008, to the No Remorse Corps (Davey Richards and Rocky Romero ) when competing in an Ultimate Endurance match also involving The Hangmen 3 ( Brent Albright and B. J. Whitmer ), and
38934-414: Was called off by Triple H after a pre-match attack by Ambrose on Rollins backstage, as well as at SummerSlam on August 17 in a lumberjack match after hitting him with his Money in the Bank briefcase following interference from Kane. The following night on Raw , Rollins defeated Ambrose once again in a Falls Count Anywhere match by referee stoppage after Kane interfered again and helped Rollins execute
39140-481: Was eliminated by Mysterio, Reigns won the match for the team. At TLC: Tables, Ladders & Chairs on December 15, The Shield lost to CM Punk in 3-on-1 handicap match after Reigns accidentally speared Ambrose. On January 26, 2014, at the Royal Rumble , Rollins entered his first Royal Rumble match at #2, gaining three eliminations before he was eliminated by teammate Reigns. The next night on Raw , The Shield competed against Daniel Bryan, Sheamus and John Cena in
39346-404: Was eliminated from the match by countout . Rusev and Jack Swagger once again feuded in December, leading to Rusev successfully defending the United States Championship against Swagger at TLC . At the Royal Rumble , Rusev entered the Rumble match at number 15, eliminating six other contestants and placing second overall. At Fastlane , Rusev successfully defended the United States Championship in
39552-459: Was given a non-title match against then-ROH World Champion Nigel McGuinness on January 16, 2009, where Black was victorious. The following night, Black faced McGuinness in a title match, which ended in a time limit draw . On June 26, at Violent Tendencies, Black defeated Jimmy Jacobs in a steel cage match to end their feud . In September 2009, Black took a hiatus after receiving surgery on his neck. On October 10, Black defeated Kenny King in
39758-476: Was made official. The match was then stipulated as a No Holds Barred match . A Crown Jewel event was not held in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic , but the event returned in 2021 . The 2021 event was also the first Crown Jewel to livestream on Peacock after the American version of the WWE Network merged under Peacock in March that year. Seth Rollins Colby Daniel Lopez (born May 28, 1986)
39964-534: Was moved to SmackDown brand as part of the Superstar Shake-up . On the April 25 episode of SmackDown , Rusev made his first appearance on WWE programming since Fastlane, appearing via satellite, and declared that he would not make his debut on SmackDown unless he was given a WWE Championship match at the Money in the Bank pay-per-view on June 18. He was not granted his request, but on the July 4 episode of SmackDown , he made his first appearance for
40170-494: Was named as a competitor in the Elimination Chamber match to determine the #1 contender for the Universal Championship. On the February 19 episode of Raw , Rollins competed in a seven-men gauntlet match to decide who would enter the Elimination Chamber match last, but was ultimately eliminated by Elias . Rollins wrestled for one hour and five minutes, marking the longest performance in a match by any wrestler in
40376-413: Was notably negative. Adam Silverstein and Jack Crosby of CBS Sports gave a mixed review, giving particular praise to Mansoor vs. Cesaro and stating "While it is obvious WWE is pushing and putting over Mansoor due to the Saudi Arabia relationship, you cannot take away his effort. Mansoor looked like a real-deal future superstar for WWE, and Cesaro did a tremendous job calling the entire match and putting
40582-469: Was paid $ 60 million in around two hours before Crown Jewel. According to Meltzer, 20 WWE employees (including 12 wrestlers) managed to leave Saudi Arabia on private jets without delay; this group included Vince McMahon, Kevin Dunn, Brock Lesnar, Paul Heyman, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair and Tyson Fury. Meltzer quoted that the delayed WWE wrestlers were disbelieving of whether mechanical issues really occurred, because of
40788-510: Was renamed Seth Rollins and became the inaugural FCW Grand Slam Champion . After WWE rebranded its developmental brand from FCW to NXT , he became the inaugural NXT Champion . In November 2012, he debuted on the main roster as a member of The Shield alongside Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns . He won his first main roster championship, the WWE Raw Tag Team Championship , with Reigns in May 2013; he went on to hold
40994-460: Was reported that Miro had requested his release from AEW, having only wrestled eleven matches since 2021. 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 and modified
41200-587: Was revealed on the January 28 episode of Raw that Punk and his manager Paul Heyman had been paying The Shield and Brad Maddox to work for them. The Shield then quietly ended their association with Punk while beginning a feud with John Cena, Ryback and Sheamus that led to a six-man tag match on February 17 at Elimination Chamber , which The Shield won. On April 7, they defeated Sheamus, Big Show and Randy Orton at WrestleMania 29 . The following night on Raw , The Shield attempted to attack The Undertaker , but were stopped by Team Hell No. This set up
41406-410: Was scheduled for another match), Dolph Ziggler and Robert Roode , The B-Team ( Curtis Axel and Bo Dallas ), SmackDown Tag Team Champions The Revival ( Scott Dawson and Dash Wilder ), and Raw Tag Team Champions The Viking Raiders ( Erik and Ivar ). On the October 23 episode of The Bump , a 20-man battle royal was scheduled for the Crown Jewel Kickoff pre-show, with the winner receiving
41612-419: Was scheduled to defend the Universal Championship at the event and was subsequently removed from the tag team match. On the following SmackDown , Hogan revealed that Ali and Shorty G (shortened from Shorty Gable) were added to his team. Later, Roman Reigns was announced as Rollins' replacement as Team Hogan's captain. Drew McIntyre was revealed as the final member of Team Flair on the following Raw . On
41818-462: Was scheduled to determine which brand would earn the first draft pick of the night. Rollins won by disqualification due to The Fiend's interference, earning Raw the first draft pick; The Fiend was later drafted to SmackDown. Although Rollins was drafted to Raw on the second night of the draft, a championship rematch between Rollins and The Fiend was scheduled for Crown Jewel as a Falls Count Anywhere match . That same night, Wyatt as his normal self hosted
42024-501: 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
42230-573: Was told a different explanation for the delay by a WWE executive as well as a source in Saudi Arabia. Savinovich claimed that because Saudi Arabia had failed to pay WWE millions of dollars for previous shows, WWE Chairman Vince McMahon had stopped the television feed for Crown Jewel from being broadcast in Saudi Arabia, leading to Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman retaliating by stopping WWE's chartered plane from leaving. Wrestling journalist Dave Meltzer reported that WWE had not been paid for their shows in Saudi Arabia by September 30, 2019, while WWE
42436-405: Was won by Big E . Later that night, Rollins interfered in the main event where Roman Reigns was defending the Universal Championship against Edge, distracting the referee to cost Edge the match. Over the following weeks, Rollins and Edge confronted and attacked each other until the August 6 episode of SmackDown , where Edge challenged Rollins to a match at SummerSlam , which Rollins accepted. At
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