Former WWE Superstar Miroslav Barnyashev (Rusev) has announced that he has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Rusev, known as Miro was released by WWE earlier this year. Barnyashev announced on his Twitch channel, MIROtwch, that he has tested positive for the disease.
Only some days ago, Miro’s wife and WWE superstar Lana had announced that both her parents were Covid-19 positive. Lana said that her asthma-patient mother was shifted to ICU as she required oxygen.
Rusev had three reigns as the WWE United States Champion and his first run led to him facing John Cena at WrestleMania 32.
Rusev was a fan favourite in the WWE during the last few years. The ‘Rusev Day’ gimmick was extremely over with the audience as he became one of the top merchandise sellers for WWE during the peak of his popularity. Despite being a negative character on screen, Rusev was cheered heavily by the WWE Universe and it eventually led to a face turn for the former superstar. However, Rusev (now known as Miro) was released by WWE earlier this year.
In 2018, Rusev was very popular and scheduled to face The Undertaker at the Greatest Royal Rumble. He narrated the story of how he was told about the match by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon on his Youtube show.
“I thought it was a rib. I got called in the office by Vince. He said ‘Miro, I got you working with The Undertaker in Saudi Arabia’. I’m like (laughs) and ‘I’m winning right?’ That’s exactly what I said, that’s what exactly my reaction was.”
“Because I thought he was joking. So I said, ‘I’m going over, right?’ He was like ‘Hahaha.’ He looked at me kind of weird. I’m like ‘Alright sir, I’ll see you next time’,” recalls Rusev.
But McMahon thought making Rusev lose in a PPV with thousands of people watching would be detrimental to his babyface run. So he was replaced by Chris Jericho in the Casket Match against The Undertaker. But Rusev revealed that those plans also changed as the Saudi Prince called McMahon to reinstate him into the match at the Greatest Royal Rumble.
“The Prince called and said, ‘Why is Rusev out of this match? I want Rusev back in this match’. And guess what happened? Rusev was back in the match, and Rusev went to dinner with the Saudi Prince. Rusev was over in Saudi Arabia brother,” remembers Miro.