} Gzim Selmani (born 16 June 1994) is a Dutch-Albanian professional wrestler and former mixed martial artist. He is best known for his time in WWE, where he performed under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Rezar. After signing with WWE in 2015, he has since teamed with Akam as part of The Authors of Pain, with whom he has held the NXT Tag Team Championship and WWE Raw Tag Team Championship once, and they also won the 2016 Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic tournament. To date, Selmani is the first and only

Albanian Albanian may refer to: *Pertaining to Albania in Southeast Europe; in particular: **Albanians, an ethnic group native to the Balkans **Albanian language **Albanian culture **Demographics of Albania, includes other ethnic groups within the country ...

to ever wrestle in the WWE.

Early life

Gzim Selmani was born on 16 June 1994 , and grew up in

Huizen Huizen () is a municipality and a village in the province of North Holland, the Netherlands. The name "Huizen" is Dutch for "houses" and this usage has been linked to the belief that the first stone houses, instead of the more common sod houses a ...

. He is an ethnic Kosovo Albanian. He began practicing judo from the age of four, took up

kickboxing Kickboxing is a combat sports, combat sport focused on kicking and punch (strike), punching. The combat takes place in a boxing ring, normally with boxing gloves, mouthguards, shorts, and bare feet to favour the use of kicks. Kickboxing is pract ...

at age 12 and began training in mixed martial arts alongside his brother Egzon, at the age of 15. Selmani became Professional Kickboxing Heavyweight Champion, after an 8-man tournament in one night, that took place in Bremerhaven, Germany.

Mixed martial arts career

Selmani joined

Golden Glory Golden Glory was a Muay Thai, kickboxing and mixed martial arts camp and management team, based in the Netherlands. Description Golden Glory was founded in 1999 by Bas Boon, and Frederico Lapenda. Golden Glory's professional MMA and kickboxin ...

management team and began to compete in amateur mixed martial arts Shooto competitions in the Netherlands in 2012. His first professional fight was on 8 July 2012 against Kaan Postaci in The Hague The Netherlands. He ended up knocking him out with a knee left hook combo. He won his second fight at Shooto Europe against Jorrit Leeman. On 24 November 2012 Selmani Fought Anatoli Ciumac in Brașov, Romania, which he won. He faced Ante Delija at Final Fight Championship 05 and lost by TKO. Selmani defeated Mario Milosavljevic in November 2013 to record his second professional victory, and beat Tomaž Simonič at FFC 10 in Skopje,

Macedonia Macedonia most commonly refers to: * North Macedonia, a country in southeastern Europe, known until 2019 as the Republic of Macedonia * Macedonia (ancient kingdom), a kingdom in Greek antiquity * Macedonia (Greece), a traditional geographic reg ...

. Selmani defeated Oli Thompson in 18 seconds in the main event of BAMMA 15 on 5 April 2014 in London. Selmani competed for

Bellator MMA Bellator MMA (formerly Bellator Fighting Championships) is an American mixed martial arts promotion (entertainment), promotion founded in 2008 and based in Santa Monica, California, owned and operated as a subsidiary of television and media cong ...

at Bellator 130 in October 2014, losing via TKO to

Daniel Gallemore Daniel Gallemore (born June 14, 1985) is an American professional mixed martial artist and boxer. A professional competitor since 2011, Gallemore has formerly competed for the Professional Fighters League, Titan FC, and Bellator MMA. Background ...

Mixed martial arts record

, - , Loss , align=center, 6–2 ,

, TKO (punches) , Bellator 130 , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 4:33 , Mulvane, Kansas, United States , , - , Win , align=center, 6–1 , Oli Thompson , Technical Submission (guillotine choke) , BAMMA 15 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:18 , London, United Kingdom , , - , Win , align=center, 5–1 , Tomaz Simonic , Technical Submission (arm-triangle choke) , Final Fight Championship 10 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 1:54 , Skopje, Macedonia , , - , Win , align=center, 4–1 , Mario Milosavljevic , Technical Submission (standing guillotine choke) , Bosnia Fight Championship 1 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 0:35 , Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina , , - , Loss , align=center, 3–1 , Ante Delija , TKO (punches) , Final Fight Championship 5 , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 3:09 ,

Osijek Osijek () is the fourth-largest city in Croatia, with a population of 96,848 in 2021. It is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative centre of Osijek-Baranja ...

, Croatia , , - , Win , align=center, 3–0 , Anatoli Ciumac , TKO (retirement) , Klash Champions Battlefield 4 – Road to Glory , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 5:00 , Brașov, Romania , , - , Win , align=center, 2–0 , Jorrit Leeman , Submission (armbar) , Shooto Europe Pro , , align=center, 2 , align=center, 2:58 ,

Deventer Deventer (; Sallands: ) is a city and municipality in the Salland historical region of the province of Overijssel, Netherlands. In 2020, Deventer had a population of 100,913. The city is largely situated on the east bank of the river IJssel, bu ...

, The Netherlands , , - , Win , align=center, 1–0 , Kaan Postaci , KO (punch) , Fight Club Den Haag , , align=center, 1 , align=center, 2:10 , The Netherlands, The Hague ,

Professional wrestling career

WWE (2015–2020)

Selmani got invited for a tryout in Dubai, and it was William Regal’s choice to get him to sign a contract for WWE. In May 2015, it was reported that Selmani had signed a contract with WWE and would begin training to become a professional wrestler at the WWE Performance Center. In October 2015, WWE confirmed that Selmani was a WWE developmental recruit already training at the Performance Center. He made his in-ring debut at a

NXT NXT may refer to: Professional wrestling * '' WWE NXT'', a professional wrestling television program produced by WWE that began in 2010 ** NXT (WWE brand), WWE's Florida-based brand and former developmental territory * '' NXT UK'', the British spi ...

house show A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...

in Venice, Florida on 30 January 2016, losing to Josh Woods. By February 2016, Selmani had formed a tag team with

Sunny Dhinsa Sunny Dhinsa (born May 20, 1993) is a Canadian professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler. He is best known for his time with the WWE, where he performed under the ring name Akam. After signing with WWE in 2014, he has since teamed with ...

, and they became known as The Authors of Pain by April 2016. Selmani and Dhinsa made their televised ''

'' debuts on 8 June 2016 at NXT TakeOver: The End; following the NXT Tag Team Championship match, they attacked champions American Alpha ( Chad Gable and Jason Jordan) before leaving backstage with Paul Ellering. On 15 June episode of ''NXT'', the Authors of Pain won their first televised match and were managed by Ellering. On the 24 August episode of ''NXT'' Selmani's ring name was revealed to be Rezar, while Dhinsa was billed as Akam. The duo won the 2016

Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic The Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic is an annual professional wrestling tag team tournament held by the American promotion WWE, and is featured on its NXT brand, having first been established in 2015. In subsequent years, wrestlers from the NXT UK and ...

, defeating TM61 in the tournament final at NXT TakeOver: Toronto. At NXT TakeOver: San Antonio, the Authors of Pain defeated #DIY to win the NXT Tag Team Championship. They retained the title at NXT TakeOver: Orlando by defeating #DIY and The Revival in a Triple Threat Tag Team Elimination match by eliminating both teams. At NXT TakeOver: Chicago, the duo participated in the first NXT Takeover main event for the NXT Tag Team Championship by defeating #DIY in a ladder match to retain the title. At NXT TakeOver: Brooklyn III, the Authors of Pain lost the titles to

SAnitY Sanity (from la, sāntā) refers to the soundness, rationality, and health of the human mind, as opposed to insanity. A person is sane if they are rational. In modern society, the term has become exclusively synonymous with ''compos mentis'' ( ...

. at NXT TakeOver: WarGames, Authors of Pain and Roderick Strong competed in a 3 team WarGames match which was won by The Undisputed Era. On 20 December episode of ''NXT'', Authors of Pain lost the NXT Tag Team Championship to Bobby Fish

and or AND may refer to: Logic, grammar, and computing * Conjunction (grammar), connecting two words, phrases, or clauses * Logical conjunction in mathematical logic, notated as "∧", "⋅", "&", or simple juxtaposition * Bitwise AND, a boole ...

Kyle O'Reilly. At NXT TakeOver: Philadelphia, Authors of Pain got a rematch but were unsuccessful. At NXT TakeOver: New Orleans, Authors of Pain competed in a Triple threat tag team match for the NXT Tag Team Championship and Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic trophy which was won by The Undisputed Era ( Adam Cole and Kyle O'Reilly). On 9 April episode of ''

Raw Raw is an adjective usually describing: * Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made * Raw food, uncooked food Raw or RAW may also refer to: Computing and electronics * .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...

'', The Authors of Pain, along with Ellering, made their main roster debut, defeating Heath Slater

Rhyno. After the match, Akam and Rezar ended their partnership with Ellering by pushing him away and leaving him ringside as they returned backstage. On 3 September episode of ''Raw'', The Authors of Pain, now under the shortened name of "AOP", were accompanied to the ring by the

205 Live ''WWE 205 Live'' is an American professional wrestling streaming television program that was produced by WWE. It premiered on November 29, 2016, and ended on February 11, 2022. The show originally aired exclusively on the WWE Network until March ...

General Manager, Drake Maverick, who announced himself as their new manager. On 5 November episode of Raw, The Authors of Pain defeated Seth Rollins in a handicap match to win the Raw Tag Team Championship for the first time. They went on to defeat SmackDown's Tag Team Champions Cesaro and Sheamus in an interbrand Champion vs Champion match at Survivor Series. They lost the titles to

Bobby Roode Robert Francis Roode Jr. (born May 11, 1976) is a Canadian professional wrestler signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. He is currently inactive due to undergoing neck surgery. Roode is known for his 12-year tenure for Total Nonstop ...

and Chad Gable on 10 December episode of ''Raw''. In January 2019 Akam suffered an undisclosed leg injury that reportedly would keep him out for “at least a few months”. He and Akam returned to action at Super ShowDown on 7 June 2019. In September 2019, AOP began appearing in vignettes, warning of their return. During the

2019 WWE Draft The 2019 WWE Draft was the fourteenth WWE Draft produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE between their Raw and SmackDown brands. Returning to its original name (the "WWE Draft") and a traditional draft format, it was the seco ...

in October, AOP went undrafted, becoming free agents and able to choose which brand to sign with. Three days after the draft's conclusion, AOP signed with ''

'', remaining on the brand. Rezar stared to show with Akam as Seth Rollins' disciples. In March 2020, it was reported that Rezar suffered a bicep injury and the injury would sideline him for six to eight months. On 4 September 2020, AOP were released from their WWE contracts.

Independent circuit (2022–present)

In May 2022, Gzim Selmani and Sunny Dhinsa, now known as Legion of Pain, have announced the launch of their professional wrestling promotion, Wrestling Entertainment Series (WES).

Other media

Rezar made his video game debut as a playable character in '' WWE 2K18'' and has since appeared in ''

WWE 2K19 ''WWE 2K19'' is a professional wrestling video game developed by Yuke's and published by 2K Sports. It was released worldwide on October 9, 2018, for Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. It is the twentieth overall game in the ''WWE' ...

'' and '' WWE 2K20''.

Championship and accomplishments

* '' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' ** Ranked No. 211 of the top 500 singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 2018 and 2019 * WWE ** WWE Raw Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) –

with With or WITH may refer to: * With, a preposition in English * Carl Johannes With (1877–1923), Danish doctor and arachnologist * With (character), a character in ''D. N. Angel'' * ''With'' (novel), a novel by Donald Harrington * ''With'' (album ...

Akam ** NXT Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Akam **

(

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

) – with Akam

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rezar 1994 births Living people Sportspeople from Amsterdam Albanian professional wrestlers Dutch male professional wrestlers Albanian male mixed martial artists Mixed martial artists utilizing judo Mixed martial artists utilizing kickboxing Mixed martial artists utilizing wrestling Dutch people of Albanian descent People from Huizen NXT Tag Team Champions Sportspeople from North Holland 21st-century professional wrestlers