Former WWE Champion Wins Debut Bareknuckle Fight (WWE News)

Gzim Selmani, fka Rezar of AOP, made his successful BKFC debut last night.

by Andrew Pollard
Rezar Authors of Pain
WWE

Former WWE star Gzim Selmani was victorious in his bareknuckle fighting debut last night. Wrestling fans will know Gzim better as Rezar, a former Raw Tag Team Champion and NXT Tag Team Champion as one-half of the Authors of Pain.

Selmani was in action for BKFC at their event in Newcastle, England, where he scored a second-round knockout win over Daniel Curtin.

Post-fight, Selmani cut quite the promo:

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“I'm here to knock motherf**kers out, anywhere in the motherf**king world. Come get it, motherf**kers. I'm f**king done with everybody, motherf**kers. Give it, get it. F**k this place, too. What? Give it. Give it to me. I'm the motherf**king Albanian Psycho. I'm the motherf**ker who came from WWE to this place. I fought my ass off, and I'm here.

I’m here to stay, motherf**kers, whether you like it or not. The Albanian Psycho has arrived at BKFC, the most dominant, the most crazy sport, combat sport in the world. Let’s f**king get it. I’m ready for anything.”

For those unaware, Gzim Selmani has an impressive fighting background, having been a kickboxing champion and competed in MMA prior to signing with WWE in 2015.

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As Rezar, Selmani had initially been with WWE between 2015 and 2020, then he and his partner Akam were brought back in late 2022, before both were released, alongside their manager Paul Ellering, in February of last year.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.