Rezar says WWE ‘wasn’t really my world’
Rezar is proud of what he accomplished in WWE, but professional wrestling was never really the ideal fit for him.
The former Authors of Pain member made his Bare Knuckle Fighting Championship debut last weekend with a knockout victory over Daniel Curtin. In the aftermath of the fight, Rezar (real name Gzim Selmani) appeared on The Ariel Helwani Show and addressed whether he considered other options in wrestling after AOP were released by WWE in 2025.
“Obviously we always leave the door open, but for me, it was clear. I had to go back to combat sports and do my thing,” he said.
AOP had two separate stints with WWE, winning gold in NXT and on the main roster. Their exit in February 2025 came after an incident with The Wyatt Sicks that took place at a Holiday Tour house show.
“Yes, of course,” Rezar responded when Helwani asked if he’s happy with the time he spent in WWE. “We were World Raw Tag Team Champions. Did some crazy things with Seth Rollins in a group, with Paul Ellering, with Karrion Kross and Scarlett.
“We did a lot of crazy things, and we met good people. But at the end of the day, it wasn’t really my world. I was never 100 percent comfortable. And I need to be fighting. I need to be having that real rush And now I found my home in BKFC.”
Rezar already had a background in martial arts when he was initially scouted by WWE. He started to enjoy wrestling during AOP’s NXT run, but it was tough adjusting to the business. Rezar feels not having prior experience in the ring worked against him when he first joined the Performance Center.
“Against me. They didn’t like me backstage in the beginning, especially the wrestlers who were already wrestling for like 10, 15 years and finally got their way to the Performance Center,” he said. “They didn’t respect it. They didn’t like having guys that weren’t wrestlers or didn’t pay their dues, as they say, in the wrestling business, in little bingo halls and stuff. They didn’t like that. But, yeah, what can I do? I didn’t beg them to go there, so they wanted me.”
Rezar noted that, after his first BKFC win, he’ll be back in training next week. He’s hoping that his next fight will take place this summer. In combat sports, Rezar feels like his destiny is in his own hands. That wasn’t the case in pro wrestling.
“That’s how the business works. Some people get hurt, some people do different things,” Rezar said. “They switch up writers all the time, they switch up producers all the time, and they put other people in control of power and of creative and stuff like that. So nothing is in your hands there backstage.
“And now it is. Now it’s in my hands. You know, I do it in the ring. And, yeah, the outcome that you saw two days ago is going to happen many more times.”
Joseph Currier is the lead editor of F4WOnline.com, directing daily news coverage and writing articles on professional wrestling. He is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts, obtaining a journalism degree in 2016. Joseph joined F4W during his time at UMass and has now been writing about the industry for nearly a decade.
In addition to his work with F4W, Joseph has previously contributed to Sports Illustrated's wrestling coverage. He lives in Massachusetts and is a diehard fan of the Boston sports teams and Liverpool Football Club.