Former WWE Star Returning To Combat Sports

A former WWE star has officially announced plans to return to combat sports, after calling out a notable name.

Former WWE Raw Tag Team Champion Rezar of the Authors of Pain has revealed his next move, recently sharing a video calling out former World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall for a fight with Misfits Boxing.

Rezar – real name Gzim Selmani – has now officially announced combat sports return plans, with his last MMA fight taking place almost 11 years ago.

Selmani’s team issued the following press release (via PWInsider):

Former WWE Tag Team Champion Gzim Selmani Returns to Combat Sports and Issues a Challenge to Eddie Hall for a Fight on Misfits Boxing.

Gzim Selmani, formerly ‘Rezar’ in the WWE, has announced plans on returning to combat sports following a ten-year run in professional wrestling.

In the WWE, Selmani won the WWE RAW & NXT Tag Team championships as well as winning the Dusty Rhodes Tag Team Classic as part of the bruising tag team known as the ‘Authors of Pain’ with partner Akam and under the guidance of the legendary Paul Ellering.

Later the duo would team up with Karrion Kross to form ‘The Final Testament’ and would go on to compete at WrestleMania 40.

The 31-year-old now wishes to return to his roots of combat sports and would like to officially issue a challenge to former World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall to a boxing match on Misfits.

“I’m returning to my roots as a fighter and I have unfinished business in the world of combat sports,” said Selmani in a quote for the media. “I’ve been watching Eddie Hall trying to pick a fight with a welterweight and that doesn’t sit right with me. He thinks he is the big man coming in to fight sports, well why doesn’t he take on someone who can actually knock him out…someone like me. This is a message for Eddie Hall, I challenge you to fist fight on any Misfits boxing card. I need to remind & teach everyone that I am the world’s most dangerous professional wrestler.”

Selmani’s background in MMA saw him compete in Bellator and BAMMA, where he most notably stopped former UFC fighter & Britain’s strongest man Oli Thompson in under twenty seconds. The Dutch Albanian is also an old school member of the Golden Glory kickboxing team in the Netherlands when he competed in kickboxing.

Assisting him on his return to combat sports, Selmani has signed with boxing manager Shane Watson, who has been involved in the careers of the undefeated Abdul Khan, Joe Joyce, and many other top UK talent.

You can follow Gzim Selmani on Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) for future updates on his journey back to the ring.

Selmani currently has a 4-2 professional MMA record. His last fight saw him lose to Daniel Gallemore via TKO at Bellator 130 in October 2014.

He notably signed with WWE in May 2015 and remained with the company until his release in September 2020.

He and Authors of Pain tag partner Akam returned to WWE in 2023 and wrestled as part of the Final Testament faction until being released for a second time this past February.

For the latest WWE updates and news stories, click here.

To make sure you stay up to date with all the biggest wrestling and WrestleTalk news, follow us on Threads by clicking this link!